Last October, LCWO commissioned an ecological survey of Kingfisher Corner, to get an up-to-date picture of the state of the area (the last survey was in 2013 as part of the BioBlitz) and more detail to inform a management plan of the site going forward.  Our intention for the site is to be as good as it can be for local flora and fauna, whilst also being a lovely safe place for local residents to enjoy, and BioScan conducted the site visit and created a report with this in mind.

View the report and resulting management plan online

The report from the survey, complete with recommendations for site care and development going forwards, is now online and can be viewed here on this site’s new Kingfisher Corner page.  In addition, the page is host to the new management plan, devised in partnership with Oxford City Council, who co-manage the site, and under the watchful eye of Council Susanna Pressel.

Work has already begun – the brambles have gone!

Anyone who has visited the site in recent months should have noticed a big change, as the brambles have already been seriously cut back by the Council, as agreed, and the information board (built for us by Sid – thanks Sid!) is now host to some pretty new info sheets we’ve put together.  The next step is for Julian, Carl and their team is to dig out the big roots, ready for us to sow some wildflower seed in the new areas.

Last Wednesday, we met for a walk about on site with Carl Whitehead, Oxford City Council Volunteer Co-ordinator, Julian Cooper, Landscape and Countryside Supervisor Oxford Direct Services and Councillor Susanna Pressel to discuss ongoing management.  The good news is that the site is set to expand, stretching from the kickabout in an arc, with a mown bay for the bench; in the longer term, more work will be done to link it back up to the car park by the community centre, and to strengthen the wildlife corridor along the Bulstake Stream to Tumbling Bay.

As well as encouraging otters, planting hedges to hide and eventually replace ugly fencing, and creating a Hazel copse, there are a number of measures which will be led by LCWO, for which we will be looking for volunteers.

Coming soon – relaunch and balsam bashing – get involved!

We’re excited about this new phase of Kingfisher Corner, and to celebrate, we’re running a relaunch event on the afternoon of Saturday April 27th.  More details to follow, but this will be a family friendly event, with support from our Oxford City Council partners, and include:

• sowing wildflower seeds
• constructing and putting up bird and bat boxes on site, with additional boxes for some to take home
• an introduction to balsam bashing, an invasive and unwelcome species we have on site, which needs to be kept in check – read more about it’s managment from page 18 in the BioScan ecological survey

If you are keen to get involved, make sure you are signed up to our newsletter or volunteer mailing list (both of which you can do via this form), and look out for full info in our March and April newsletters.