RSPB Dungeness hay cut

Hello everyone,

We had an exciting week last Thursday as we continued we our red clover spreading. This year we used machinery so as to be able to cut more hay. Two mowers were used, one by RSPB and the other by Rye Harbour Nature Reserve and with a group of volunteers we raked the freshly cut green hay, put it into plastic bags and then took the hay to Rye Harbour and Little Cheyne Court windfarm to spread. We must have raked and collected well over 60 black bin bags full and many thanks to the RSPB and Rye harbour and their volunteers for helping with the day.

Green hay is a method used to disperse seeds. It must be cut and removed on the same day other wise the seeds can become very hot in the bags and this will reduce their viability. We hope this will become an annual event at the reserve and a great way to disperse locally native red clover and other wild flowers to other nature or conservation areas around our release site.
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The Sunday Times Scottish University of the Year 2009/2010
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland,
number SC 011159.