Supernumerary rainbow

An interesting day spent at Castor Hanglands NNR looking at the grasslands and their management with Natural England staff. This site has suffered from inconsistent management for many years, partly as a result of difficulties getting the right grazing animals, and partly because  different managers have had different ideas about appropriate management. 

The new Senior Reserves Officer is keen to look at the site anew, and try to come up with a more consistent approach, which is a bit of a management nightmare because of the varying nature of the soils within individual compartments, and the negative impacts of issues such as increases in aerial nitrogen, which tends to favour some of the more aggressive grass species, and a decline in the number of deer, which has allowed scrub invasion to take hold.

The rain mostly stayed away while we were out on site, but in the late afternoon there was a thunderstorm, followed by this supernumerary rainbow, with just a corner visible from our back garden. 

In the evening I took part in a Zoom meeting to agree all the necessary actions for a family picnic taking place at Etton-Maxey NR this weekend. It was supposed to be a low-key affair, but has grown into something much larger. KP and I are creating an Art Trail, which has also required a lot more work than we first envisaged! Hopefully, the sun will shine and people will come....