Sustead Scything

‘Haysel’ is the season for making hay – a new word for me. This year’s very dry weather has meant far less hay and, what grass there is, is very dry indeed. So this morning’s work party on the Sustead sites – for which 15 volunteers turned up – involved less scything than usual; but it was certainly not easier work as the grass had become quite matted and clumpy in places.

We finished work started on Sustead Common a few weeks back then tackled the Surveyor’s Allotment, followed by the Roadside Nature verges. It was quite a stuffy morning so we had two breaks – but the work was all done by midday.

The highlight of the day was finding a colony of recently disturbed Common Carder Bees in a hole in the ground near the scrape on the Surveyor’s Allotment.