Seeds, Scrapes and Beetle Banks
It’s February. It is still winter. But things are moving. Signs of life reviving can be seen. In the woods, and the snowdrops and daffodils are in bloom. Some of the birds are pairing up for spring. Life looking forward.
And the people who care for these fields and meadows at Chadkirk are looking forward too.
At Chadkirk we have been very fortunate to have time, money, energy, skills, expertise that have been expended in the past to give us our glorious SBI meadows. In particular, the Coronation Meadow is a rare local gem. Since 2005 it’s biodiversity has been enhanced and managed. Now that work has moved into a new phase.
In the winter months, the diggers did their work, scooping out material from the ponds and scrapes to help them support more wild life, in particular Great Crested Newts (GCN). The excavated material has been spread around the ponds to create Beetle banks. Soon additional wildflower seeds will be scattered onto these small bankings. The carefully selected seed mixes which will germinate in spring have been chosen for the damp soil conditions around the pond margins and the dryer slopes of the bankings.
Together this work on the ponds and meadows will enhance the rich biodiversity of Coronation Meadow and Chapel field.
To enable this to happen, many groups have been working away, working together to improve Chadkirk for the benefit of wildlife and the people who visit this very important site. Groups working together include Stockport Council, Natural England (NE), and the Greater Manchester Ecology Unit (GMEU).
Stockport MBC together with GMEU applied for funding from Natural England who provided the grant for the pond clearance work and subsequent maintenance. SMBCs Countryside Officer provided local knowledge of the site which helped to enable this to happen. Another vital link in the chain was the Friends of Chadkirk who have paid for the designated seed mixes to be sown in the spring. The seed was purchased with a grant from Stockport Hydro.
It’s in the nature of ecology that everything is connected, so while this project is about protecting and enhancing habitat for our Great Crested Newts there will be so many benefits for other wildlife too, including frogs, toad, dragon & damsel flies, water beetles with the wild flowers providing a nectar source for myriad invertebrates.
And the funding for the management of the ponds by NE is for 25 years ensuring these ponds continue to support wildlife well into the future. Looking forward this scheme will change Chadkirk Meadows for the better well into 2047, helping to sustain the Great Crested Newts breeding at Chadkirk, and enhancing both the Coronation Meadow and Chapel Field helping nature flourish. Lapwings nested at Chadkirk for the first time five years ago thanks to the inclusion of a large ‘scrape’ in Broadheys Field and despite the corvid population have raised a number of fledgelings.
It is hoped that Chadkirk will continue to support these species and so much more in the years to come.
A GEM NOW AND A JEWEL FOR OUR FUTURE.
With Thanks to All those who have provided their time or funding to help create and preserve a wonderful wildlife habitat.