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.