It won’t be news to most that July has been an incredibly dry and hot month. Here at Whisby we’ve had less than 5ml of rain since mid-June! The dry conditions are concerning from a fire risk perspective, so we’re asking everyone to be extra vigilant to help keep people and wildlife safe - find some top tips here.
Diary of the Whisby wardens: July 2026
William Mead
Like so many other places, Whisby is extremely dry after another scorching hot month. The lakes are something of an oasis for wildlife, but management on the ground has had to adapt.
The hot weather means the wildflower meadows are already setting seed, so we’ll be doing quite a bit of mowing and raking from now until September! We’ve started cutting back the verges to keep the walking trails accessible too.
We’ve also been back out checking the fence lines and preparing for sheep to be back on grazing the meadows. This year we are trialing grazing sheep on some additional compartments, so if you are strolling around Magpie Walk during August, you might spot some familiar black Welsh mountain sheep!
This month we welcomed back some of our corporate volunteer work parties for the season. Kudos to the teams who rolled up their sleeves in very hot weather and got stuck in to help remove large amounts of ragwort in one of the winter cattle grazing compartments.
Some of our regular visitors may have noticed some new signage on the nature reserve. ‘Bag it, bin it, be a friend to wildlife’ is an awareness campaign to remind people how important it is to clean up after their dog does its business. We even had pupils from a visiting school help us out with some of the signs – well done kids!
