It’s been a busy winter planting trees on The Hook Nature Reserve. Thanks to the many volunteers – of all ages – who have turned out to help. We now have an avenue of 55 native trees along the riverside path, a mix of oak, alder, rowan, lime, cherry and silver birch. This will create a green corridor along the River Trent.

We’ve also added silver birch and oak to the woodland to the east of the Holme Grove path. This is now a great area for nesting birds, especially since we’ve asked people to leave this area undisturbed and instead to use the paths at either end.

Our working parties are the first Sunday of the month, meet 2pm at the Mona Road entrance.

Thanks to a ‘Boost for Biodiversity’ grant from Severn Trent we have been able to undertake more meadow making on The Hook. Greenfields contractors have power harrowed a swathe of grassland on the main field and sown a long-season mix of wildflower seed, with extra Yellow Rattle seed, to help weaken the strong growing grass. The area is by the existing grass paths, so you’ll be able to see the flowers up close.

Sections of the orchard have also been harrowed and sown with seed. The aim is to create a Wildflower Walk through this central area of the reserve, adding plant diversity to feed insects and, in turn, birds.

The Yellow Rattle is an annual and will flower and set seed in its first year. Other seeds will germinate, but may take a couple of years to flower, so we’ll have to be patient!

All the seed has been sourced from Naturescape, the local wildflower supplier in Langar Notts https://www.naturescape.co.uk/

Two new species of butterfly have been recorded on The Hook in July 2022. Small Copper and Brown Argus are added to our growing list of 21 species. There are also greater numbers of each species. We think this is because there is a growing diversity of plant life. Once the different meadow areas become established, we hope this will allow more butterflies to breed on The Hook.

However, the drought is causing problems for the newly seeded areas. Although the spring flowers did well, later species did not germinate. Also food plants for the caterpillars are drying up. We’re noting which plants species are managing to survive and flower, despite the drought. Tansy and Yarrow are definitely tough!

The Wildflower Trail will be going up this week, ready for the weekend 9th and 10th July. We’ve worked out a route, starting on the main field this time, as the flowers there are particularly good. From the Mona Road entrance, cross the dyke and the trail starts there, then down the Holme grove path to Marlene’s meadow, the pond and orchard. Take your time, learn some names and discover the many uses of our native wild plants. We’ll have a stall on Saturday, so come and have a chat and look at our photo display.

There’s something magical about watching moths appear out of the darkness to chase the light, as these young faces show at our last moth watch in September 2019. Moth Watch is back this Friday 8th July. It will start about 9pm and carry on until midnight, so drop in and see what’s landed. Bring a torch and some insect repellent – and a chair if you want to stay for the duration. Mike Hill, moth expert, will identify species and will keep some back to show on our Friends of The Hook stall at the Wildflower Trail on Saturday. Use the Mona Road entrance and look out for the bright lights.

A huge thank you to Keith Rainford and Lady Bay Birdwatchers for their help in identifying 35 species of birds. Here is their report:

A record 117 butterflies were seen on July 21st on our weekly survey of butterflies on The Hook nature reserve. After a really tough start to the year, with very poor conditions for caterpillars and numbers of butterflies well down on last year, things have improved significantly in July. We have already seen the 17 species we saw last year and in addition a Painted Lady and, most excitingly, an Essex Skipper. The latter is not a common species in this area, and is difficult to distinguish from a small skipper, but our identification has been confirmed by the Notts butterfly coordinator. The other species seen are: Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Small White, Large White, Green Veined White, Meadow Brown, Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Common Blue, Speckled Wood, Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Red Admiral, Comma, Ringlet, Gatekeeper. Thanks to Dave Pratt for leading the survey and Annette Roe for the photographs.

Enjoy a self-guided trailed through The Hook Nature Reserve and learn about the wildflowers – their name, value to wildlife and a bit about their use over time. The trail starts at the Mona Road entrance and will stay up for a week from 24th July to 1st August 2021

Marlene Cassidy was a founder member of Friends of The Hook and was very involved in the planning to establish The Hook as a nature reserve. She was an active member until ill health meant she had to step back from active duties, although she continued to keep in touch and walked her dog Dusty on The Hook every day. Marlene is pictured on the left in the picture.

After Marlene passed away in April 2021 her friends, with the support of her family, decided that they would like to set up a memorial to raise funds to create a meadow on The Hook in her memory.  Here is the link:

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Marlenesmeadow

This fundraising effort is being led by Margaret Crittenden, a botanist, who is working closely with us and putting us in contact with other botanist experts. Thanks to Margaret, we have David Wood, County Recorder, coming to survey plant life on The Hook. We will also be able to get advice from Mark Woods BSBI recorder on how best to improve the meadows.

The money Margaret is raising will focus on the end of ‘Wildflower Walk’ near the Holme Grove path and will also hopefully fund interpretation boards.