Not my finest hour

Escape from the Water meadows

Another cold frosty start so Mike decided on a visit to the Water Meadows site cleared by the Wildlife  Trust. Plan was to cut, stack and bring back the cord wood in the tractor trailer and the Ford 4x4 trailer. Had extra help with Nigel {from NT IT dep} so I drove down to the site with him and Mike followed with the tractor. It became clear that the ground at site was too wet, a thaw was taking place contrary to expectations, this certainly made driving tricky especially with loaded trailers. Decision was made to load both trailers while we were there and stack the rest for later collection, when the ground was drier. Good to spot one of the local herons, couple of Red Kites, Buzzard and a small herd of fallow deer. There was no easy return journey via the outward route so Mike chose an alternate route alongside Century wood. It did mean the tractor towing the 4x4 with trailer and crossing the old Sherborne Brook  via a narrow wet , muddy access point with a ditch on one side. This was my 'waterloo' and having steered the 4x4 safely round , missing the ditch I slid too close to the boundary fence hitting 4 posts with the trailer and  damaging the new trailer! Finally drove out of the area onto firmer ground but leaving some deep muddy tracks in our wake.  Wasn't a difficult decision to spend the afternoon thinning in Snow Bottom Belt  {last thinning of the season} where the ground was hard! Nigel witnessed first hand some tree felling with the first examples requiring much effort in bringing the trees to ground. An eventful day but at least an interesting experience for Nigel, certainly not boring!

riverside restoration at Greystones

Joined the Wildlife Trust team at Greystones farm today where Will and Tom were leading the task to create faggots/facines to be used in riverside restoration at a later date {as in picture above, for river Eye}. Pleasant walk down to the meadows area, wick moor , where plenty of material was available for shaping into the required faggots. On this occasion the ground was pretty firm so no repeat of the water meadows experience. We divided up into 3 teams and after a quick briefing on the approach, which reminded me of the use of the slip knot , we all got stuck in. We had an interesting team dynamic and although not the most productive team it was entertaining! It was good at break time to be able to wander down to the river Eye where we could see how the restoration was to work. So a good day with another new experience to add to my repertoire. Not much wildlife to report on although  evidence of water vole was found by Will and  I spotted a single Red Kite, the cold weather still dominating though.

Bats, Beech, and Budget

Its a record count

Back from Budapest, having seen their bat caves!, Morris joined with us today for the March Bat count at Sherborne. Temperature outside  the Bat cave ~5 C but as usual a barmy 11 C immediately inside the cave with 7- 9 C deeper inside where the Lesser Horseshoes were 'hanging'. So a bit of a surprise in store , since February count,  as there were 175 [+11] Lesser Horseshoes and yet another new species for me a 'Whiskered' Bat.  Sadly our long eared brown was not found in the Bothy but there were 8 [ +2] Lesser Horseshoes in the cellar and again 0 in the kennels. So overall good news, a record for Sherborne,  but we are hoping this cold snap ends soon and we get a warmer spell with good numbers of insects so the bats {and other wildlife} have a much needed boost from the winter sparsity.

After the excitement of the morning Bat count, it was back down to earth with some thinning  in Snow bottom belt. Mike was on good form with the chainsaw and plenty of  large Beech and Ash were felled and a 'record' {from my short experience} of cordwood piles generated for next years wood service supplies. Of course due care was taken this time of the year that no birds were disturbed and given the area and cold snap we hope to get one last session of thinning for this season next week. It was also good to see early signs of bluebell growth which follows on from the impressive show of snowdrops in other parts of the Sherborne estate. Anyway it was fair to say both Mike and I were pretty much out of gas as the day ended. Of course we both had the news of the Budget to look forward to, what changes if any for the environment I wonder.

Walking the plank

Another adventure with WT, all 10 crossed the river Eye safely

20+mph winds in freezing temperatures, a bit of a contrast to conditions in the water meadows last week. Add the exciting walk across the narrow plank and this marked my first 'interesting'  introduction to the Wildlife Trust Greystones farm and nature reserve. 3 WT officers {Will, Richard and Tom-Greystones mic} and 8 volunteers met this week to continue work clearing the banks on the farmers side of the rivers Eye and Dickler.  I have to hope the water voles are worth it, and by the tracks, pellets and 1 sighting the work seems to be doing the trick. Also saw my first Mink platform which among with others in this area indicate the presence of other various wildlife e.g. voles, otters. Thought we deserved better for some excellent work but the end of the day was marked by a walk back to Greystones in the teeth of a bitter wind with mini blizzard!

Maddie on guard duty once more while we were thinning 

Mike back this week after his break unfortunately not in the best of health having been ill on leave, not quite what u want to happen. However in much better weather conditions than Monday at Greystones the morning was spent in the Sherborne nursery on splitting 'duty'. The catch was it was beech but the good news was I could use Mike's splitting axe which gave me a fighting chance of getting the job done. We finished the work in good time so there was time to visit the water meadows area where  the Wildlife Trust have being doing some great work and were continuing the work today. It gave Mike his first sight of the work, and Richard from Wildlife Trust briefed Mike on progress and future plans. We all then went down to where Will was leading the volunteer team completing the clearance work by the water course near the river Windrush. Mike was certainly pleased with all that's been done and as usual needed to add more work to his large task list to complement the conservation work in this area. A great example of  conservation Trusts pulling together!

Had a brief look at Sherborne Brook at lunch before the afternoon thinning in Snowbottom belt started. Was treated to 2 herons 'discussing' fishing territory and large numbers of mallards and seagulls. plus buzzards and a single red kite. Mike obviously was keen on continuing my exposure to shifting heavy cord Beech but relented a little when felling some ash. Again some of the bigger trees needed extra work in bringing to ground using the usual techniques and lots of 'puff'. So with a mix of sun and snow flurries we finished the day with some much needed wood piles ready for pickup with the tractor. Didn't even stop to find out if the new pope had been elected or how the Cheltenham races were faring.

While the cats away...

Water meadows, working 1 field along to the right

Mike still on leave but surprisingly found myself back at Sherborne Water Meadows carrying out habitat improvements with the Wildlife Trust (note their CAP message) today.  Its my first outing with the 'living landscape programme' Cotswold rivers team {excellent video of what they are about}. We were to meet at the Northfield Barn car park and I was taken aback by the turn out. 16 volunteers and 3 Wildlife Trust officers {TIm - living landscapes, Richard - ecology, John - water voles} which I was told was a record and possibly influenced by the glorious weather, can't blame anyone for taking advantage.

The habitat work was a continuation of previous good work by the Wildlife Trust volunteers and   contractors {with heavyweight machine} down in the vicinity of the 'old' Sherborne Brook and a water course, by Birch copse, running parallel to the Windrush river. No power tools today but strictly manual cutting using large pruning saws and loppers clearing the fence lines and water course bank to allow more light exposure. It was muddy but the water levels back to normal so acceptable conditions. Its amazing how much can be done with so many people, so although not complete much progress made and some impressive piles of brash to add to the not inconsiderable piles already existing. Plan is when wildlife conditions permit to lay a new hedge down one of the fence lines.

Was good to see the local wildlife was out and about in spite of our small army and with so many eyes there wasn't too much that slipped by without notice. So Red Kites, Buzzards, 1 Cormorant, 1 fox and 5 Fallow Stags with impressive antlers starred at the lunch break.  No willow tits seen but it seems some of the specific willow tit boxes made & installed by Wildlife Trust volunteer have seen some activity.  Also spotted were 2 otter spraint, I refused the offer to smell either, but its good to know river otters are present in this area. The 'vole' officer John with us pointed out what may have been water vole tracks so quite a healthy sign for wildlife in general in these parts and overall a good first introduction to working with the Wildlife Trust. 

It must be spring

Pleasure Ground 

Ended the day by stopping off in Sherborne and viewing the spring flowers in the Pleasure Grounds, even spotted the local Heron back in its spot on Sherborne Brook.