It is the start of February and although spring is on its way we can’t escape the very wet winter we have had this year. It has not stopped raining for what seems like forever, but in reality, approximately 30 days or more. However, the Links with Nature team and our dedicated volunteers still powered through with tasks, most recently at Elemore Park. 

Elemore Park, previously a golf club, is now a mosaic of habitats with a variety of capital work completed from contractors and volunteers, school groups, cattle grazing and more. As part of the work, we have created a bird screen structure by the ponds, north of the site. The ponds themselves were overgrown with vegetation; contractors have excavated and desilted to balance the pond, providing more diversity with more open water, new flora to seed and various fauna species.

One of the access improvements at the park has been the installation of a new bird screen. The screen itself is situated east of the ponds, allowing access from the public footpaths. Contractors installed four large structural posts, ready for the Links with Nature team and volunteers to install the uprights. The team then had the pleasure of working alongside a North East willow artist Ruth Thompson, from Sylvan Skills, to create the bird screen using willow and hazel. 

Ruth started her business in 1994 and has worked across the North East with community and groups, offering workshops, fencing, sculptures and more.  You can view more about Ruth, the work she does and her fantastic sculptures here - https://sylvanskills.co.uk/. 

Before the weaving sessions, in January, Ruth introduced the team to a local allotment site that grows willow, previously used for Greenbank protection projects. The team and volunteers harvested the willow, graded and bundled it all up ready to be stored in the containers at Elemore in preparation for the screen.  

The first session on the Monday involved installing the ten upright posts for structural support for weaving. Links with Nature trainees, Mandy and Jonathan, transported the materials to the area where the volunteers were ready and waiting with the tools to working.

On Tuesday, the team met with park manager Anthony, for access to the willow bundles. 

The group helped gather the bundles and tools ready for Ruth to demonstrate and lead the weaving technique. She had demonstrated cleaving and pairing with the volunteers, our volunteers created hazel stakes for further structural support and away they went weaving. The park manager and community safety team Kellie and Brogan had a little go too! 

Nearing the end of the session, we bundled up the remaining willow to take back to the container, ready to continue on for the Wednesday. 

With more rainfall overnight, much of the site was saturated and boggy. Ruth led a new group of volunteers to the screen, trainee Jonathan and a couple of volunteers gathered extra resources of willow from the site and engagement officer Pip, Ruth and volunteers continued on through the continuous rain and mud with the weaving. 

The screen is designed with accessibility in mind, with windows at varying heights. The windows allow access to watch the wildlife on the pond, whilst the screen blocks out the site for birds to continue with their natural behaviours.

After a very soggy couple of days, last of the weaves were completed, windows tidied up and hazel pairing for added detail, we are finished! We will return once dry to treat the structure to improve the lifespan. 

A big thank you to Ruth for leading on the task, giving the conditions and challenges, and for allowing our Links with Nature staff and volunteers to assist with the creation of the bird screen structure. 

Another big thank you to our Conservation Trainees Mandy and Jonathan, Engagement Officer Pip, volunteers, Park Manager Anthony and Community Safety Team Kellie and Brogan for braving the weather and helping