Mid August and the heather on the common is looking better than it has for many years. Clearing invasive scrub during the winter has allowed the heather to thrive without competition for water and light. We can now look out at areas of heather which were largely hidden behind birch and willow last year. There is also the best crop of blackberries ever which provides more than enough for foragers and wildlife.

All parts of our society have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and Netley Common is no exception. With lockdown, our group activities were put on hold as was the case for all other volunteer groups. For a time the rangers were only dealing with urgent tasks, and got behind on routine work such as grass cutting. The small ranger team has also been depleted adding further to their backlog.

We had originally planned to resume our weekly tasks in September, but made a start earlier as some of the paths had become badly overgrown. We have had four tasks in July and August and recruited two new volunteers. Cutting back bramble and woody growth has allowed space for social distancing and made it easier to get a mower to the grass. Our ranger Martin came on Monday with his ride on mower and did a fine job of mowing the edge of the paths and up to the brambles. His Monday group of experienced volunteers also rebuilt a kissing gate and repaired two others.

During lockdown we saw greatly increased numbers of visitors to the site. This is to be welcomed, although for a time we had large amounts of litter. A number of regular users have increased their litter picking and it is now pretty much under control.

During May and June there were a number of large bonfires on site. Thankfully they did not spread to the heather or bramble, but burning large amounts of dead timber is always very bad for wildlife. Dead wood provides food for ants, beetles, worms and fungi. These feed reptiles, hedghogs and several species of birds, notably the woodpeckers. Simply put, bonfires on the nature reserve kills wildlife.

Our weekly tasks are set to run from 2 September until the end of March with a few weeks out for Christmas and New Year. We will be continuing to clear invasive scrub from the heather and join up the areas of heather. After the blackberries have finished we will also be removing some of the bramble to widen the paths and improve year round access.