Last week we had a visit from Gail Armstrong (‘Bat Lady’) who is the contact for the North Lancs Bat Conservation Group to advise us on providing bat roosting sites in the new resource centre and looking at the bats we already have on site. Later in the year she will be organising a bat identification walk at Forrest Hills (let us know if you are interested and we will keep you informed). Also she is running a workshop and walk in Silverdale on May 20th (see her website for details). As we have plenty of water - the two lakes and river - we are hoping that we can attract more of the rarer Daubenton’s bats, which feed low over water, by providing good roost and breeding sites.
Our first bats were flying in the warmer weather we had the week before last. We are not sure which species yet but probaby Pipistrelles.
The warm weather also encouraged some of the frogs to start spawning in a shallow pond in Blea Tarn wood.
The Forrest Hills’ heart of daffodils has begun to flower this year! It was planted in 2000 for the millenium and flowered successfully for two years then produced healthy leaves but no flowers for the last few years. Several remedies were tried including adding potash and phosphates, irrigating the area all to no avail. The bulb supplier suggested that they may not have been planted deep enough so we added an extra 3 or 4 inches of soil this year and it seems to have helped although it is not looking like its original self! 
The picture on the right was probably taken a couple of weeks later in the season so there is still time for it to develop! Any other suggestions welcome.
This year we have planted some early potatoes - Ulster Chieftan - in bags in the greenhouse. We use ‘mole hill’ soil in the bags, collected from the golf course. We use our outdoor crops from around June but will hopefully be harvesting these a little earlier. Freshly dug new potatoes are a feature of our seasonal menus for our meeting rooms.
Also coming up are tomato seedlings, peppers, salad leaves and peas. Flower seedling include sweet peas (right), antirhinum, cosmos and nicotina. These are used for cut flowers in the lodges. Tagetes and calendula are grown as companion plants to encourage natural pest control. This means we don’t have to use any chemical products on any of our vegetables, fruit or flowers.
Earlier this year we began trials of ‘bokashi’ composting. We found out about this system at a Bowland Sustainable Tourism Network meeting where Simon Brockholes gave a demonstration. This method allows you to compost a much wider range of waste (including cooked food waste)than in traditional methods. The process involves putting a layer of food waste in a bucket then a sprinkling of bran injected with microbes then more food waste and so on. The bucket is sealed and left for two weeks. A tap at the bottom of the bucket releases the juice from the decomposition which can be diluted and used as a plant food. The contents of the bucket can then be put on a traditional compost heap or they can be buried in a trench where you are going to plant crops. We are trying both methods. As part of our environmental policy we are trying to reduce our waste but then to process and use as much of it as we can on site.
Part of our trial is measuring the amount of waste currently produced from our meeting rooms (vegetable peelings, tealeaves, coffee grounds, food scraps, used napkins etc) so that we can calculate the size of bokashi buckets needed. We are also working out what we will need when our resource centre and cafe are opened later this year.
Oyster catchers have just returned to Forrest Hills. Their calls can be heard as they fly, even at night. Like the curlews and lapwings, oyster catchers are also looking for nesting sites but more on the rocky, stoney ground rather than in the long meadow grass.
There is still some disruption as you come to Forrest Hills. Work is continuing on widening the road and incorporating a cycle/foot path. Yesterday was particularly busy as BT engineers were repairing underground phone cables at the same time.
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
All 5 of our hives have survived the cold winter, as part of the natural cycle our over-wintering bees die off allowing the new young bees to come through with the new year. 
The good weather today has seen lots of bees flying from our hives, plenty of yellow pollen is being brought in which we think is Willow ‘Salix caprea’.
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
This past Sunday the 15th of March, forrest hills welcomed the north-west fly fishers for a fishing competition on our lake.
The weather (although not showing on these photographs!) was clear and bright, perfect for a day of fishing.
Between them the North-West fly fishers caught an impressive 55 Rainbow trout!
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
Each year around this time, we at forrest hills see an inundation of tiny visitors springing up in the early evening along the main drive way and through the carpark. In evenings following rain and in damp conditions hundreds of frogs make there way from the river side to the road and unwittingly make it extremely difficult for drivers getting from the entrance to the car park. 
A real spectacle to witness especially lit up in car head-lights, our driveway filled with dozens upon dozens of statue-like frogs!
So next time you’re venturing down to forrest hills for a spot of late night fishing, or archery, make sure to take care and drive extra slowly in order to manouvre round these local frogs!
Tuesday 17th Macrh 2009
