Growing pains

broken willow branch down in the water meadows

• Its quite staggering what heavy rain interspersed with the odd warm dry day will do for plant growth this time of year. In the space of a couple of weeks footpaths, streams and woods that have been maintained look overrun with vegetation. This is the pain bit since on top of usual tasks there is now a regular piece of essential maintenance to clear access points, signs and paths. So the first example of this was all to evident at Rack Isle this week. The water courses especially the one in front of Arlington Row was  covered in a thick layer of vegetation in spite of early work to keep it under control.  At ground level there was no trace of the fisherman path to the river  Coln. 

• So it was not surprising that the first job with Mike this week down in the water meadows, to make safe some of the willow trees, required both strimmers along with the pole and chain saws.  Last time I was down this way the ditch was dry and there was a clearly defined pathway. So the day consisted of a good deal of clearance with strimmers so the bridges, signs, parking area and access were visible again. On the positive side when the power tools were off the water meadows and adjacent woodlands of Century, Commons and Picardy was a great place to be. Not a person in sight or that much wildlife but the usual buzzard & rabbits, a glimpse of a deer in the deep grasses and a lesser whitethroat. There was also a brief sighting, with the aid of Mike's binoculars,  of a an unusually coloured buzzard perched in a large willow.  The only other sign of life all day was the sounds from the Wildlife trust team working further down the windrush/sherborne brooks developing habitats.