Category: Projects

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Monitoring the Meadow: Big Butterfly Count

Matt Tomlinson of the Friends of Strawberry Field and UEA Meadows is organising another of his events to promote interest in the developing meadows of the Yare Valley:

The Big Butterfly Count

and use of a bird song id app.

Saturday the 15th of July 10-11am

Meet at the Strawberry Field top gate (or find us on the top of the field if running a bit late).

Matt writes: “Roger Carter from our group has kindly agreed to do the Citizen science project – The Big Butterfly count, on Strawberry Field. This will simply involve recording butterfly species seen in a 15 minute time window, we will likely use the 2 patches of wild marjoram to do this.”

Will you see this one? Photo: Kate Stephenson

“I thought that after that we could use a great little app to see which bird species are around the field margins by recording 10 or 20 minutes of bird song using the merlin bird id app, the app will identify which species are heard. If you would like to do this please upload the app and test that it’s working. It’s really a great app to have!” 

More about the big butterfly count is here.

The Merlin Bird app is here.

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Conservation Volunteers Welcome

The YVS regularly gets enquiries about opportunities for active conservation work, and so it is pleased to report that the Norfolk Environmental Action Team (NEAT) is looking to recruit volunteers. Their work has included improving parts of the Yare Valley green corridor.

Mark Webster of the Team writes: [Here] … is July’s programme*.  We will finally be free of the dreaded Balsam scourge after the chance to explore a new section of riverside near Drayton, and then it’s on to tackling bracken to rescue our precious heaths at Mousehold and East Ruston.  85% of Britain’s heathland has been lost over the last 150 years, so we can’t afford to lose any more, but we have now done over 500 task days on Mousehold since 2005 (when our digital records began)!  We have an intriguing new site to work on in Diss, and we will also be weeding wildflower meadows in the centre of the city at Rouen Road and on the Marriott’s Way.  If you get the chance, walk along the river at Wensum Park to see how spectacular our swathe of cornfield wildflowers looks there!  I am also delighted to say that part of the Oulton Broad site will be open to the public soon, so we need to get ready for that too.

Please do send us anyone that you can think of, they will always be made welcome.  Did I mention that we have nice biscuits, with a coolbox to stop the chocolate melting!”

July’s Programme and more details about volunteering are here.

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Plant surveys on Strawberry Field – Saturday 3rd of June at 10 am -12

Matt Tomlinson of Friends of Strawberry Field and UEA meadows is organising a baseline survey of the plant life on the evolving meadow. Some of you will have heard Matt speak at the recent Eaton Eco Fair and/or at last year’s YVS AGM.

Matt writes: “As last year was the first proper year that Strawberry Field was managed as a wildflower meadow, we are keen to get a baseline for the richness and diversity of plant life on the field. This will give us an idea of the positive impact of this new management (cut, collect and removing arisings off site) and add to the value of the site. It will also give data to the Norfolk biodiversity information service. They are calling for this kind of baseline data and would very much appreciate our data.

A bit early, but you might find a fabulous Bee Orchid. Photo: Matt Tomlinson

The surveys will be by Quadrat (a simple square grid) thrown on the ground and a set number of plants marked if present (rapid grassland assessment). Experienced people will be in the teams to help out. If we have enough people, we can look for plant species not yet recorded on the meadow.

As always everyone is welcome and it’s a great opportunity to get up close with the meadows flora and insect life.”

The more of us there, the more we can achieve, so please join Matt and the Friends on Saturday 3rd of June from 10 am – 12. Meet by the gate at 10 am (if a bit late wander down and look for activity on the meadow).

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New Yare Valley Meadows come to life

Many of us enjoyed the last year’s AGM talk by Matt Tomlinson about the work he is doing, with the help of volunteers, to promoting wildflowers on the Strawberry Field and UEA Dev Farm meadows. Matt has now sent us a March update on progress:

“I hope you all had a good start to 2023, now the clocks have changed and spring feels much closer. The wildflowers on the meadows are now showing the first signs of life. 

A few developments to let you know about –

We had the results of the soil analysis back from the lab, for the UEA meadow (next to the lake) we are helping with …. 

Over the last few days Yellow rattle (the important meadow maker) has started germinating on the UEA Dev Farm meadow. This is very encouraging – big thanks to all who came and sowed the wildflower seeds last autumn, I can also see some wild carrot coming through as well. It will be a gradual change, but if we persist we can help transform the UEA meadows to become rich and diverse.

I will be giving a talk and guided walk around Strawberry Field on the 13th of May as part of St Andrews church Eco Fair ….”

Strawberry Field wild flowers. Photo: Matt Tomlinson

The “Friends of Strawberry Field” is a local community wildflower meadow project. It helps to manage the Strawberry Field, the bank on the Bluebell Road cycle lane, and the Dev Farm meadow at UEA – around 5.3 hectare (13 acre) of potential wildflower meadow. Find out more on their Facebook Page.

Some Friends of Strawberry Field. Matt is on right. Photo: Matt Tomlinson
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Restoring the River for Wildlife

The Environmental Agency is funding Norfolk Rivers Trust to work on schemes that will increase meanders in the river, increase the speed of flow of the water, and trap more of the sediment that it transports. At the same time the schemes will improve water quality and provide marginal cover and habitat for river dwellers, such as water voles.

Newly constructed Berm Photo: John Elbro

Woody berms are being installed at various points along the banks of the River Yare between Cringleford Bridge and the UEA campus. The Woody Berms are made up of woody material, mainly alder, layered at the river margins and held tightly in place by stakes and cross braces. In places this has necessitated cutting back some of the vegetation on the banks to provide the materials.

As time passes reeds and other marginal vegetation will become established in the berms to give a more naturalised appearance and create habitat. An idea of what the mature berm might look like can be seen in a Wessex River Trust booklet.

Yare Valley Water Vole Photo: Lynda Clarkson

The Norwich Fringe Project has also been using natural materials to restore sections of bank that have become eroded at Marsden Marsh. It has inserted Faggots at places with serious bank erosion, these will help to consolidate the bank and reduce further erosion.

Bank restoration on Marsden Marsh

Explanatory notices have been put up to explain the works. A clearer map can be found here.

River restoration notice
Bank restoration notice
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Project Page Added

A project page has been added to the website. It is a page for anyone interested in publishing modest sized projects on aspects of the Valley e.g. the wildflowers to be found on Eaton Common. The first project to appear is a School Community Project by Jamie Kidd. It features the display boards to be found in the Valley on the UEA campus and on Marston Marsh.

Busy Bee on a project
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Path upgrade for Cringleford Meadow

The path in Cringleford Meadow has long been muddy and difficult in times of bad weather. Both the path and the carpark are having their surfaces improved by laying compacted hardcore. The new all-weather path surface should make it easier to stay on the path and avoid trampling the vegetation in attempts to bypass the mud.

Present hard path end

The Meadow will be closed from Monday 16th May for 8 weeks. On site notices give the  diversion details. YVS understands the contractor will enable evening and weekend pedestrian access to the riverside path when and where safe to do so.

The full works comprise improvements to the path surface of the existing Yare Valley Walk alongside the river between Cringleford Meadow Car Park and the footbridge just north of the A11 flyover. The car park will also receive improvements with a gravel filled plastic grid system, similar to that at Danby Wood carpark, to regularise the surface and make the car park easier to use.

One of the alternative routes uses the not so widely known path alongside the flyover that was brought into being as part of the McCarthy and Stone development.

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Can you help with a green space survey?

An economics student at the University of East Anglia, as part of her dissertation, is investigating the usage of greenspace and parks in Norwich and how these are related to health outcomes and attitudes of Norwich residents.

“There is considerable evidence that usage of and access to green spaces can significantly improve health outcomes in the population. However, throughout the UK, studies have shown that green space is unequally distributed. There is limited research investigating the actual usage of green spaces and how it varies across different urban areas. I hope to help investigate this with my dissertation and see how changes could be made to benefit the Norwich population.”

You can help by responding to her survey here. The survey has been approved by UEA ethics committee, it does not collect identifying information, and data responses will be stored securely online to meet GDPR and will be destroyed after the project is completed.

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“A Wilder Norwich for All”

Sweet Briar Marshes Appeal

Norfolk Wildlife Trust has launched an appeal for funds to purchase and manage Sweet Briar Marshes (36.6 hectare) in the Wensum Valley green corridor. 

The Wensum green corridor, in common with the Yare Valley green corridor, is threatened by the surrounding urban development, and the purchase of the marshes by NWT would be a valuable contribution to safeguarding the future of the corridor. The Wensum joins the Yare  at Whitlingham.

“Close to the heart of Norwich lies Sweet Briar Marshes: 90 acres of fen, rough meadow, grazing marsh, old hedgerows and young woodland. This mosaic of habitats, unusually for a city centre, was arable farmland until as recently as the late 1990s, and today provides a treasure trove of nature, wildness and peace.

But this uniquely wild place is increasingly surrounded by urban development, and its sensitive ecology – including a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) – is in danger of being lost forever…

Today, with the chance to secure the land, restore its biodiversity, and enhance it for people and wildlife alike, we have the remarkable opportunity to rewrite the story of Sweet Briar Marshes.

We want to create A Wilder Norwich For All with Sweet Briar at its centre an urban green space that is both rich in wildlife and enriching to the lives of the communities it serves; accessible to and valued by all the species who share it.”

More about the appeal is here and there are also some FAQs. The appeal is for £600,000 and Aviva has offered to match £ for £ every donation up to £300,000.

 

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Help make the Strawberry Field a Wildflower Meadow on Saturday 16th October

The Strawberry Field is on the Bluebell Road next to the McCarthy and Stone site. It has now had its end of year cut, but for wildflowers to prosper the cuttings need to be removed.

Matt Tomlinson is organizing another working party to remove cuttings from at least part of the field. He writes:

“I plan to lead a work party to clear the clippings from the very top of the field and dispose of them under the hedge at the top of strawberry field and under the hedge at the top of the donkey sanctuary (we have permission from the UEA). This area is the richest and certainly the most diverse, for plants, on the field. 

If you are free anytime on Saturday the 16th October from 10am (I will be down all day) it would be great to see you and any help is very much appreciated.

Please bring a rake and or fork. 

It is forecast to be a nice sunny autumn day on Saturday”

Please come along if you can and help get the job done.