We didn’t sit idle even this winter and continued to clear out meadows and former pasture forests in the natural reserve Beckovské skalice from overgrown shrubs. The winter season is good for this, because it is not the nesting season and you can get away with making a bit of noise. In addition, this is also a good time of year to prune and branch trees as they have water and nutrients withdrawn in their roots.
These activities will help a number of species, but there are two species in particular among the species included in our project that will benefit.
The area of Beckovské skalice preserves a quite diverse mosaic of habitats, accommodating mainly meadow and grassland species of butterflies. Of the very rare and critically endangered species, the Danube clouded yellow (Colias myrmidone) can be found here and can still be observed quite regularly.
This area also hosts two species of the genus Maculinea. One is a grassland species, the large blue- Maculinea arion, for which such activities are ideal, especially when they are followed by grazing animals. Beckovské Skalice is one of the few areas in the foothills of the Považský Inovec mountains where it is still regularly found, although it is not very numerous.
