Join us on Wednesday 1st May to enjoy early-morning birdsong on the Trap Grounds. When the Morris Dancing outside The Anchor Inn ends at 7 am, meet us on the canal bridge in Aristotle Lane for a short walk led by Committee member Tom Evans. Bring binoculars if you have them, and be prepared for mud.
In March 2013 we launched a two-year survey of the wildlife of the Trap Grounds. The survey will involve both professional and amateur reporters, helping to compile an up-to-date picture of all the flora and fauna present on the site. Each time you visit the Trap Grounds, please record everything that you see – the common species as well as the more unusual ones: wrens as well as waxwings, buttercups as well as bee orchids. Please click on ‘Wildlife’ (above) to download the standard sightings form.
By popular demand we have reprinted two of our original greetings cards, depicting a Swan admiring its own reflection on the Trap Grounds pond, and Primroses flowering in the woodland. Information about the history of the site is printed on the reverse. The cards, with envelopes, cost 75 pence each, or £2.50 for a set of four, with free local delivery. Click on ‘Galleries’ (above) and scroll down to ‘Greetings Carsd’ to see all the images and download an order form.
Our next work party will be a Rubbish Blitzon Saturday 9th March.We will need an army of volunteers to clear broken glass, old sinks, and rusty metal from the southern woodland and meadows. Please come any time between 10 am and 4 pm and help us to make the Trap Grounds safer for wildlife, dogs, and humans. Children are welcome if accompanied by an adult. Please wear boots and protective gloves; bring a wheelbarrow if you’ve got one, and a packed lunch if you are likely to be on site at around 1 pm. There will also be some forking and digging to do, so please bring appropriate tools if you can.
Our AGM will be held in St Margaret’s Institute, Polstead Road, north Oxford, on Tuesday 19th March at 7.45 pm. Short reports on recent progress and future plans will be followed by refreshments and an illustrated talk about freshwater ecology by Boyd Roberts, presenting some of the weird and wonderful creatures to be found in the ponds, ditches, and swamps of the Trap Grounds.
We shall be working from 10 am to 4 pm – rain or shine. Volunteers welcome. Come any time you like, for as long as you like. Tasks for all ages and abilities, including trimming the paths, lopping branches, and pulling up Ash seedlings. Tools provided, but please wear thick gloves and tough shoes or boots. Hot drinks provided, but bring your own sandwiches for the lunch break at around 1 pm.
On Sunday 11th November, the “Countryfile” progamme at 6.20 pm on BBC 1 will feature the Trap Grounds in a report about proposed new legislation that will make it virtually impossible for any more sites like ours to be claimed as Town Greens. The Trap Grounds was chosen as an example of a Town Green that is valued and managed by the local community. It features interviews and action shots (and a very handsome toad), filmed on site last month. The Town Green item will be shown in two halves – so you have to watch the whole programme to get the whole story.
Our next all-day work partywill be held on Saturday 20th October (10 am to 4 pm), when a team from Oxford Conservation Volunteers will be building a bench in the bird hide, erecting bird and bat boxes, and doing some trial reed cutting. Many thanks to supporters Nigel Cannard for building two tawny-owl boxes, Mick Winter for making six bat boxes and two kingfisher perches, and David Max for making two tree-creeper boxes and two tit boxes.
On Thursday 18th October a BBC crew will be working on the Trap Grounds, filming a feature about town greens for the programme “Countryfile”. We shall need volunteers for an hour from 9.30 am to be filmed doing some conservation work. Please wear boots and thick gloves. Tools will be provided, but bring a pair of loppers or secateurs if you can. The programme is scheduled to be shown on BBC1 on the evening of Sunday 11th November.
We will need help on SATURDAY 6TH OCTOBER, any time from 10 am to 4 pm, to rake hay from the meadows to encourage the re-growth of wild flowers next year; also to stack logs to make habitat piles for newts and lizards. We’ve got some rakes, but please bring your own if you have one. And please wear tough shoes and thick gloves. Children are welcome, but should be accompanied by an adult. Come when you like, for as long as like. Rain will not deter us!