First visit to Brown Edge

Today I was out at Thorswood nature reserve near Stanton in North Staffordshire, certainly not the first time I've been there or even blogged about the fantastic reserve but this was a first.  The nature reserve is split into three land parcels; Thorswood, Blakelow and Brown Edge, the latter being today's destination.

Find out more about Thorswood nature reserve here - http://www.staffs-wildlife.org.uk/reserves/thorswood

Brown Edge is an area of heathland to the north west of the calcareous grassland of the main section of the nature reserve.  Its bizarre how two such contrasting habitats can be found in such close proximity.  The visit was part of the Trust's ongoing vegetation monitoring work looking at the condition of the heathland.  As well as looking at structure I was also on the hunt for heather beetles, or their larvae at least, as areas of dead heather showing signs of the beetle had been found.  Sure enough we found heather beetle larvae on a couple of plants, but as these are a native species found across the UK their presence isn't overly worrying.  Thanks to the monitoring work the Trust is undertaking we'll be able to keep a check on whether the beetles are becoming a cause for concern.

Heather beetle Lochmaea suturalis larvae

The heathland is grazed by a herd of cattle (not just this little one!) to keep in good condition

After Brown Edge we headed across the road to Blakelow, a different area of heathland within Thorswood nature reserve.  This area of heathland is very much a restoration project as the area has been over taken by scrub, bracken and bramble.  Over the last couple of years the Trust has used pigs to up root the bracken and bramble but in 2014 we've also used a horse drawn roller to bash the bracken.  A horse was used as the site is too difficult to access with a machinery.

The main highlight of the visit to Blakelow was the discovery of a family of redstart!  At least 3 birds were seen in a section of scrub along a dry stone wall.  Look carefully below at the terrible photo and you might just see one of the juveniles peering back at you.

I've kept saying "we" a few times in this post.  That's because my mate Jack Ward was along for the ride and was key at finding both heather beetle larvae and the redstarts!  As well as helping me on many occasions Jack also runs Alba Wildlife, a fantastic outlet and promotion for his film making skills.  Take a look at his work on the link below.  At present his work is regularly featuring on the Wildfowl & Wetland Trust (WWT) weekly video blogs, which you can watch via his blog.

Take a look at Alba Wildlife here - http://albawildlife.com/about.html