As the forecast blizzard didn’t appear, and for a change we weren’t wading in water or the ground frozen solid, we made a start on Sunday 10th February 2013 with planting the elm trees. Thanks to a grant from Transpennine Express and the Forestry Commission we have been able to buy 20 elm trees as a part of the Great British Elm Experiment, along with some other equipment and desirables like nest boxes.

So, we planted ten of the trees in the copse so that they’ll be convenient for any passing White Letter Hairstreak Butterflies. In the next few weeks we’ll be planting the remainder further south on the site to fill in any spaces and hopefully attract more butterflies.

Similarly nearly thirty nest boxes will be erected in the copse and around the site to house our large colony of Tree Sparrows. At the same time on Sunday we installed a new ground bird feeder (hidden to prevent vandalism) replacing the old one that the squirrels had chewed large holes in. We also moved away some of the brash from the ongoing hedge laying to prevent problems if a flood arises.

All in all a busy day. Next official work session is 17th March 2013, although a number of us may be on site on the 14th February 2013 working on the laying, planting and nest boxes.