CROW (Conserve Reading on Wednesdays)
Wednesday, 8th June 2016
Clayfield Copse, Caversham ~ Brash Clearance

CROW returned to continue clearing the brash left after Council widened the rides, a task they had started in April. Some of the material was burnt .....

..... and some stacked to form habitat piles.

While a bonfire is always to be enjoyed, on a warm and humid day that enjoyment does have its limits so shortly after lunch work stopped and we took a walk around the site.

Taking a break!

Something we said?

The impact of ash dieback is becoming increasingly obvious on those parts of the site which had previously been agricultural land and are now being allowed to revert to woodland through natural regeneration. Here ash currently predominates although fortunately other species such as birch, beech, hawthorn and oak are starting to establish.

Lesions such as these are common on trees suffering from dieback.

On a more positive note, a variety of flowers were to be seen, including elder, .....

..... common spotted orchid, .....

..... bee orchid, .....

..... and dog rose.

Created: Friday, 10th June 2016
Photographs: Alan Stevens