Mud, mud glorious mud

We beat the All Blacks this year, I was there!, (c Colin Elsey)

Seriously muddy in the Nursery, (c Pete Williams)

Not a great end to the year but in keeping with one of the wettest for a long while. Spent the damp morning in the nursery churning out more wood supplies. As may be expected with the conditions the mud becoming increasingly cloying. This provided Mike with quite a challenge as he had to drive the Ford Ranger with loaded trailer out of the mud wallow to make the deliveries. Some pretty impressive driving required without resorting to a tow using the tractor.  Made it to lunchtime albeit a little wet and mud spattered but the rain put paid to the usual walk round this part of the Sherborne estate.  The afternoon was a bit of a gamble since the rain initially eased but gradually got heavier. However two more loads were produced before we finally called it a day without the Ford Ranger getting stuck and Maddie getting her afternoon exercise.

So not a bad year with the weather limiting the extent of countryside conservation I could contribute to but lets hope for better opportunities and weather in 2013. On the negative side are clearly the various fungal diseases attacking our woodlands and a Conservative Government influenced Defra which ought to be performing better ( Mark Avery view more extreme ).  On the plus side has been more reasonable documentaries raising awareness of our neglected countryside and core skills. Perhaps the leaders of our key charities and supporters of nature can inspire real action to get our youth and education centres more involved in nature. If only we could find something akin to the Olympics for involving more people 'in standing up for our countryside' and to act as a springboard for more sustainable actions.

Crank up the volume

Frosty in the Pleasure Grounds

Completed Play area

'cool'  Sherborne Brook 

Plummeting temperatures, -8 centigrade early this morning and not rising above freezing all day, has meant increasing pressure on Mike's 'wood' service. So armed with the wood processing machine and an increasingly 'honed' approach to this way of processing the wood piles {I still prefer the axe approach but bow down to the more productive machine} we were ready to crank up the volume of wood production. Before we started however the xmas tree for the Sherborne House residents needed to be installed in the quadrangle. After a slight delay caused by the low temperatures, with the additional help of Pat & a helpful resident,  the tree now stands proudly in its festive place once more.   

A cold lunchtime was spent firstly in the Pleasure Grounds where I was pleased to see the completed Play area which looked pretty good albeit in the absence of children. No doubt the swing, see saw, climbing wall and two stepping stones features will get plenty of use in the years to come. Just had time to have a quick look down by the Sherborne brook which was swathed in mist first thing this morning but had cleared by lunch. Lots of the usual bird residents still enjoying the habitat here even in these cold temperatures. 

Throughout the day we managed to fit in deliveries to 4 local customers ending up with the Sherborne school and all of them were genuinely pleased to see us and have their wood for the cold weeks to come.

Kestrel, Kites and Cormorant

A good day for flying

'Poplar' spot by Windrush

Bit of a busman's holiday as I visited Sherborne's water meadows while Mike was actually on a break in Prague! Water levels down by about a foot since my last visit but a fine sunny day and pretty quiet. Plenty of Red Kites on show together with a Kestrel being pestered by a Crow and a brief fly by of a single Cormorant. Oddly a juvenile Buzzard joined 3 of the Red Kites over one of the larger Barrington estate fields. Other than that 2 pairs of fallow deer I disturbed in my not so stealthy patrol around the meadows.  No owls or harriers on this visit but still a pleasant way of making the most of a dry sunny day.

Worth mentioning another good guest entry Ralph Underhill, on the Mark Avery Blog. Surprised to see  that NT wasn't one of the participants on the Common Cause for Nature project it looks worthy.

Playtime!

Childrens climbing wall

Natalie testing Mike's hand & foot holds

Surprise from Mike this morning as the day was to be spent in the Pleasure Grounds on local engagement duties. This was part of a Project to setup some child friendly facilities in the Pleasure Grounds which included a climbing wall, stepping stones , Seesaw and swing. Most of the material {larch based} was locally sourced and Mike had begun the work earlier in the week with the help of tractor  and directed by Natalie {manager}.  So in the morning I drove the Ford ranger while Mike drove the tractor down to the play site. Some tree clearance &  heavy tampering to secure the larch posts in the climbing wall, took up most of the morning.

Spent lunch down by Sherborne Brook where I bumped into our resident 'birders' who said they'd had a relatively quiet but wet underfoot observing day. Good news was that recent observations {includes mine!} indicate that some of last years winter visitors are back including Short Eared Owls, Red Kites, Hen Harrier, and Fieldfares. Add to this a Peregrine, Cormorant and Marsh Harrier? all we need now with the excess water are some waders and we have quite a collection.

The afternoon was occupied setting up the Seesaw support posts, surveying sites for swings and shaping the stepping stones and cutting the holds for the climbing wall {latter 2 tasks dominated by Mike on chainsaw}. We were ably assisted by a senior NT manager Natalie the first NT non Ranger I had seen in the countryside in my 18 months volunteering. So although I was not doing what I consider as core countryside work it was good to see manager involvement and also providing a hopefully enjoyable local facility for youngsters.

Close Encounters

Hyde under water!

Where's the path gone

Windrush bridge -above welly level

A little too wet to permit any Ranger work this week but armed with wellies, camera, binos went down to the water meadows [Lake!] on a sunny! friday. I was expecting the water meadows to be a little damp but was still surprised by how much water there actually was even though on the track down the newly formed stream gave a clue.  On reaching the water meadows I decided on taking the path towards the 'hyde' first and carefully paddled down the flooded path. Half way down I disturbed a large   bird which flew right in front of me and was my first sighting of a short eared owl since earlier this year. It flew across the meadows and perched on a convenient post in the middle of the meadow. After a couple of pictures {still too far for my telephoto} I waded on towards the hyde.  No more wildlife sightings so I backtracked towards the windrush. Crossed over to the Barrington estate side and was treated to another close fly by of a red kite this followed by another spot of a short eared owl in a large tree not too far from the field I had seen 4 owls February this year.  On my return journey I spotted a hare basking in the sun, obviously the weasel I spotted last week in this area not quite fast enough to catch this fleet footed prey.

This week marked the end of wildwood and maybe wishful thinking on my part but it did get me thinking about missed opportunities in the NT managed woods. Given the skill of the Rangers {assuming they reach Mike/Martin standards} charcoal, hazel supports for plants, quality wood for furniture all look to be under developed sources of revenue given some decent resource planning. Added to this, given available time from the Rangers, would of course be us volunteers! Sort of connected to this was a really good Mark Avery guest Blog  Dr David Gibbons, which introduced the idea of a conservation impact metric. This gets to the nub of my conservation frustrations which is to get good science better connected to application by practitioners. Agriculture environment schemes are but one aspect of this.

Is there anything u can't do with a tractor!

I am constantly amazed with the variety of tasks a tractor can be used for in the countryside. Of course this requires the extra attachments plus a competent operator. Today was a good example of the tractor's flexibility plus the introduction of the much awaited PALAX wood processing machine from Ebworth, courtesy of Matt.

Wood processing machine loaded by Ebworth tractor

Mike and I with extra big trailer drove over to Ebworth to collect the PALAX.  Ebworth centre always a nice place to visit and especially to collect a very special 'toy'.  Matt loaded up his impressive tractor and duly placed the wood machine onto our trailer.  We have this new toy at Sherborne for the month since Ebworth {its buildings heated using biomass heating system} has already built up an impressive wood store to last much of the winter. It was lunchtime before we got back to Sherborne so the 'test drive' of the PALAX would have to wait until the afternoon.

It was surprisingly warm at lunchtime so I paid a lightening call to the water meadows. Coal tits , green finches and blue tits were out in numbers plus a solitary buzzard. All was quiet down in the water meadows and the water levels were at the highest level I have seen.  The water courses/ditches were in good clean order after stirling work by various volunteer groups over the course of the year. On the way back I saw a large dragonfly late for this time of year and then a rabbit being chased by a hungry weasel. No red kites or short eared owls but you can't have everything. 

Good to go, cord wood loaded this end, split wood out the other

Afternoon began with me! driving the wood machine around to the Sherborne Nursery and Mike with his tractor unloading and then reattaching the PALAX to his tractor's rear. The PALAX huge saw and conveyor belt  is driven via PALAX propshaft connected to the tractor drive. So with me supplying/feeding the cord wood and Mike operating the 'sharp' end the wood started to flow up into the trailer. Not all goes smoothly since the sawn wood blocks sometimes get tipped the wrong way and get stuck on the splitter. However as a first trial it was pretty successful albeit a fair amount of space is required to set the whole thing up. The day ended all too soon and the light at this time of the year disappears very quickly. This left Mike with the challenge of driving the tractor plus PALAX back to the security of Sherborne offices and me to drive the long trailer back in the dark. Good news is we both avoided any collisions !

Its a long term thing - Woodland Management

Some good advice for all!

Difficult to escape the ongoing news on Ash dieback, the Forestry Commission  announces further spread involving 6 more counties. With this fungal disease its difficult to know how it can be contained given the spores can be carried on the wind and can be carried by any 'living' organism coming into fungal contact within infected areas. Is there enough of an 'appetite' in this country to protect our woodlands and especially supporting the long term strategies needed {trees life cycles encompass many years!} something I know is beyond a lot of the mover/shakers. Unfortunately we already import 90% of wood we use which is good quality and competitively priced. So to keep the commercial side of woodland management viable isn't easy and conserving woodland habitat becomes increasingly challenging with limited resources. Interestingly Mike has had to make a quick survey {timescales set were unrealistic with resources  available} on the Sherborne Ash which was additionally difficult given the absence of leaves.  The nursery source of our recent ash saplings doesn't look to be directly connected to infected sources but this may not be the end of the story. As an aside Mike has some new Elm strain to be planted but how this pans out will have to wait a quite a few years!

Additional lone swan on Sherborne Brook

Started the sunny day with a wood delivery in Sherborne village. Although the new wood store has been finished by Mike over the weekend,  the wood processing machine has not yet arrived, so it was back to splitting for the rest of the morning.  Enjoyed a relaxing lunch break by Sherborne Brook where the only newcomer spotted was a lone friendly swan occupying the water above the weir and away from the resident swan family.

The afternoon was spent in the West Belt where the thinning work continues. Worth mentioning that the wooded area worked provided more challenges than previously faced. Firstly the density of trees was greater which meant most of the trees felled refused to fall directly to the ground. So the tree lever, wedges, and a 'wood lever' all were called on before the trees could be grounded. Secondly the distance to the cord piles & rides, from some of the felled trees was longer, which meant more carrying effort for me. Sadly access for either the tractor or if available horse plus 'trailer' was not an option, so just my manual effort the only option. 

Wildwood, part 3 , carries on with more highlights of the need for good and sustained woodland management. Two observations I would highlight are the need for longer term planning { planting for the future} and the impact on wood quality and woodland diversity in the absence of sustained management. Was also pleased to see that on the non disease front public enemy no 1 'the grey squirrel'  for woodland got  a mention although trapping and shooting still looks inadequate against the millions of grey squirrels out there.

Chillier times ahead

Dieback attacks our Ash!

Disturbed to hear of the 'dieback' of Ash and the 90,000+ trees already destroyed in England ! to curb its spread. You would think that the Dutch elm experience plus the devastation in Denmark of 90% of its Ash would have elicited more prompt action from Defra but we should be grateful its now stopped further diseased Ash imports into our nuseries. Mike has yet to check our recently planted Ash,  no easy task since we have a lot all contained within tree protectors and spread across several different woods. In addition determining the nursery which sourced the saplings should indicate if we have a serious problem. What with squirrels attacking especially the Beech, potential Ash 'dieback' and Phytophthora its not easy protecting the already little woodland we have.

Spotted 4 Red Kite on my way in to Sherborne this morning, hopefully they are returning to this area for winter. Started the day with blocking and splitting in Sherborne nursery and maybe because my splitting days are numbered it was more enjoyable than normal even though the first blocks of sycamore, beech and ash were more 'resistant' than usual. Mike joined in on some even gnarlier beech which tested his technique to the limit. We both then enjoyed splitting some good ash and even better lime, like a 'knife through butter!'  Such work kept us pretty warm so we didn't notice the cold wind which gradually increased in strength during the course of the day.

The afternoon was spent back in the West Belt , continuing the thinning work. The cordwood piles are really building up, but according to Mike we are only a quarter way through this area! Rain and increased wind hit us early afternoon and in spite of the hard work we both felt the drop in temperature for the first time.

Wednesday evening watched the next part of Wildwood where I imagine Mike would have cringed a little on the felling & cutting technique applied to the Ash. Interesting to see the use of horse power to remove the Ash from pretty tricky terrain. Mike is at least  able to use his tractor plus me for initial stacking.

Wildwood, a reminder to all of basic conservation in our countryside

Ragged Copse colour change

Mike and some really accurate felling in West Belt

Mike tipped me off this week regards a new BBC4 6 part series Wildwood which looks to be a good basic primer to good woodland management and the benefits to be accrued from this activity. Although I don't own a broadleaf woodland like strawberry cottage wood I can relate to the learning experiences the star of this series has gone through in his first year. Mine have been through working in woodland with NT rangers in the North Cotswolds over the last 18 months. They have generally been good experiences but sadly I feel mostly unadvertised and undervalued in todays NT organisation. This country has little enough of its woodland left that one its biggest landowners seems to be neglecting {or at least steadily reducing resources}  its conservation activities in the countryside {aside from a chosen few flagship areas}. True such activities tend not to be revenue producers but erosion of the sustained care needed in countryside activities like this, along with the skilled ranger resources, will not be recoverable longterm and thats not what I thought the NT stood for. Anyway programmes like Wildwood at least help to give an interesting portrayal of an important countryside activity which needs all the good publicity it can get. It might be nice for the NT to balance its Property & Commercially  biassed {Theme park trend?} communications /support with something on core countryside management,  I can offer up  some suggestions.

Anyway back to this week which although dismal weather wise provided a variety of experiences. We started with some wood deliveries to local customers the first of which was in Windrush. I was pleasantly surprised when we delivered the wood that this new customer had a good appreciation of what work was involved in providing the wood, from 'felling through to splitting'. Having completed the deliveries it was back to the nursery to block and split some more wood which was to be stored in the newly formed shelter. In future blocking and splitting is aimed to be done by machine,  loaned by Ebworth,  which means my axe skills will no longer be required. This means more time will be available for working the woodland and countryside which should be  good for wildlife habitats in general. Interesting to note that in our morning travels we encountered the 'local' hunt in full progress, attended by locals in support. Obviously difficult to stop this tradition and one more countryside activity I am not keen on but 'understand'  along with the Badger cull which thankfully has been postponed { grateful for its about TB Mark Avery blog}.

The afternoon was spent in the West Belt on continued thinning, part 3 of Wildwood next week, where Mike's experience clearly in evidence especially when felling a sizeable sycamore into a very narrow gap and without destroying my pile of cord wood!

There's a lorra, lorra trees

West belt thinning

Cord wood piles building up 

Day set fair for some continued thinning in the West belt and already the difference in space and light noticeable for areas worked on. The new growth of beech and ash coming through also quite evident. In the main the practice of close planting of new trees to promote straighter trunk growth can be seen and of course this is one of the reasons for thinning out the trees to allow the best to mature with sufficient space. For the broadleaf woods like this under Mike's care such woodland management is a lot of work and even with contractors working on the 'mixed' plantations on the Sherborne estate coverage of the 60+ wooded areas is nigh impossible with available resources and priorities. Generally a 20-30 year cycle for harvesting the ash, sycamore and conifers is the norm. But there is also the required removal of damaged {storm, squirrels, desease} trees to add to this and normal thinning.

Generally Mike fells the selected trees away from the ride/pathway which means less work to tidy the 'brash/canopy' and usually the stacking of the heavier cord wood is easier for me! However such was the density of trees that quite a few had to be felled over the ride and my workload increased as well as my vigilance lest any walkers were approaching. Surprisingly no walkers or wildlife were around all day. Sometimes the felling of selected trees proceeds quite smoothly but today a number 'resisted' and quite a bit of clearance of shrub/smaller trees was needed as well {see top picture}. So for example  a particularly large sycamore needed the tree lever, wedge and our combined efforts before it could be persuaded to fall safely to earth.

Lunchtime was to be spent at Sherborne brook where I hoped to spot a reported new bird Mike had been informed about. I only had chance to observe the usual suspects before I beat a hasty retreat back to the estate offices as the heavens opened with a heavy downpour which included hailstones. Fortunately the afternoon was fine for continued work in the West belt albeit with a good deal of additional standing water! Doesn't look like a visit to the water meadows will be a good idea for a while.

Dendrochronology - who knows where the time goes, (Sandy Denny)

This is what a Dendro.. looks like, Andy

Good view of deer park valley, Nigel, Mike, Andy hard at it!

Once more this year the met weather forecast was way off the mark but I have to confess I can't be too unhappy given the fine sunny day enjoyed for most of the day. This wasn't the only surprise since the day started at Lodge Park where we met Andy {Dendrochronologist- tree ring ageing/analysis expert} and Nigel {'Sponsor'} who were to age some of the really mature oaks in the deer park. So with Mike's approval Andy with Increment Borer drilled into the first of the Oak trees chosen. This proved to be an instant success, noting trees several hundred years old often suffer from decay or hollowing, and an excellent core sample obtained with an initial estimate of age by ring examination of ~500 years. Its amazing how quickly the bore hole closes up, so no risk of damage to the tree plus a surprise for me when extracting the Borer, harder than it looks but a lot of compression involved from such a heavyweight Oak! Clearly Andy has to clean up the core tube sample and with the girth measurement produce an accurate figure. Much can also be deduced by the width of the tree rings in terms of varied growth rates caused by changing environmental conditions experienced throughout the trees long life. The next 2 sampled Oaks revealed a hollow core even so the partial core tube samples obtained still provide useful historic data. The final Oak examined provided another excellent core tube sample and first examination suggested this tree was ~200-300 years old, a relative youngster! There is quite a bit more that analysis of these 4 samples can reveal about Oaks/conditions in this area and we are all looking forward to Andy's full report in several weeks time. This days exercise reminds me generally how little we are aware, value or take care of our ancient {and modern trees too} trees where as 'living' organisms they are an essential part of our countryside and can tell us a great deal about the environment over many hundreds of years!

Spent the lunchtime down by Sherborne Brook in the sun watching the resident birdlife enjoying a relaxed time on the water or in the case of the buzzards flying high in the sky, waiting for unsuspecting prey to get careless. The afternoon was spent in the West Belt where Mike continued the thinning, which had been started earlier in the week with Simon's help,  of mainly sycamore but included some ash. This will not only encourage healthy growth of remaining trees and young saplings but build up the wood supplies ready for the winter demand. Again Mike's choice of trees to thin are influenced by a number of factors.  One especially helping protection of the good beech and ash from squirrel damage by leaving some of the sycamore standing to hopefully provide the squirrels food source. So a good day for me, with trees dominating, and with an interesting surprise at the end.

This was strictly after I had 'signed off' but involved the rescue of Bryn a golden retriever who had lost its owner and was wandering down the road to Sherborne village. This took the combined effort of Debbie {NT building manager}, myself and Mike {add Pet rescue to NT country services}. Fortunately there was a happy ending where Bryn's owners were eventually discovered at Ewe Pen Barn and although something could be said regards looking after your dog, Bryn was happy to be reunited, which is the important thing.

Back to basics at Sherborne

Cattle at Sherborne Pleasure Grounds enjoying their lunch

Mike?no Maddie gathering cord wood

Back from a wild at times but very rewarding stay in the Scottish Islands, has a month gone already!, straight back into the harness at Sherborne. It seems the cold snap has Mike's wood customers clamouring for supplies so the morning was spent getting re-aquainted with the axe on splitting duty in the nursery. The weather was surprisingly good and for once short sleeves and no waterproofs was the order of the day. It was good to get stuck into some honest work again and exchange stories with Mike about our respective Scottish breaks, Ok I did enjoy the majority of the sharing!

Spent a relaxed lunch break walking around the Pleasure Grounds and all seemed in good order with some of the beech and sycamore displaying early autumnal colours. Bumped into the resident birdwatching duo {by special arrangement with Ranger Mike} who had enjoyed a relatively quiet day, albeit pretty damp on the ground down in the water meadows, But had spotted a peregrine, 4 red kites, 30 canadian geese and seen some chiffchaffs. I can't wait to be around when things pick up! No news from Mike about the Bat cave, but watch this space for an update which should reveal the lesser horseshoes returning to their refurbished winter roost.

The afternoon was spent on gathering a full trailer load for a Rissington customer and it looked like we might catch a heavy shower on arrival but it had passed by when we had to unload. We also had the bonus of a very welcome cuppa. Back to the nursery for some local wood deliveries with the tractor gathering up a couple of loads of cord wood, Maddie clearly has been getting driving lessons in my absence. So we didn't get around to some thinning but not a bad first day back.

The 'band' making the best of a really wet day

Introducing Simon on Kubota cutting tray

A light shower to start the day followed by a mainly dry spell and ending with heavy showers translated to heavy showers for most of the day {you have got to love the met office forecasts}, hence entertainment at Sherborne's workshop. This meant Simon and I on tidying, equipment cleaning duties. But for the Kubota with Mike's encouragement a rather more challenging test leading to a risky removal of the cutting tray to clean and sharpen cutters. Re-assembly took a full team effort with all 4 of us required, cutters still need sharpening though!

Mike our leader on disc & angle grinder

Mike multi-tasked most of day with some office work but still had time to use grinders for sharpening strimmer blades and cutting off a damaged piece of the cutting tray.

Andy on bird boxes

Andy on bird box construction duties, still need to work on retail outlet!

Maddie waiting for some action

Maddie as frustrated as the rest of us with the wet weather, sulking a little before we finally finished up tasks in workshop and set off to do some woodland management at Budgehill belt in spite of the continued rain late afternoon. Tks Simon!

End of day rainbow over water meadows

My last day working with Mike for a while so was relieved to get outside and the sun even made an appearance , although not until we had finished for the day. So last post until October as I will be venturing North to experience the countryside & wildlife of the Scottish Islands.

and in the end? a Dark Knight construction tale

 Maddie paying suitable attention to my safety talk

More Acrow props, poles and timber wedges

Final phase of Dark Knight construction, 'discrete' exposure

Yep today marked final phase of the Bat cave upgrade. Started in the workshop with Mike on 'clamp' duty where this time with the aid of WD40 plus a vice I ensured we had sufficient working swivel and fixed clamps.  Mike meanwhile scavenged around the yard for more timber for ceiling supports. Morris, our Dark Knight, met up with us at the Sherborne offices and we set off once more for the Bat cave.  Usual duties applied leaving me outside on safety and butterfly watch {whites, peacocks and red admiral today}with Mike & Morris continuing construction.

Lunch time review revealed that we were running out of materials and the overall amount of work was exceeding estimates i.e. we wouldn't complete today! Other good news was more scaffolding poles were needed today and the really good news was three 21 foot poles were available in the nursery. They just needed a volunteer to carry them over to the workshop for cutting down to size, good job my mornings work hadn't been too strenuous so problem solved. Still I did manage to observe a kestrel , several swallows , house martins and a fiesty swan chasing off 2 canada geese on Sherborne brook as I slowly carried the poles back to the workshop. 

During the afternoon Morris and Mike carried on with their stirling work with Maddie and me on duty outside. Ended the day with an appraisal of what was left to do, what extra materials needed to be found and when was the next session. Sadly I'll be away for final completion but hopefully Mike will record details I can view on my return. Of course the clock is ticking since the bats will be slowly returning to this roost during September, but by then this upgrade will be done. A good and very cost effective piece of conservation work down to mainly Mike and Morris with a little help from their friends {me, Simon and Maddie} !

Dark Knight exposed?

Entrance to site, linseed oil crop now harvested

Our dark knight with first phase improvements

More substantial construction with long diagonal supports

Earlier in the week Morris {Bat trust} , Mike and Simon began construction in the bat cave in earnest following prep work we initiated last week. This involved more detailed checking of existing roof supports and checking out stability of cave ceiling by appropriate use of hammer. Outside Simon added improvements to the steps I recut last week, a valuable piece of work given the return of some heavy rainfall.

Today started with loading up some suitable hardwood timber and some long scaffolding poles. Morris met up with us at Sherborne and we set off for the bat cave. Humidity at the site was not as high as last week but it was still pretty warm. Initial task was to ship yet more material from the Ford Ranger down to and inside the bat cave. Highlight for me was a close up of several peacock butterflies which can' t resist the abundant teasel growing in the area. While I acted as safety man outside the cave Mike and Morris began the next phase of construction deep in the cave. To keep me occupied I was given a selection of 'clamps' {double, fixed , swivel more learning for me!} to ensure they were in working order. Not as straightforward as it sounds given the 'rusted' condition of some, thanks Mike!

Took my lunch break checking out the bird life in the vicinity of the weir on Sherborne brook. Swans, Coots with young , heron, ducks and buzzards on show, using my new binos.

After lunch Mike with trailer met me at Sherborne NT offices to gather yet more hardwood and even more scaffolding poles for the afternoon construction. We met up with Morris at the bat site where the transport of the latest material to the bat cave was the first task, this time with the added challenge of not tripping over the enthusiastic Maddie. As before I remained outside the cave entertaining Maddie while the dynamic duo continued with the impressive construction as shown by pics  above. Amazingly most of the wood, poles and supports were pretty much used up by the days work but more still remained outstanding deeper in the cave.  Yes, inspite of another good days work it would take another day to finish the remaining work needed to ensure this habitat will continue to support the healthy bat community for many years to come. Here's hoping the lesser horseshoes and maybe other bat species appreciate the upgrade work carried out on their behalf.  Only small disappointment for me was that the lesser horseshoe bat flying around on Tuesday was not to be seen today. Still I am sure it will have reported back to its mates of the activity and we may see even more hibernating in this winter roost.  

Dark Knight stalled!

Path to bat cave

Red Admiral liking the teasel 

Construction work in the bat cave was the order of this hot day. Plant growth as pictures indicate still vigorous but the good news was that the butterflies absent for most of this wet year were making an appearance in what promises to be a warm spell. In this area alone spotted Red Admiral, Cabbage White, Heath, and Painted Lady. I'd also spotted out in the countryside Marble white, Wood White and the Meadow Brown. Saw others but I need them to settle to id them, eyesight not as sharp as used to be, using UK butterfly guide.

Due to meet Morris of the Bat Trust , who was to lead the building work , but unfortunately car problems were to prevent his appearance. All was not lost as Mike and I had to carry out some prep work prior to the serious building construction. First some fallen Eldar trees needed to be cleared and then I had to re-cut some steps down to the cave entrance as this years rain had made the steep slope down into a 'muddy slide '. This proved a good move since a lot of roof supports and other materials had to be carried from the Ford Ranger  down the slope and into the Bat cave. The humidity must have been in the high 90s because even the slightest physical work had us soaked in sweat.

Having finished the prep work we moved onto Budgehill Belt to continue some woodland management and ride clearance. Sharp eyed Mike spotted a Grey Partridge but the real surprise was the drop in humidity in the Belt thank goodness.  So a comfortable end to the day and a rest from watching the Olympics which I have done to much of this past week!

Olympic effort at Sherborne

West Horsley, no win for Wiggo or Cav but great atmosphere!

Clarkes Close, site of new guide post 

Well, caught up with the emotions from the 2012 Olympics it felt like an Olympic effort {new event for Rio?} as we dug for GB at Clarks Close and nearby Windrush.  Unfortunately no tv coverage and my camera not available so took some liberties with this weeks photos. Day started with Mike jet washing the red tractor and the 4x4 Ford Ranger, they needed it. We set off in the morning to Clarks Close the site for last weeks den building.  It was a little warmer than the photo suggests and fortunately the ground wasn't too rocky for digging the hole for the first guide post. Interestingly what was left of the old one was still around although somewhat mangled by badgers rooting for grubs. Took a bit longer than usual since some woodwork was required to chisel out the circles for the NT direction discs. I won't be giving up my day job to take up woodwork!

After lunch we had to first deliver the red tractor to a local 'juice' business which was holding a special event and it was to be one of the attractions. We then  headed off to a site near to Windrush to replace another guide post. Maddie was along for support but didn't help when she ran off with one of the stones I hoped to use to bed in the sweet chestnut post. Still we did manage to finish the job relatively quickly and just before some friendly group of walkers were to pass by. They were pleased to see the new post which set them off in the right direction back to Sherborne and Ewe Pen Barn. Our day was not yet finished as we then moved on to Budgehill Belt  to do some woodland clearing and wood collection. We finished the day by collecting the red tractor and received our days award, not a gold medal but a much appreciated hot dog and blackcurrant juice!

If you go down to the woods today you'll be sure of a big surprise

Hot morning at the Lodge

Early start , for me not Mike, so we could crack on with mowing & strimming at Lodge Park. Couldn't avoid the red hot weather so by the end of the morning we were suitably drenched but not by rain for a change! Prior to the lunch break Mike prepared me for the afternoon which I have to confess I had some reservations , ok some big ones.

Dentastic

The afternoon featured a premier for Mike for hosting a den building session hosting a large number of young children each accompanied by one of their parents. The starting point was Northfield Barn car park Sherborne with a short {long for short legged people} to Clarks Close wood where Mike had previously prepared some material for building the dens. I waited for Mike to lead the large group to the wood and I followed with the 4x4 Ford Ranger with tools and water supplies if required. Mike gave a quick talk on safety along with some tips about building a den. The group then split up into smaller teams to build 7 dens! Any thoughts about having a relaxing afternoon disappeared as our offer to help cut up some of the larger 'material' was taken up with gusto. The really impressive part of the event was the total participation of all the adults and the involvement & enthusiasm of the children. It would be fair to say each of the 7 dens were unique with different strengths in their construction & design. It was pleasing to see my reservations unfounded and it was a tired but happy group that walked back to the car park leaving some interesting habitat for the local wildlife. It was also good that everyone had a chance to see all the dens constructed with the children taking central stage and naming their masterpieces. A special mention goes to young George who decided to build a den on his own, aptly named 'den of George'. We also had some 'professionals' who built the 'Ash Cabin' which was seriously engineered. But all of the dens as I have said were something to be proud of, so all in all a satisfying day for all.

REM rain equals maintenance

No surprise to me this morning as yet more heavy showers arrive and once more the weather forecast off the mark so I guess this 'jet stream' influenced wet period defeats the experts predictions. However Mike decided the extensive array of power tools could do with some basic maintenance and a good clean in the relatively dry workshop at Sherborne. So we waited out the rain and given thunder was forecast for the afternoon postponed a decision on venturing outside.

Spent a damp lunch time walking round the Pleasure grounds and 'soaking up' the variety of poems currently on display.

location for afternoon task behind trees on the horizon

Good news for the afternoon was the improvement in the weather and so we set off to finish clearing  the rear Lodge Park drystone boundary wall,  over half a mile of it!. Good test for the strimmers with metal blades we had serviced in the morning. Some heavyweight strimming and clearing was needed to clear thick shrubs. The sun decided to make an appearance mid afternoon which was a welcome sight albeit providing an overheating challenge for us. Not a problem for Maddie who enjoyed a good romp around the woods during our refuelling of the strimmers and a much needed drinks break.

The dark knight rises

Alien lands on Lodge Park roof?

After the torrential rain, view over deer park

Toad of Lodge pond, courtesy of Andy

Last week was a wash out! but today Andy {work experience}, myself and Mike hit Lodge Park for some mowing and strimming. One or two surprises before we began the mornings work. It was sunny, we witnessed the bee keeper remove a few thousand wild bees from the Lodge chimneys and Andy captured a picture of one of the resident toads in the Lodge pond. Pleased to say the tadpoles and newts also continue to do well in this surprisingly well stocked habitat.

Our luck didn't last as the heavens opened as we started the mowing but we had to carry on since this weekend an Opera was to be staged at the Lodge so everything needed to be in good presentable shape. As the above image above suggests we did finally get some respite as the sun broke through late in the morning to allow us to complete the mowing and dry out.

The afternoon was spent in the Pleasure Grounds at Sherborne in the vicinity of the ice house and 'round' seat where during my mowing I encountered a large {6 children!}, friendly family all the way from Idaho! The day was not quite over as we made our way over to the bat cave to meet up with Morris, our dark knight!,  at the quarry.  Before we could make our way to the bat entrance Mike had to carve his way through dense vegetation, yes there had been quite a growth spurt since our last visit. The objective of this visit was to see if any of the lesser horseshoe bats were still in residence. I lost heavily on my guess on the numbers still present, with Mike winning with his zero entry! So the planning for the work needed to be done on this bat habitat can proceed with suitable haste and hopefully later in July should see start of implementation without impact on the bats.

Quite a day and marked with a return to what seems to be normal weather as my return trip home was hit by a violent thunderstorm.

With a little help from...

Main 'gate' to Lodge Park

This weeks task began with re-gravelling the 'old' entrance to Lodge Park. Two key helpers were the tractor and Maddie, who provided valuable support to Mike & I, albeit with very differing roles. Seven Tonne bags of gravel later the job was done and although much energy was expended I wouldn't have like to have done it without the tractor and Mike's expert skills at the tractor controls.

Woodland menace!

Self portrait, at the edge of  Ragged Copse?

Thus far I have resisted in sharing my frustrations with some of the issues I have come across with our countryside mainly because generally I like to be upbeat and genuinely enjoy my time in the great outdoors. However I can't resist a bit of a rant about tree damage by that 'cute' little grey squirrel some clever person(s) decided to introduce to this Island in the period 1876-1920. It stems from my short walk around Ragged Copse at Sherborne in my lunchtime followed by the work we did to make safe the woodland play area for local school children  at the Pleasure Grounds.  Although I did enjoy the lunchtime walk around Ragged Copse , especially seeing healthy growth of the ash planted this year, the gloss was taken off by observing the really bad squirrel damage to the line of young to maturing broadleaf {mainly Beech}  trees. This was followed up by  even more damage to young broadleaf trees at the Pleasure Ground area we were working in, these trees will die, or when Mike can fit it in his busy schedule, will be felled.  Unfortunately I have seen such damage in most of the woodland areas both at Sherborne and in the wider North Cotswolds NT sites. I have also read articles which question whether Squirrels do that much damage and even suggest that young trees are not at risk. What nonsense, I can only hope that the results of the Forestry Commission survey regarding this issue, due 2011, come up with something that will make a difference {I haven't yet tracked down its conclusions/action plan}. 

Abstract art

tadpoles v newt

less busy spot but where?

Lodge Park pond

Four men went to mow, 3 volunteers {me, Simon, young Andy} and 1 Ranger with usual array of kit. No dog 'cos Maddie was keeping 2 visiting dogs company back at Mike's home.  Cracking day,  only downside is I was on strimming duty  and had to wear a safety hat with visor and ear defenders.  Pressure on to make Sherborne and Lodge Park presentable for the events at the weekend (one being a 10K 'fun' run, bit of an oxymoron if you ask me}.  Only problem faced all day was a fuel shortage soon remedied by Mike. So at the end of a hot day all tools remained in good working order. Did have a a couple of breaks one at lunch with a pleasant walk around the Pleasure grounds and the other in a revisit to the Lodge pond where  I'm pleased to report the pond life was looking healthy.