Spring pamper for the Lady of the North

Since the start of this year, a team of staff and volunteers from Northumberland Wildlife Trust have been working to ensure the woodland area at Northumberlandia, aka The Lady of the North, looks its best for wildlife and visitors.

Forty bird boxes, designed primarily to attract tree sparrows, have been assembled by volunteers ready for installation in the woodland later in the year. These will enable a variety of birds, especially tree sparrows, to nest in them.

A new bench made from recycled plastic has now been installed in front of the woodland’s bird feeders allowing visitors to take time to sit and enjoy the sights and sounds of the wildlife around the Blagdon Lane site that has long been a refuge for bank voles, mice, insects, amphibians, worms, fungi and minibeasts.

Northumberlandia is also home to five of the UK species of amphibians, which include smooth, palmate, and great crested newts as well as frogs and toads.

Finally, 60 meters of hawthorn hedging has been planted around the woodland’s edge to create habitat for pollinators that will feed on its flowers, and birds that will eat its berries in the winter and start to nest in its branches next spring once they have grown more.

Peter Ernst, Northumberland Wildlife Trust Estates Officer says:

“The £1,000 donation has made a real difference to our work in the woodland area and is very much appreciated.

“Work never stops on the site, and once January arrives, we start working to ensure the site looks its best for the 100,000 visitors that walk through the gates each year.”

“It was very much a race against time as we had to complete the tasks quickly, despite the bad weather at times, to minimize disruption to wildlife.”

Made of 1.5 million tonnes of rock, clay, and soil, Northumberlandia is one hundred feet high and a quarter of a mile long. Built by the Banks Group, on land donated by Blagdon Estates, Northumberland Wildlife Trust is the managing agent, working on behalf of the Land Trust.