After spending the last three months on Holy Island, the cows have now
gone back to their farm near Lowick on the mainland.
They have been extensively grazing a large area of the NNR on the island
as part of our management of the dune grasslands. This is not a new management technique for the
reserve but the scale of grazing work has been increased this winter with
support from the Heritage Lottery Fund Peregrini Lindisfarne Landscape
Partnership project.
The cows reduce the amount of rank grasses, create a mosaic of different
length vegetation, as well as nibbling at the invasive Pirri-pirri bur. The grazing regime on the NNR benefits key dune
specialist plant species, such as the endemic Lindisfarne helleborine (Epipactis sancta), and will reduce the
impact of non-native invasive species like Pirri-pirri bur and Michaelmas
daisy.
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Rounding up the cattle from the Reserve |
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The tricky bit - getting them in the pen ready for loading! |
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All in safe and sound - time to say bye and a final scratch behind the ears for Charlie the cow. |
It was a team effort from the NNR staff, volunteers and farmers to round
up all of the cows from the Reserve and load them onto the trailer – with some
festive mince pies to keep us going between trailer loads.
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