Unusual sightings in the woods!

Our attention has been back down to Rusland woods this week and our Atlantic rainforest restoration work. This is partly funded by a grant from the Westmorland and Furness Council, and the generosity of our members and supporters through our Earth Raise appeal and our own rainforest appeals.

The funding means we can really kick start work on the ground. So while the tendering process with local fencers takes place, and tree surgeons are working out quotes for us for some serious tree felling and fencing work – we got to work ourselves with the volunteers.

Westmorland Council staff volunteer in the woods

We had a bumper turn out with 23 people and it was fantastic to welcome some Westmorland and Furness Council staff, to explain what their funding was helping us to do and for them to muck in alongside our other volunteers and help us do some of the work.

They all worked in the refugee resettlement team, so in very different jobs with different challenges to us. It was fair to say at the start there were not many smiles or much looking forward to their day (the weather was not looking promising). But by the end, they were beaming with enthusiasm and recommending all teams come for a day with us! It just shows the magic the outdoors can work 😊

We were not short of things to do – bracken to clear from the tree enclosures so we can give them another dose of the sheep fat treatment Trico to help repel the deer over the winter; invasive holly to cut back; wall repairs to do; and alongside our experienced tree surgeon volunteer Pete, some thinning.

What’s a Coupe?

Coupe: (pronunciation ‘koop’): Forestry & Woodland Management: A coupe (sometimes spelled coup) is a single, geographically recognizable patch or compartment within a larger woodland. In traditional woodland management like coppicing, a forest is divided into multiple coupes. Foresters cut a different coupe each year on a strict rotation cycle. This method ensures a sustainable, annual harvest of timber while preserving the health and biodiversity of the broader woodland.

Our aim is to get 7 sizeable coupes (cut back sections) in place over the winter so that we can plant them up next year with different species to those in the woods now. This will give the woods diversity not only in species but also in age structure, which will in turn make them more resilient. Before the fencers can come in and do the coupes, we need to clear the existing trees in those areas, not only to physically get the fences in, but also because if we leave the existing trees in the coupes we will just end up with more trees of the same species.

Spot coupe seven – and seventh coupe revealed after the braken is cut back

So, Pete was on hand to help us do some thinning. He cut down, and at a safe distance behind we followed on to clear up the brash and stack the wood to form deadwood habitat piles. The biggest challenge was finding the coupes. Although some had been marked up, we spent a lot of time marking them so they were clearer and discussing the trees to come out.

There were fungi all over the woods to see, lichen and bryophytes to identify, and we were lucky enough to get a special sighting of a beautiful and unusual ‘Merveille du Jour’ or ‘Marvel of the Day’ moth, wows! And – a script lichen – (Graphis scripta) a crustose lichen known for its distinct reproductive structures that look like handwritten script, hieroglyphics, or tiny scribbles on tree bark.

A Merveille du Jour moth and a script lichen at Rusland woods

Volunteer with us

Next up on the workparty list is the wildflower plug planting at Mazonwath on the morning of 13^th Oct: https://www.friendsofthelakedistrict.org.uk/event/mazonwath-wildflower-planting/

dry stone walling at the same place the next day, and then back down to High Borrowdale on 3 Nov : https://www.friendsofthelakedistrict.org.uk/event/high-borrowdale-workparty-031126/

See all our events here: https://www.friendsofthelakedistrict.org.uk/events/