Category Archives: Nature Notes

Updated Preliminary Ecological Appraisal

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We are delighted to report that we have now received an updated Preliminary Ecological Appraisal of our outdoor nursery site.

The report states that “There was no field evidence of protected species found during the survey”. The report contains an Ecological Constraints and Opportunities Plan which will guide our development. This will include making sure good practice is followed in relation to

  • removing any non-native species (Spanish bluebells and montbretia are noted as examples)
  • protecting plant species (native bluebells for example should be retained)
  • protecting nesting birds
  • installing root protection areas for trees and
  • making sure any lighting doesn’t negatively impact on commuting or foraging bats.

There are several ecological enhancements suggested such as creating a wildflower meadow, making hibernacula from deadwood, retaining and creating wetlands, thinning woodland to encourage the under storey to develop and installing bird and bat boxes. These are exciting suggestions and challenges and we look forward to developing these with our children.

The report can be read in full here.

Echoes Ecology Visit

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We are pleased to say that Kay and Heather are back on site for us today updating the Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (PEA) they conducted for us last year. This documents the range of habitats present and looks for signs of any protected species and also suggests improvements that can be made to benefit wildlife in the environment. Last year’s report stated that “There was no field evidence of protected species found during the survey. There is suitable habitat for nesting birds and commuting and foraging for bats” and that no follow up surveys were recommended. Today Kay and Heather are updating their report to include a survey of the area to the other side of the walled garden where we plan to locate the shelter for our outdoor nursery.

Preliminary Ecological Appraisal

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Echoes Ecology have now completed their PEA of our proposed site in Gillies Hill Community Woodland. Their executive summary records “There was no field evidence of protected species found during the survey. There is suitable habitat for nesting birds and commuting and foraging for bats. If proposed works are to be undertaken during the breeding bird season (March to September inclusive), then any areas of the Site that need to be cleared of vegetation must be shown to be free of nesting birds prior to works commencing. There are no other recommended surveys.”

Echoes Ecology report lists several species from the Scottish Biodiversity List which may be present in the woodland – these include bats, toads, hedgehogs, red squirrels and native bluebells. We have seen lots of bluebells this spring, we regularly see toads and have once spotted a red squirrel. We need to keep our eyes peeled for the rest!

cvn-echoes-ecology-report-compressed.pdfDownload

April Volunteer Day @ the Walled Garden

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We were pleased to join with so many people at the mid month volunteer session in the Walled Garden at Gillies Hill Community Woodland today. The garden is literally springing into life and there were many jobs on the go including digging over and planting potatoes in a new bed, fixing the door to the poly tunnel, clearing the ever present glass and rubbish, planting strawberry plants and planting a new willow dome. It’s great to see changes and improvements as a result of everyone’s hard work. Despite the long list of jobs on the go there was time for a chat while enjoying a well earned cuppa.
Our job today was building a willow dome and, if we say it ourselves, we were very pleased with the result. It has a little bit of growing to do as we were maybe a little bit over ambitious with our planning but ambition is never a bad thing 😉
We are looking forward to watching it grow!

Growing Time

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We’ve been getting on with planting our vegetables in the Walled Garden at Gillies Hill Community Woodland this week. We’ve been planting the beans, turnips, carrots, courgettes, onions and beetroot that we sowed before the Easter holidays. So far we have filled one of the beds where the old greenhouses used to be. Next week we hope to get our raised bed planted too!

CVN Orchard

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We are very grateful to Aldo for making a lovely new sign to go beside the fruit trees in our orchard in the walled garden. Amos helped the children find a good spot to put it up. Our apple trees are already covered in blossom and there are leaves on the pears , plums and cherries. The children are hoping to be able to harvest some fruit next week!

We are a #ForceForNature

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We celebrated Earth Day this week in the woods – what better place??
We have been fortunate to have received fruit trees from The Tree Council and today we planted them in the orchard area of the Walled Garden Gillies Hill Community Woodland. Our children are looking forward to harvesting apples, pears, cherries and plums! It was a lot of hard work with some very exciting finds (worms, bees, butterflies, frogs). Our children are indeed a #ForceForNature