Hungry sawflies

The sawfly larvae (left) munch off the leaf
leaving the stems

If you go for a walk in the deer park at the moment, you may notice something a little strange about the bracken in the north end. A large patch of it has turned brown and on closer inspection, you will see that the leaf part has been eaten away. The culprits are a species of sawfly who are slowly but surely eating their way though the bracken. This isn't a partiular worry but it is a point of interest as I've never seen anything that enjoys eating this plant quite so much!

WWII blast shelter

The volunteer team has been busy over the last few weeks finishing off the fencing project on Tern Meadow and we have now moved on to the other side of the river and Ismore Meadow. There is an old hedgeline that the team have begun to tidy up and trim back so that the new fence can go in front, and Colin and I have been felling some dead elms to prevent them from falling on to the fence in the future. The woodland contains more WWII structures, including two blast shelters that we will be clearing out so that visitors on our new walk can see them. The brickwork is in remarkably good condition considering these shelters were built over 60 years ago. Each trench has a small room at one end where several people would have been able to hide if necessary, but the trenches themselves would have protected people from debris if a bomb had been dropped nearby.

We also have a working holiday in this week. They are putting up a new fence in the deer park that will make up a section of a new walk that will open next year. With all this fencing, new paths and the upcoming hedgelaying, autumn's going to be busy!