We're a @NorthKestevenDC service that combines over 135 miles of Stepping Out Walks and nature sites, as well as a wide range of exciting & educational events!
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ALT A partial meadow cut carried out by the CountrysideNK Ranger using an Allen Scythe. A self propelled pedestrian mower with a reciprocal cutting bar. The cuttings were left for a couple of days to allow any insects, amphibians and small mammals to disperse. Parts of the meadow will remain uncut over the Autumn and Winter to allow insects-particularly butterfly caterpillar larvae to complete their life cycle.
ALT Three volunteers raking up the dried meadow cuttings using traditional style wooden hay rakes. Ideally the cuttings would be baled. Without an available baler the cuttings will be composted in site.
ALT Three of the volunteers having repaired and topped up a dead hedge that had been previously damaged by trampling. New coppiced stakes were added and topped up with saved tree prunings cut back by the CountrysideNK Ranger along the Eastgate Road footpath earlier on in the week.
ALT A volunteer cutting back vegetation around a wooden sculpture. Using hand tools. The sculpture subject itself open to interpretation could be seen as a jumping fish or a bird.
ALT Cowslips in the earliest days of Spring
ALT Followed by white frothy Cow Parsley
ALT Followed by Oxeye Daisy
ALT Ringlet Butterfly
ALT Meadow Brown Butterfly nectaring farmland Creeping Thistle
ALT Gatekeeper Butterfly nectaring Common Fleabane on Lollycocks Field, an urban Local Nature Reserve
ALT Common Blue Butterfly. This individual fought off a Meadow Brown for this prized Common Fleabane on Lollycocks Field.
ALT A brown framed interpretation board featuring pictures of some of the flora and fauna that can be found on Millennium Green
ALT A cropped overall picture of the board featuring some of the Millennium Green wildlife
ALT Magenta coloured Common Knapweed against a backdrop of Oxeye Daisy that features on the board and as seen by the Hill Holt Wood CountrysideNK Ranger this morning
ALT A Common Blue Damselfly that features on the board and one as seen this morning by the Hill Holt Wood CountrysideNK Ranger
ALT A swathe of Oxeye Daisy in the Spring Meadow on Lollycocks Field Local Nature Reserve.
ALT A close up of three Oxeye Daisy against a blurred background.
ALT A swathe of Oxeye Daisy against a backdrop of a large lake and trees on the Millennium Green horizon
ALT A swathe of Oxeye Daisy against the backdrop of a limestone wall at the entrance to Millennium Green
ALT A group of six volunteers
ALT The Lollycocks Field meadow path after mowing by one of the volunteers. The path divides an area of discrete woodland fringed by Cow Parsley and a meadow of perennial herbs and grasses including Cow Parsley, Oxeye Daisy, Meadow cranes-bill and Common Knapweed. All of which are or will eventually follow on from the meadows earliest flowering perennial Cowslip. The meadow is fringed to the right by the now well established wildlife hedge planted in 2022
ALT Russian Comfrey in the foreground a damp loving plant and an excellent nectar source for bees. Growing amongst Cow Parsley, Great Willowherb and other emerging plants including Hemp Agrimony and Common Fleabane
ALT An open area of grass mown by one of the volunteers with tall vegetation retained at the edge. One of three interpretation boards funded by the 2022/23 Blue Green Corridor Project with the “Compass Bench” in the background. The bench was installed some 20 years ago, constructed by a Bourne Grammar School student with Oak timber extracted from Chambers Wood, Lincolnshire
ALT A Whitebeam tree amongst Cow Parsley against a background of trees, shrubs and a cloudless Lincolnshire sky
ALT The boardwalk leading down past a damp area smothered in bright yellow Creeping Buttercup. Cow Parsley in the foreground in front of trees, shrubs and blue sky.
ALT The shaded Hazel copse path fringed by Cow Parsley against a
ALT Red Campion wildflowers on a bank
ALT A group of volunteers removing overwintered Great Willowherb stems by hand and using rakes and pitchforks to clear up. Great Willowherb has become a dominant species on the field and is starting to encroach areas of greater flora interest. Removing the matted overwintered stems has opened the area up revealing Russian Comfrey and Common Knapweed rosettes whilst allowing further selective mowing in the future.
ALT Three of the days volunteers representing Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire!
ALT Pitchforks and rakes in a cleared area against a backdrop of retained overwintered Great Willowherb and Reed Canary Grass. Potential nesting ground for Mallard Ducks and a great Spring foraging area for insect eating birds such as Wren and Chiff Chaff.
ALT Clumps of Common Frog spawn in sunlit water 12 March 25
ALT A view across the scape against a background of overwintered wet grassland. Marsh Marigold plants emerging from the water.
ALT How the scrape started back in September 2022. An area of Great Willowherb initially cleared and a shallow sloping scrape dug out by hand by local volunteers
ALT A refurbished nest box that was found on the ground earlier on in the year reinstalled in woodland
ALT A section of hedge laid earlier on in the year with volunteers to improve its value as wildlife habitat found vandalised this morning.
ALT One of the laid hedge pleachers twisted and wrenched out of the hedge
ALT A pop up dog poo drop zone at the Memorial Hall entrance to the site. A popular spot for this particularly selfish habit. Bins are provided on site.
ALT Six of our Lollycocks Field Volunteers during a break behind a barrow of tools
ALT Log pile habitat creation using recently coppice felled willow and bramble cuttings
ALT Creating a small dead wood log pile using cut willow branches
ALT Removing the far reaching bramble briars from a Hawthorn tree using a high pruner.