The weather has been a challenge to us and the wildlife on our sites throughout the spring and summer this year. The extended dry season has been taxing to those working on the site management or completing monitoring work. Weeks of uncertainty over the lack of rainfall impact in our area have been turned into months, with no significant volumes of rain to help the parched ground recover.

The grassland sites have been showing the effects for several months, with poor growth, reduced displays of flowers and cracks showing where the soil is shrinking. The presence of such an arid habitat has been witnessed by casual visitors and experts alike, with the wildlife flora and fauna hardest hit. The trees are now starting to retrench and numerous reports of early dying leaves and dropped limbs are coming in. The worry is with every spell of rain that there will be another round of failed branches, due to a flooding of the tree cells overloading the already stressed stems.

Site work has continued as best as we can, with the key focus on the repair and maintenance of fences and gates, especially where this supports grazing animals. The boundaries are vital to retain the livestock, but also to prevent unauthorised access. Unfortunately, we have been subject of repeat episodes of fence cutting and vandalism, with one weekend seeing 16 different sections of fencing compromised at Pegsdon Hills. The staff and volunteers had to virtually check all fences on every visit and thankfully we had very few instances of animals escaping. Both the daily fence checking and additional repairs were on top of the already busy workload of anticipated fence repairs and lambing.

The breeding from the sheep flocks have been very productive for us this year and the youngsters have been boosting the Herdwick and Hebridean sheep numbers we presently hold. We have seen a growing number of the older sheep affected by a bot fly, which feeds in the sheep’s nasal cavity and causes heavy scarring over time. To treat this is very difficult and forces us to use an insecticide we can’t use on the Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), where their grazing is required. This means we can’t deploy the sheep as we typically would to tackle fresh growth of scrub and bramble, so this will be a challenge for us to get back on top of in the autumn.

The Highland cattle are not affected by this issue thankfully, and collectively the animals are having a good impact on the grasslands surrounding the SSSIs at both Pegsdon and Knocking Hoe. 

Blow’s Downs has had no animals for several months now and we are hoping they will return to aid in the management of both this site and Cottage Bottom fields. 

The fencing at the Paddocks has largely been replaced, using compensatory funding from the National Grid following their onsite impacts during an insulator and cable refit last year. They will further support our work on this site, with infrastructure and equipment to aid us manage the grazing and tackle the encroaching scrub.

The River Flit has received some clearance and bank work in recent months thanks to the Ivel and Bedford Group of Internal Drainage Boards. They have been addressing a bank scour at Flitwick Moor that has been steadily expanding and threatening the nearby footpath. The water flow speeds up as it passes between two large trees as their roots narrow the channel, this high-speed water is then directed into the bank and cutting back the toe until the top of the bank falls into the river. 

To remedy the issue there are a number of tree trunks now driven into the river bed and the branches piled behind to build up a barrier to water flow. The whole area has been covered with locally sourced soil and protected by a wooden fence to remove any danger to walkers on the footpath.