Walking boots at the ready NCVS!
This week the NCVs were enjoying a week off from tasks. Hurray! No getting prickled with holly or dealing with footpaths in need of repair. No! Instead they took a walk on Dallowgill Moor with Tracy and Mike Johnson of Harper Hill, who had presented a great moorland management training session online a few months ago. Now it was time to meet up with them in person, on the moor, for the second part of the training. Even better - the aim was to have lunch at the shooting lodge, provided by the AONB (thanks chaps)! The photos below will give you a flavour of the day.
The AONB sign at the parking area was reassuring.
At least we knew we'd arrived at the right place!
Everyone arrived in their cars...
...apart from Paul, who put us all to shame when he
zoomed in on his bike looking like a Tour de France racer.
Then it was time to get started - it was too cold to stand around for very long.
Mick led the way and kept stopping to point out various moorland management
strategies. After all - that was what we were all here to learn about, wasn't it?
Yes - for example - these miniature toll booths on the stream bridges.
No - not toll booths! They are deadly DOC (Dept of Conservation) traps.
They trap the stoats, weasels and rats that predate the grouse chicks.
They allow other mammals to pass through unharmed.
In case you are interested....
There is a constant influx of predators onto the moor that threaten the success of the breeding grouse population. (Grouse are naturally occurring, native birds - they are not bred and released like pheasants.) The number of animals trapped each year can vary enormously. Last year 400 stoats were trapped. One female can have a litter of 10 young. Do the maths to see how many predators were kept at bay.
Every so often you would come across a cat's litter tray.
No! Not a litter tray - this is a grit station, each marked with a white peg.
In case you are interested....
Each tray contains grit that is needed by the grouse to help grind up their food in their crops. From New Year until 6 weeks before the start of the shooting season the grit is medicated to provide some protection from a parasitic worm. Medication is halted at the 6 week point to ensure that the drug does not enter the human food chain.
At one point the weather was so cold everyone's legs dropped off.
No! Come with me ....
... there you go - legs were still intact.
They were just investigating this beautifully constructed stone
shooting butt, so cunningly concealed the grouse don't notice it.
In case you are interested....
The estate covers 6000 acres and managed by 3 game keepers. The shooting butts are all in straight lines across the moorland. Shoots can only take place if there are sufficient birds on the moor to allow the population to recover. It is the keepers' job to keep a check on grouse numbers. Last year 300 brace were taken - some years it is more and others less.
The hot weather conditions last year meant that many chicks died through dehydration and the lack of insects in the first couple of weeks of life. A lot of the money generated from the shoots goes towards managing the moor.
This is one shooting butt that the shooters can use
without having to quarantine for 10 days.
Now - why has everyone got their cameras out?
Ahhhh! Cute little curlew chicks!
The moorland is full of all kinds of wading birds -
thanks to all the hard work put in by the game keepers.
Oh dear. Careless use of a BBQ?
No! This area of heather has been burnt on purpose to stop
it getting too high and woody.
In case you are interested....
Patches of heather are burnt on a 10 year rolling programme. This allows new growth to come through which the grouse feed on. The process is a carefully controlled 'cool burn' and can only take place when weather conditions are right. The fire has to pass over very quickly so only the top of the canopy is affected. This ensures that the underlying vegetation or seed store is not damaged.
There's a nice footpath.
No! It's a fire break. These are mown through
the heather to ensure the fires do not spread.
Far over there was the raucous sound of a black headed gull colony.
(Sorry - photograph does not show the birdies themselves!)
Is that good?
No!!! The guano from the pesky gulls enrich the soil
and allow rushes to take over.
The rushes (foreground) blanket out everything else so
need mowing, then weed wiping with round up to kill them
off in August/September.
The brighter green band at the back was treated last year.
Why's everyone going off-piste?
To see this green area.
Weeds?
No! It's sphagnum moss. The most important plant of the moor.
Without it global warming would go sky high,
so everything is done to ensure its protection.
Mick demonstrated how the sphagnum holds water and gradually decays, year on year, locking away vast amounts of carbon into the ground.
The peat layer on Dallowgill is not very thick.
In case you are interested....
On some of the higher areas of moorland in Yorkshire peat can be many feet deep. You are not allowed to burn heather on peat that is more than 40cms deep. This is because if it catches fire it will just go on burning.
There are a number of streams across the moor.Some run off to the River Laver and others to the Skell.
So that's good? Isn't it?
Well - you don't want too much water draining off the moor.
In case you are interested....
The moor needs to be wet for the good of the moss and the wading birds. Water drainage management is yet another task for the gamekeepers to keep on top of e.g. blocking the streams to slow the flow.
Here are two ponds that do this beautifully.
And here is a third.
How lovely!
Yes - especially when you can sit outside
the shooting lodge and admire it!
Not only a good view point but a
perfect place to lay out the tasty buffet lunch ...
...and learn about the conservation work done on the moor.
There is even a loo!
You have to read the instructions carefully before using.
That's a lovely shade of blue that Mick has painted along the bottom of the lodge.
No! It's a nice shade of blue but Mick hasn't had anything to do with the decor.
The local sheep have decided that the building needed
a make over and rubbed their blue dyed sides along the walls.
A standing stone?
Well. It is a stone that is standing, but it is not like one you would find in a stone circle.
It's probably a boundary marker dating back to monastic times.
Other large stones alongside the Dallowgill moor road mark out the route
of the 'coffin road', where men carrying coffins to burial sites used to rest.
Well - that was a lovely training session. Now for the walk back to the cars.
A 5.5 mile round trip with the homeward stretch a lot sunnier
and warmer than at the start of the day!!
A big thank you to Mike and Tracy for this really enjoyable and interesting day. Keep up the good work. You are doing a grand job!
