Melwood in Summer melwood.btck.co.uk A Time for Observation, Reflection and Planning Most of the hard work in Melwood takes place in autumn and winter, when the wood and its wildlife will be least disturbed by out activities. Summer is a time to see if our objectives in winter management have been met with the response intended. What can appear a nice bright clearing in March can look quite dark and shaded by August. This has certainly been the case this summer. Those clearings that still catch the midday sun demonstrate their value in that most have been populated by Speckled Wood butterflies. This is a very territorial species, so most clearings are occupied by just one or occasionally two specimens, which wander out of their area in search of a mate but soon get driven back by their neighbours. Much the same sort of behaviour can be seen amongst cliff-nesting sea birds in search of a suitable ledge on which to raise their chicks. Summer observations in Melwood will help to guide winter pruning and coppicing. A notable feature of this summer has been the amount of dead wood that has come down off the Ash trees in the strong winds. Walkers using the wood need to be aware of this risk and perhaps consider a different route on very windy days. This is, of course, a general safety precaution in any wood, not just Melwood, but is especially true where Ash dominates, as it is so brittle.
Nettle-leaved Bellflower makes a summer splash of colour in sunny clearings
The meadow was given a partial summer cut at the beginning of July, and these areas have now returned to short green grassland. The remainder of the meadow was full of blue Field Cranesbill flowers at this time. The full meadow was cut in early August and the felled grass raked off before smothering smaller plants. The cranesbill leaves have already come through strongly and attractive as it is, this is now becoming a worryingly dominant species. The diversity of species in the meadow remains weak and will be a challenge for future years. 22