Spaces for Nature

We are really happy with the condition of the watercourse running through Ockwells Park and Thriftwood. The vegetation is looking lush and the water quality is good: we can see right to the bottom of the stream. Maintaining healthy freshwater channels is important for biodiversity and and for us!

The Rangers were back at Oakley Green Cemetery Memorial clearing blanket weed. An impressive number of pond creatures were discovered, including at least 20 newts and large numbers of water beetles. This shows that the pond, now more naturalised, is becoming a healthy freshwater ecosystem. By removing surface weed we help promote plant and animal life underneath, and are excited to see how the memorial pond continues to develop!

The Rotary Young Environmentalist Competition is a competition organised and promoted by Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland (Rotary GB&I) through local Rotary Clubs. There are three stages to the competition, each designed to support and encourage the development of environmental skills. Some stages may have more than one round.

Find the Rotary Club Young Environmentalist Award Information Pack and Entrance Form here

https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:fc5e834b-3a8d-419e-a9c7-5b46edcc2aaf(External link)

Just in time for the Jubilee weekend, Wild Hurley got together to plant a beautiful wildflower patch on the edge of their Village Green. Their display is mainly perennials including mallow, birds foot trefoil, fox and cubs plants, lesser knapweed, oxeye daisy and columbine - to hopefully come back year after year! Their project has already inspired another resident to plant wildflowers in their own garden. Well done Wild Hurley!

On a scorching day in June, 50 fantastic volunteers from Mars Chocolate in Slough helped care for our newly planted trees at Ockwells Park. They worked hard in the heat to carry and spread bark chip to the trees, and remove any weeds. This mulch will help insulate the young trees from heat and cold, and aid water retention in dry periods as well as preventing grasses growing too close. We are really grateful for the work Mars did - this would have been a mammoth job without them!

Every month RBWM facilitate conservation volunteers at Allen's field in Ascot. This month we were removing graffiti from some caterpillar lifecycle sculptures in the reserve. We used a mixture of sanding and painting to refresh the area.

As well as this we conducted a small grassland survey. We found sweet vernal-grass, red fescue, cock's foot, field wood-rush and the evocatively named and very lovely yorkshire fog. The following wildflower plants were noted, all in quite a small area: common mouse-ear, creeping cinquefoil, red clover, birds foot trefoil, common vetch, meadow buttercup, dandelion and ribwort plantain. We plan to carry out a more systematic survey next month when there will be more in flower, making them easier to identify.

If you're interested in volunteering yourself please email rosie.street@rbwm.gov.uk for more information.

Our rangers have been working hard again to clear surface coating weed from two ponds. This algae grows fast and can block sunlight from reaching under the pond, preventing aquatic plants from photosynthesizing and oxygenating the pond. If this is allowed to continue it can deplete the pond of life: a process called eutrophication. Not what we want in our new wildlife pond at Oakley Green Cemetery or Trinity wildlife pond. Thanks Ranger Tom and Ranger Jason for clearing this and giving freshwater wildlife the chance to flourish.

RBWM are working with a fantastic artist, Stu McLellan, to produce a fresh new series of signs for our nature reserves. These are already up across Ockwells Park, Trinity Wildlife Area and Battlemead, and soon to be found at Braywick Nature Centre.

We love Stu's designs because we hope they can be engaging for children whilst also informative to adults. We hope you enjoy learning about the wildlife in your local reserves!

This is the perfect time of year to witness one of nature's delights. Head over to Little Thrift wood and follow the newly created head hedge path. Either side of you is a forest of beautiful bluebells. Take time to enjoy this spectacle - it will be gone in a month till next year!

The fencing was put in by a contractor and some of our fantastic community: the Windsor and Maidenhead Conservation Volunteers. We can't thank them enough for providing a beautiful walkway for the public to enjoy the wood whilst keeping the bluebells protected from trampling.

To remember the lives lost by Covid 19, a Memorial Wildlife Pond has been created at Oakley Green Cemetery.

This pond is filled with native freshwater plants, to attract a thriving ecosystem. We hope to see newts, invertebrates and plenty of water plants. A selection of bulbs have been planted around the pond to provide spring interest to the site.

This project has been championed by Cllr Donna Stimson and Cllr Helen Taylor.