Having pulled and trampled Himalayan Balsam growing in patches around the Pond on the Wednesday with students from Bootham School in York, this Thursday’s work party was able to focus first on bringing some control to vegetation in the enclosure running north along the Ings Dyke where we planted tansy a few years previously. This wasn’t an ideal spot for the plants due to the shade but where the sun was able to peek through we found that the plants were flourishing if suffering competition from Cleavers and other vegetation.

Thanks to Judi, Pete, Masha, Julie, Anne and Mick the enclosure was cleared and a few Tansy Beetles discovered at the same time. After a quick break for a drink we returned to the Pond and did some delicate work there where Creeping Thistle or Cleavers were getting too close, and again a number of active Tansy Beetles were found making the evening’s total of over a dozen which is good for the time of the year.

We’ll borrow a couple of Tansy Beetles from here for the Insect Festival on Sunday 7th August in Museum Gardens, returning them later ready for their summer underground vacation. The next work party is planned for 10:30 onward on Sunday 21st July when we’ll be at the north of the site bringing under control the western bank of Blue Beck where it joins the Ings Dyke that appears to have become the victim of Creeping Thistle rather than Himalayan Balsam, after which we’ll double check on the plants on the bank of New Meadow a few hundred metres north, where we usually work.