Nature Watch, with Ron Freethy

IT WAS obvious that Mother Nature was going to get her own back.

After one of the warmest Marches on record, April struck back with low temperatures, snowstorms and the month has been the wettest since records began.

Some writers were suggesting that the April weather would devastate wildlife. Nature, however, is tougher than we think as I found out when I spent a delightful afternoon wandering around Foxhill Bank Nature Reserve, at Oswaldtwistle.

Since the 1980s, two disused mill lodges have been landscaped as a water a haven for wildlife. I saw a pair of coots building their nest and mallards were also well in evidence but the ponds were dominated (literally) by groups of Canada geese, which are now breeding in the area.

Great areas of dandelions were providing nectar for what seemed to be hundreds of butterflies, including peacocks and small tortoiseshells, while orange tips were fluttering around the flowers of jack-by-the-hedge. Only the males have orange tips - the females have black tips. The presence of so many butterflies proves to me that they have proved capable of surviving the rigours of April.

Spring, however, is the time to enjoy flowers and Foxhill has been a triumph for the naturalists who first saved the area and then managed the reserve. Coltsfoot grows on the banks and marsh marigold at the margins of the lodges. One area, however, has been planted with cowslips. Cowslips belong to the primrose family and their old country name was St Peter's Keys. If you have a good imagination, the flowers do hang down rather like a bunch of keys. At one time the cowslip was a very common plant but in the 1960s it was devastated by the over-use of herbicides and other chemicals. Its recovery has been slow but plantings in nature reserves, like Foxhill Bank and also along the verges of motorways is helping to improve its status.

There is no doubt that the Foxhill project has been a success and, although its main use has been by the local folk as a pleasant walk, there is no doubt that it has a tourist potential.

Its only drawbacks are that it has a shortage of parking and isn't well signed. It could, however, be combined with a visit to Oswaldtwistle Mill, which has parking, a couple of excellent cafes and a fine nature trail of its own.

I did a second circuit of Foxhill Bank, which has excellent "foxy" wood carvings at the entrance.

Swallows were swooping over the ponds obviously hunting the swarms of insects hovering in the warm sunshine and around the reed bed I saw several dragonflies which have also survived "Angry April" with not too much trouble.

Let us hope that Merry May is kinder to us all.

A new friend for our threatened squirrels

THE future is looking a little brighter for one of our most endearing animals, the red squirrel. Pensions specialist NPI has guaranteed a further two years funding for the red squirrel conservation project NPI Red Alert North West. This means that essential work to help the endangered species can continue.

The region also has a new project officer, Sarah Bentley, who will co-ordinate efforts throughout the North West. Sarah, aged 25, has previously worked with otters and water voles in both Dorset and Kent. The North West is one of the few places where red squirrels can still be seen in England, having been replaced in most areas by the introduced American grey squirrel. However, even here red squirrels face an uncertain future. Loss of their woodland habitat and the spread of greys are major threats.

NPI Red Alert North West helps red squirrels through an extensive system of monitoring and through measures like supplementary feeding for reds and targeted control of greys.

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