Sunday 2 September 2012

Visiting a Nature Reserve

This afternoon, after a delicious lunch with a friend, (thank you G), she took me to her favourite nature reserve for a walk. The reserve, called Foxglove Covert, is slap bang in the middle of the Army Garrison at Catterick.

It might seem a strange place to have such a reserve, but it has been built up over the last twenty years or so and is now such a tranquil place with an immense variety of wild life. Today was a bird ringing day and there were nets out to catch and ring the birds. They have moth identification days too and there is a special classroom for children to go.

We walked round, we sat in a hide and looked across the still pool with many exquisite dragonflies hovering around it. We watched a heron standing by the edge, and we walked, listening to the sound of water trickling in the stream at the side of the path.

Within the field centre itself there is a welcoming team of volunteers, plus the warden and staff, who are always there to advise, to give information, to dish out tea and cake, should you feel like making yourself a cup.

It seemed to me to be a haven of peace inside a Garrison which, basically, is built to train men for the opposite of peace. Sadly, I forgot to take my camera. But if you wish to learn more about it
and follow events there, then go to http:www.foxglovecovert.org.uk/about/

5 comments:

Heather said...

What a lovely way to spend an afternoon. I saw a large dragonfly in our garden the other day. Strangely it was in the front garden and not in the back where the pond is. I shall take a look at the Nature Reserve's website.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

It's actually not so odd; the huge battle training area in the East Anglian breckland is famed as a home for all kinds of species which are rare elsewhere. The large number of unexploded devices do not trouble the nesting birds but keep them free of human interference.

Dartford Warbler said...

There is a similar area on Salisbury Plain. A place undisturbed by the general public and full of wildlife, despite the more sinister purpose of training human beings to kill each other.

Your afternoon sounds lovely. Dragonflies are at their best at this time in the summer.

Arija said...

It sounds like a delightfully inviting place. What a lovely way to spend a day.

Sorry i have been away so long. Slowly, slowly, I am coming back to life again.

Bovey Belle said...

What a lovely day out. My husband was in basic training at Catterick, back in the day.

In Dorset there is an area which was taken over by the MoD during the war, and the entire village was evacuated (Tyneham it's called). The buildings (bar the church) are just ruins now but it is a wonderful place for wildlife.