Adey Baker
Member
One of the threads lost in the 'Big Crash' was my report on how the Quarry Company at Croft Quarry, Leics., having created, by accident or design, a good wildlife habitat, had set about ruining it by putting pathways straight through the middle of it!
They have been helped by a £30,000 grant from the county council for 'Environmental Improvements' which basically means easier access for humans and has precious little to do with improving the environment!
Although they've named the area 'Thurlaston Brook Nature Trail' I doubt very much whether they'll attract many extra nature-lovers to the area - far more likely to be the usual dog-walkers, kids on bikes, vandals, etc.
A survey of wildlife in one of the adjoining villages over a few years around the millennium included some of this area; talks and slide-shows have also been given in a couple of villages, so anyone who may be interested in wildlife will already be aware of the site and a few have visited it on occasions.
Likewise, reports have been sent in to both the county's ornithological society and dragonfly group with records and photos being posted on their respective websites, so it is well-known amongst the wider county nature-loving community.
Basically, those who are most interested in nature are the ones who would least want the area to be opened-up with a 'nature trail.'
I've re-posted the original set of four photos that I took a fortnight ago, below, together with a couple more from this morning.
Look, for instance, at the bottom left of the first group, how duckboarding is being installed - in an area that doesn't get very wet at all and certainly never floods!
Now compare that to the hardcore path in the second pair of photos and see how that path, at ground level, is already under water in parts and from only rain-water, as well! Look what it'll be like when the brook floods in the bottom shot!
Although most of the work is being done just to put pathways in, see how, in the last shot, they've got it all wrong when they do actually put something in for the wildlife! The small pool that has been dug has replaced a reed-bed that was a breeding-area for, for instance, Sedge Warbler and Reed Bunting - I don't know what the Sedge Warblers will think when they return in April (just in time for the Grand Opening Ceremony!) but there was no sign of any Reed Buntings in the whole area at all, this morning.
Presumably they've gone elsewhere to look for a quiet spot and that's what many birds will have to do when they're confronted by a steady stream of people going along that area of duckboarding right next to the pool - how bad is that for designing a 'nature trail!'
Rant over!
They have been helped by a £30,000 grant from the county council for 'Environmental Improvements' which basically means easier access for humans and has precious little to do with improving the environment!
Although they've named the area 'Thurlaston Brook Nature Trail' I doubt very much whether they'll attract many extra nature-lovers to the area - far more likely to be the usual dog-walkers, kids on bikes, vandals, etc.
A survey of wildlife in one of the adjoining villages over a few years around the millennium included some of this area; talks and slide-shows have also been given in a couple of villages, so anyone who may be interested in wildlife will already be aware of the site and a few have visited it on occasions.
Likewise, reports have been sent in to both the county's ornithological society and dragonfly group with records and photos being posted on their respective websites, so it is well-known amongst the wider county nature-loving community.
Basically, those who are most interested in nature are the ones who would least want the area to be opened-up with a 'nature trail.'
I've re-posted the original set of four photos that I took a fortnight ago, below, together with a couple more from this morning.
Look, for instance, at the bottom left of the first group, how duckboarding is being installed - in an area that doesn't get very wet at all and certainly never floods!
Now compare that to the hardcore path in the second pair of photos and see how that path, at ground level, is already under water in parts and from only rain-water, as well! Look what it'll be like when the brook floods in the bottom shot!
Although most of the work is being done just to put pathways in, see how, in the last shot, they've got it all wrong when they do actually put something in for the wildlife! The small pool that has been dug has replaced a reed-bed that was a breeding-area for, for instance, Sedge Warbler and Reed Bunting - I don't know what the Sedge Warblers will think when they return in April (just in time for the Grand Opening Ceremony!) but there was no sign of any Reed Buntings in the whole area at all, this morning.
Presumably they've gone elsewhere to look for a quiet spot and that's what many birds will have to do when they're confronted by a steady stream of people going along that area of duckboarding right next to the pool - how bad is that for designing a 'nature trail!'
Rant over!
