Once again we've had extremes of weather in February, from snow to sunshine and everything in between. The continued rain continues to throw up problems on the reserve with trees giving way in sodden ground, we found this willow up in the grazing marsh. Luckily it hadn't had time to compromise the fence and a little chainsawing sorted it out. The cows really appreciated the branches; they love to nibble on the new growth and this brings those tasty buds within their reach!

If you've been looking out from the visitor centre, you may have seen that the sand martin bank has been cleared and refreshed. This nesting bank was put in many years ago and whilst it was a success for the first few seasons, the birds were drawn away to the current quarry works by an abundance of fresh sandy banks - their preferred nesting habitat. Last year we noticed some birds showing an interest in our bank again, so we've cleared it and repacked the holes with fresh sand for them to burrow into. Fingers crossed they like what we've done.

The end of February sees an end to many of our winter work projects, especially those that involve felling. This winter our fabulous corporate work parties have helped us to clear marginal vegetation from one side of Teal Lake. Here a band of gorse, broom, bramble and birch had formed a fairly impenetrable tangle, blocking access to the water and encroaching into our species-rich acidic grassland, which is home to many rare plants. By clearing this scrub we've varied the vegetation coverage in this area, making it more attractive to a wide variety of species and providing a clearer view over the lake from the path. Without our work parties we wouldn't have been able to carry out this work, so thank you for your hard work this season.

Although we have a great mix of habitats at Whisby our woodlands can be very even aged in some places as the reserve has grown up together over the past 35 years. This means that our trees are all at the same stage and sometimes a bit close together, forcing them to become 'lollipop' trees as they reach all together for the light. We've been choosing areas across the reserve to carry out thinning in the woodlands, creating more light and space which promotes the growth of flowering plants, giving the trees themselves more room to grow and improving and varying the age structure of the woodland for the benefit of the wildlife that calls our reserve home.