SUSTAINABILITY

FEATURES
count y b otanical recorder, a
member of the Militar y
Conser vation Group, who has
completed several sur veys in the
past month, confirme d that
Foxglove has the highest number of
plant species recorded on one site,
any where in the entire vice count y.
A blackcock with a necklace collar and a radio transmitter attached. This bird was translocated from
Wolsingham, County Durham, to Coverdale in November 2013. It has been breeding on Feldom ranges
throughout 2015 © John Hayden
Altogether 145,000 new birds have been
ringed in Foxglove and on the local
training area; more than 204,000 have
been processed. The Constant Effort Site
(CES) programme has just concluded its
23rd year and no compulsory visit days
have ever been missed which is
remarkable. The data accrued on bird
phenology at Foxglove exceeds that of
any other CES site in the UK. Examples of
the totals of species ringed can be seen
in Table 1. The detailed recoveries we
receive are really informative and the
movements to and from Catterick of
lesser redpoll recoveries alone can be
seen in the map, Figure 1.
Foxglove is in the Flagship Pond
scheme and is considered to have
one of the best 100 wetlands in the
countr y. Species like the mud snail
Omphiscola glabra, marsh stitchwor t
and pillwor t, water vole, great
crested new ts and marsh cinquefoil,
all f lourish in the pools which are
fed by pipe from an underground
aquifer. In just the last month a
prominent Freshwater Habitats
consultant has described Foxglove
as having the greatest densit y of
water voles he has ever come
across; he was also astonished by
the number of great crested new t
tadpoles found as par t of his sur vey.
Another visiting sp ecialist from
Hampshire stated the wetland
would qualif y for the top ten in the
countr y, not the top 10 0! The
This is a nature reser ve for people.
The biodiversit y increases ever y year,
but only as a result of the hard work ,
management, foresight and
determination of a team of like ­
minded individuals who nur ture the
benefits and tackle the challenges.
The reser ve fulfils a multitude of
roles and the MOD should be proud
of the wide ranging goodwill and
mutually shared benefits enjoyed by
the stakeholders, 660,000 visitors,
and the 250 0 species that have
shared this special place.
Foxglove Covert Local Nature
Reserve is a Defence Infrastructure
Organisation site. It forms part of the
Service Delivery Training component
in the North of England Region and
is managed by a team of volunteers.
Activities cover all of the Training Area
as well as the reserve, and several
of the reserve enthusiasts are also
members of the Catterick Training
Area Conservation Group.
Major (Retd) AJ Crease, late SCOTS DG
Deputy Commander - Executive Offcer
DIO Service Delivery - Training North
Ratty enjoying the fruit provided by the Foxglove volunteers © Danielle Nichol
38
Sanctuary 44 • 2015