Deer Fencing around the Central and Eastern lakes

Since finishing our upland path repair programme for the year we've been working lower down on the property. To date, much of our work has been in the National Trust owned woodlands in Ambleside, Windermere and Troutbeck.

Our first job was extending a deer exclosure at Common Wood just outside Windermere. We originally worked on the exclosure back in 2020 but it was decided that we should double its size.

The exclosure will allow the woodland to regenerate without any grazing by deer or sheep, which should give an opportunity for woodland flowers to come through without being nibbled off.

Deer Fence at Common Wood

Once we'd finished at Common Wood we moved on to Skelghyll Woods on the outskirts of Ambleside, which is home to some of the tallest trees in Cumbria. This area had recently had a considerable amount of Larch extracted so the deer fence will once again allow for natural regeneration of both trees and ground flora.

Skelghyll deer exclosure

As a bit of a break from deer fencing we spent a couple of days gathering slate from one of the National Trust's disused quarries near Coniston. The stone will be flown up onto Gowbarrow Fell later on in the year and will be used to build drains.

Trailer loaded with stone

Our final deer exclosure was at Hird Wood at the end of Troutbeck Valley, near Kirkstone. Here the predominantly Alder woodland has been freshly coppiced, which will allow more light into the fenced off area again helping to promote woodland flower growth. All the exclosures are a minimum of 50m x 50m and will remain in place for at least five years.

Deer Fence at Hird Wood

Just outside Hird Wood are the remains of Low Kingate stone circle. Few of the stones are still standing and three have been incorporated into a dry stone wall (two of which can be seen in the photo below). It would have originally been a concentric (two-ringed) circle with the inner circle standing upon a mound and the outer circle being about 20m in diameter. An unpolished stone axe was found at the site in 1893.

 

Hird Wood/Low Kingate stone circle

Winter estate work

After returning to work from our winter breaks, we set about a variety of estate work around the Grasmere area. Our first job was to repair some damage caused by Storm Arwen to a couple of dry stone walls at Hunting Stile. 

The walls had been knocked down by low hanging branches and possibly also disturbed by tree root-plates, when the trees were being buffeted about during the strong winds. We removed the offending branches to stop any future damage and set about putting up the walls. One of the collapsed walls contained a large slate that had been used for hanging the top pin of a gate (photo below). The slate had to be carefully lifted into place, utilising our full team of four people, so that the gate could be re-hung.

Repaired wall and gate

Once we'd completed the wall repairs we turned our attention to erecting some owl and bat boxes around High Close Estate. The boxes had been kindly donated by the local Age UK's Men in Sheds project which offers support for older men to share and learn new skills. We'll keep a check on them throughout the year and hopefully they'll provide some extra roosting/nesting places to the resident bat and Tawny Owl population. 

Owl and bat boxes

Our final job before resuming our work on the fells was a fencing job at Bracken Fell. Due to the difficult access to the site the materials could only be driven part way. Once everything was unloaded from the trailer we had to load up the power barrows to move the materials to the bottom of the fence line.

Fencing materials

We were repairing over 400 metres of the fence, although the full length was well in excess of 600 metres. The posts, rails and wire all had to be carried by hand through the rough terrain and all the old fence posts and wire that we were replacing had to be carried back out.

First section of fence

The majority of the fence consisted of short sections of strained wire stock fencing.

Wire stock fence

In some areas the underlying bedrock was too close to the ground's surface to dig in the straining post required for a wire fence, so here we put in sections of post and rail as they require less depth.

Post and rail fence

Once we'd completed the fence and carried all the excess materials and old fencing off the site we were straight up onto Loughrigg Fell, filling helicopter-bags ready for the start of another season of path repairs.

Fencing at High Lickbarrow Farm, Windermere.

Over the last few weeks we've been working over at High Lickbarrow Farm in Windermere putting in around 400 metres of stock proof fencing.

High Lickbarrow farm was bequeathed to the National Trust in 2015 and is home to the rare Albion cattle, formerly known as "Blue" Albions.  The Albion has recently been recognised as a UK native rare breed and added to the Rare Breeds Survival Trust's watchlist because of its rarity. High Lickbarrow Farm supports the largest herd in the country.

Blue Albion cattle at High Lickbarrow

The farm covers fifty hectares of land which has traditionally been grazed by only a small number of cattle and supports some fantastic wildflower rich pastures, much of which has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

 Knocking in the straining posts

Our first job was to get the straining posts into position. Usually this is done by hand and one person can generally dig in and tighten into position, two posts each day. As the fence line was so long and undulating, it meant there were a lot of straining posts to put in. Luckily, as the farm provided good access, we were able to speed the job along by getting a local contractor to come in with a tractor mounted post knocker and the whole lot were in place in less than a day.

 Adding the struts

With the strainers in place, a single length of plain wire is attached between each post. This gives a straight line to help align the struts and fence posts. Struts are added to prevent the straining posts from moving while the wire is being tensioned. With these in place we then knocked in fence posts every two metres between the straining posts.

 Adding the stock fencing

Once all the struts and posts were in position it was time to attach the stock fencing. This is connected between straining posts and tightened to the required tension using two pairs of "monkey strainers".

 Attaching the barbed wire

With all the stock fencing completed the next job was to add a single strand of barbed wire.

 Section of post and rail fence

To make sure the fence was completely stock proof we added sections of post and rail fencing between straining posts and other boundaries such as dry stone walls or hedges (as shown in the photograph above).

 Starting work on the gate

To finish off we incorporated a gate into the fence line to further improve access.

Finished gate

You can learn more about Albion cattle by clicking on the link here... Albion Cattle Society 

Tree planting in Grasmere and peat bog restoration work in Ullswater

It's been a busy few weeks since our last post so here's a taster of what we've been up to.
        

Earlier on, in mid-February, we spent a week tree planting on the slopes of Helm Crag. The work was funded by Natural England. We planted 1800 scrub woodland species over an area of 6 hectares, working alongside other National Trust staff and assisted by some of the Fix the Fells volunteers.

As the trees develop, they will help stabilise the soil and reduce rainwater runoff. They will also provide a valuable habitat for birds, such as Tree Pipit and Yellowhammer, mammals and insects.

You can read in more detail about the work on the Central and East Lakes Rangers blog... here, so here are just a selection photos of the work over a very wintery week.

Having a quick debrief on the first day

Planting out the trees

Looking towards Dunnmail Raise on the last day

Later on in the month we spent a day carrying out some peat bog restoration work up on Matterdale Common with the Ullswater team and staff from Cumbria Wildlife Trust.

Over 70 per cent of peatlands in England are in a damaged state, often due to drainage, overgrazing, forestry or regular burning. This damage prevents the peat remaining waterlogged, causing plants to die off. Without vegetation cover, bare areas of peat are formed which rapidly erode. This damage can be repaired by revegetating and blocking drains to help raise the water table. 

The project has been overseen by Cumbria Wildlife Trust who've used digger contractors to do the main bulk of the work, but as a member of the Cumbria Peat Partnership we were eager to lend a hand with areas that couldn't be done with machinery.

Our main job was to plant heather on the bare areas of peat to help speed up the regeneration process.

 Heather plants ready to be planted out

So we took the trays of heather out into one of the two stock excluded areas on Matterdale Common and planted up in the barest patches.

Planting out the heather 

Areas of peat that have eroded (often as a result of grazing, historical peat cutting and water damage) may form steep banks, known as hags. These hags continue to erode, due to water flow and wind damage, forming large areas of bare peat that plants struggle to survive on.

By reprofiling the banks to an angle of around thirty degrees it gives the heather seedlings a much better chance to flourish. Many of the hags have been removed using the diggers but we were able to get to a few areas that the diggers couldn't reach and to also work on some of the smaller hags.

 Grading one of the peat hags

You can see the area where we were working in the photograph below and also the difference between the grazed and ungrazed areas. The area in the distance was fenced off about 10 years ago allowing heather and other peatland plants to return, this should further improve following the recent work.

Bundles of heather used for blocking drainage

You can learn more about peatland restoration on the Cumbria Wildlife Trust website... here.

Woodland boundary repairs in Ullswater

After finishing our path repair work up at Hole in the Wall we've as usual, for the time of year, concentrated on working in the valley bottoms, so far mostly around Langdale and Ullswater.

Since the new year our main work has been carrying out repairs to a woodland boundary in Ullswater. The plantation where we've been working has been recently thinned which will allow more space for selected trees to develop and let more light get through to the woodland floor. This in turn should lead to an increase in woodland flowers and encourage a wider range of other species to use the woodland.

 Lower wall before repair

The work has consisted of two dry stone wall gaps on the east side of the lake below Place Fell. The lower gap had extremely tricky access with the wall being on top of a steep rocky slope which also meant a lot of carrying rock back up the hill before we could start.

 Lower wall after repair

The upper wall, although easier to access, was a much larger job and the stone was a lot more challenging being smaller and irregular.

 Upper wall before repair (bottom side)

 Upper wall after repair (bottom side)

We soon had both walls up and they will now hopefully last a good few years before being in need of any more repair.

 Upper wall before repair (top side)

To allow woodland plants to flourish the woodland ideally needs to be stock-proof. So the final job once we'd finished the walling was to reattach the wall-top-fence to make it difficult for both sheep and deer to gain access.

 Attaching the wall-top-fence to the upper wall after repairs

Looking out for Mountain Ringlets

This time of the year is a wonderful time to see a wealth of different insect species while you're out enjoying your walk. A wide variety of dragonflies and damselflies inhabit the becks and tarns including the impressive Golden-ringed Dragonfly, the Large Red Damselfly and the Common Darter.

 Large Red Damselfly

On a good sunny day, if you wander into any taller vegetation a bit further off the beaten track, there's also a good chance of disturbing moths such as Yellow Shell and Green Carpet or possibly Map-winged Swift, whose larvae are closely associated with bracken roots.

 Map-winged Swift

While walking the fells it's also possible to see a good array of butterflies, including more common species such as the Red Admiral and Painted Lady at lower altitudes and as you gain a bit more height, less well known butterflies like the Small Heath (probably the most common butterfly on the higher fell) and the Mountain Ringlet.

 Small Heath butterfly

The Mountain Ringlet butterfly is a rare and incredibly under recorded species. It is found on mountainous slopes dominated by Mat-grass, at an altitude of between 500 and 750 metres, with the Lake District being to the far south of it's British distribution. The Mountain Ringlet tends to fly close to the ground and will often disappear out of sight as soon as the wind picks up, or the sun clouds over. The best period to see this butterfly is from mid-June until late-July.

Mountain Ringlet

Whenever we are out and about during June and July if we happen to stumble across one of these rare butterflies we always record it's whereabouts and forward on the information to the Cumbrian Biological Records Centre based at Tullie House in Carlisle, here's a link to their excellent website http://www.lakelandwildlife.co.uk/

This year, to try and gain a bit more knowledge about the Mountain Ringlet's abundance, distribution, and habitat preferences Butterfly Conservation are running a survey, and they could do with as much help as possible. If you fancy taking part in this years Mountain Ringlet Survey, have a look at the website of the Cumbria Branch of Butterfly Conservation or download the information sheets below:

Mountain Ringlet Information

Mountain Ringlet Surveyors Notes

Mountain Ringlet Record Form

An introduction to a few upland birds

With recently completing the new bird feeding station at Stickle Ghyll car park and the fresh arrival of many of our spring migrants it seemed like a good time to highlight a few of the birds that we regularly see up on the higher fells.

Probably the bird that's most likely to grab your attention is the wheatear. The wheatear is a striking bird and is often seen in flight showing off it's white rump with a black 'T' on it's tail, sometimes giving it's characteristic 'chat' call. The wheatear is often quite approachable and tends to perch upright on rocks making it relatively easy to observe. It's song is a quite pleasant warble mixed in with creaks and rattles which regularly incorporates mimicry. It tends to nest in a crevice or hole in amongst boulders. The wheatear is an Amber Listed species being catergorised as a Species of European Conservation Concern.

  Male wheatear

Next up is the ring ouzel. A close relative of the blackbird though slightly smaller and slimmer, the male can be easily recognised by its white bib. It's call is a 'tac-tac-tac' reminiscent of the blackbird, and it's song is similar to that of other thrush species. It tends to breed in ghylls, scree and other rocky areas.The ring ouzel has suffered recent population declines (over 50% in the past 25 years) and is a Red List species and of highest conservation priority.

Male ring ouzel

Possibly the most common bird up on the fells is the meadow pipit. It's very similar to many of the other pipits (being small brown and streaky) but once you get on to the fell tops it's very unlikely that you'll see any other pipit species. It nests on the ground in dense vegetation and can often be heard by it's 'sreep' call or by  it's song 'tsee-tsee tseek tseek tsee-er tsee-er'. The meadow pipit is also on the Amber List as it's population has declined between 25% and 50%.

Meadow pipit

Finally the skylark. The skylark could possibly be confused with the meadow pipit though it is chunkier with a thicker bill and has a crest that may be raised, it is also much less common. It is famously known for it's display flight, when the male rises vertically into the air where it sings melodiously often for several minutes. It may also be heard by it's liquid 'chirrup' call. Another ground nester, the skylark has also suffered dramatic population declines (over 50% in the last 25 years) and is therefore another Red List species.

 Skylark

Of course there are many other birds to be found on the fells, such as the chaffinch or wren, but the few highlighted above would not be found in your average garden, and with a little effort should also be relatively easy to identify.

Completing the Bird Feeding Station at Stickle Ghyll car park

As our attention had been focussed on bag filling and helicopter lifts for the past few weeks, there’d been a few jobs that we’d had to put on hold for a while. But last week we had the opportunity to finish them off, before we return back up the fell for another season of upland footpath work.

Our main job was to finish off the bird feeding station at Stickle Ghyll car park. The first thing to do was to create a viewing area,  this involved attaching three hazel panels to a six foot high post and rail fence, which we’d previously constructed back in mid-March. Once they were securely fastened we then cut some viewing holes at different heights, to accommodate people of different heights and age ranges.

 Creating the viewing area  

To finish off the fenced area, a lower post and rail fence was also erected with a small wooden gate at one end. This will provide access to the feeding area, so that the feeders can be refilled when required.

  Hanging the Gate  

The final job was to knock in two long wooden posts to which we could connect a chain between, this would give us something on which to hang the feeders. Once all this was done the feeders were filled up. We are using three different types of feeder which are filled  with either suet balls, a seed mix or peanuts, this offers a variety of food types for different bird species. Our first visitor (a blue tit) arrived almost immediately as the last feeder was hung up.

 Looking out for our first visitor  

We’re hoping that this feeding station will not only help to sustain the local bird population, but also provide members of the public with the opportunity to see a good variety of wild birds close up. As well as common species like blue tits, great tits, and blackbirds other less well known species like goldfinches, treecreepers, long-tailed tits and great spotted woodpeckers have all been recorded in the area over the last few years. There have also been  a few sightings of Lake District specialities such as redstarts and spotted flycatchers, and although they’re unlikely to visit our feeders, having the feeders there may just open peoples eyes a little to the wildlife around them and thereby make them more likely to see some of these other, much less common, species as they head off on their walks.

  What else is out there?

So if you're passing Stickle Ghyll and you've got a few spare minutes why not drop in and see what you can see! Finally, we'd like to say a great big "Thank you" to everyone who has made donations towards this project, your support is greatly appreciated!

Creating a bird feeding station in Langdale

Last week was spent installing new bird feeders and a viewing station at Stickle Ghyll car park.

A small section of land next to the footpath leading up Stickle Ghyll was selected as a perfect site.  A few small trees had to be felled first to clear a way so that the feeders could be viewed clearly. Once this was done the old fence had to be taken down.

Removing the Old Fence

The fence was to be replaced with a 6ft hand made hazel fence. This type of fence was selected because it was more natural to the environment, and looked much better than installing a solid garden panelled fence.

First a number of 8ft post hand to be knocked into the ground to help support the hazel fence.

Driving in the posts

Once this was done rails could be nailed to the posts. These where used to help strengthen the fence and it also provided something that the hazel panels could be tied onto.

The new screen

Work is still underway but the new and exciting viewing area should be completed soon. So get your self down to Stickle car park in Langdale to view some exciting birds close up.