There were in excess of 10 Goldfinches feeding on Spear Thistle today in the Quarry. The thistles have established themselves since we cut back a sprawling willow and removed a lot of bramble back in 2015. This year the thistles are making a really nice show and the goldfinch presence demonstrates how worthwhile the work in the Quarry was. It looked very bare for a start but it is now all covered with many different plants giving a far greater diversity than before. Shame we were not allowed to continue. A small survey of the plants that are now growing in the areas that we cleared is being carried out this year and the results will be published here soon.