BEES Urban Nature Reserve

Marsh CinqefoilDo you know what rotting chicken carcasses smell like? I’m sure you can imagine it, but I advise you not to. We arrived at the Reserve prepared to be disappointed by the state of the place after a prolonged period of anti-social behaviour (drug use and discarded paraphernalia), but had not come prepared for the stench of repeated fly-tipping from All Saints Road. Luckily the breeze meant the smell was intermittent (or is that wishful thinking?). 

On the plus side there was no sign of dangerous rubbish. And the marsh cinquefoil and other flowers were looking good. A water lily opened slightly in the afternoon sun, the greater spearwort will be out in the next week as will the flag irises. And we saw a frog for the first time in years. The newt population looks good. One of the ponds looks unhappy – a murky sandy colour. We will add some oxygenating weeds to see if that helps, and in the winter we will do some tree thinning on the bank to increase the light levels getting to the pond.  

We gave the paths a thorough cut and dug out some of the mat of arch angel in the woodland area.