South Thoresby Warren Revisited

In 2009 I explored the newly opened nature reserve known as South Thoresby Warren. The reserve was originally a field which over the years became a sand pit, then a landfill site and finally an established nature reserve. I had been meaning for a long time to revisit to see what it is like now. Yesterday I got round to making the sort 11 mile trip to have a look.



This photo was taken in 2009



Yesterday this is now the view



Lots of brambles and teasels. Last time the only visitors were myself and Bobby, the lurcher companion I had then. This time I met a couple walking with their two dogs. We had a short chat while I made a fuss of their dogs and they, the dogs, did their best to encircle me with their long leads. They seemed to be regular users of the reserve and explained it was not looking at it best this year. Most of the land in on a rise and is suffering from lack of rain. Normally there is an abundance of fruit on the brambles but not a single one now.

I did spot a couple of small tortoiseshell butterflies



The plentiful supply of teasels should attract various finches



The rough hard ground made for slow walking and as my hip joint was complaining I left the wooded area for exploration on a future visit.



I had taken the main A road to get there but decided to use the country lanes on the way home. A much more relaxing driving experience.

South Thoresby Warren

How time flies. It has been ten years since I first visited and wrote about South Thoresby Warren, Lincolnshire. This piece of land was once a sand quarry, then used for land fill and finally made in to a small nature reserve open to the public. Yesterday it was a toss up as to whether I cut my grass or we had a trip out. As it looks as though the weather is going to become changeable with showers forecast the trip out won.

 

We both enjoyed a stroll round the shorter route, just having to double back at one stage as we were heading out instead of round. I sampled the sights and sounds and Penny sampled a whole lot of new odours.



The reserve consists of a mixture of open grassland and a small wooded area. New native trees are being added.

For a change I made the photos I took into a slide show with a soundtrack of sounds recorded while we had a short rest on one of the benches provided.



As there was a stiff breeze at times there is some wind noise and a few flowers moved too much for sharp photos. Disappointing in that I saw not one mammal, a few birds rushing about, and just one bee.

 

The only insect which stayed still was this beetle I found resting on the car door on our return.