A Christmas paddle!

Stormy weather sadly took out top of oak on the left of track!

Being a little fed up with the stormy weather of late and carrying a slight injury to my leg I seized the chance on a frosty, sunny xmas day to get some fresh air! Where better than Sherborne water meadows where its fairly flat and offered me the chance of seeing if any short eared owls might be around. Luckily I thought to take my wellies although waders may have been more appropriate as it turned out.

The beginning of my walk was a little sad as one of the fine oaks on the track down to the Water meadows had succumbed to storm damage, something which will no doubt have to be tidied up in the new year. I decided to take the track through Picardy and Commons towards the Water Meadows and was immediately greeted by a small herd of Roe deer. Already the ground was decidedly wet and  for the first time I was forced to go over a bridge as the main track was lost under deep water.  As I entered the Commons I came across 2 more Roe deer {mother and young} and just before the Water meadows I disturbed a large buzzard { the first of 6 I came across} which had just caught a field vole for brunch!.   Almost immediately a large heron { 3 in all today} took off in front of me and as I came to the actual water meadows  there were a dozen pied wagtails and the same number of lapwings enjoying the flooded meadow area. In fact all the ditches and water courses were full to the brim or had overflowed. As I headed over to the Windrush and the bridge between the Sherborne and Barrington estates I saw the first of 6 red kites. The Windrush  too was full or overflowing and only a couple of inches below the bridge which to my surprise seems to have lost the new gate the Barrington estate had erected this year!

Birch copse, difficult to see edge of Windrush, track on right

Lake formed by side of 'Sherborne brook' and Birch Copse

Made my way down the fisherman's path by the Windrush and headed towards Birch copse.  This proved to be quite a challenge as both the Sherborne brook and Windrush had burst their banks and created a 'Bayou' like terrain. Got a bit wet wading towards the bridge which would allow me across the Sherborne brook and in the water logged pasture the other side saw several red kite , black backed , common and herring gulls plus a flying V of canada geese. Paddling towards Gravelpits copse and the 'footpath' I spotted a green woodpecker followed by a kestrel {1 of 3 in the day}. Finished the days walk following the main track back out of the Water meadows and was pleased to see several goldfinches and greenfinches in the hedges bordering the track. To complete a fine day I spotted 2 fine looking buzzards hunting over Northfield copse.

A small footnote as Boxing day was looking good I couldn't resist a visit to Slimbridge. Was impressed with the thousands of lapwing and golden plover who provided spectacular flight displays in-between  their feeding sessions.

In absentia...

They think its all over…..

So with an advertised stormy day ahead I set off on what is my last official ranger day for 2013. The day was rescheduled to avoid the worst of the weather with a December bat count, requested by Morris who is currently roasting away on holiday in Australia, to be carried out in the anticipated wet afternoon. Luckily our Dark Knight Morris is not a cricket fan and unlike some of us will not be hugely saddened by England's capitulation in the Ashes series!.

So with one or two hiccups we began the day with 2 wood deliveries, the second being more memorable given the provision of a nice cup of tea & a tasty cake. We then shot up to the West Belt for a continuation of thinning together with a bit of hedge laying with the aim of avoiding the worst of the weather. Fortunately the weather was kind and even better the trees 'behaved'  themselves with only a few requiring a little gentle persuasion from the tree lever. So despite limited time available we were still pretty productive and  completed the woodland management work in this section of the West Belt. Lunchtime was soon upon us and my luck held weatherwise so I paid a quick visit to the Broadwater. Good to see a pair of swans, a pair of canada geese, 1 heron and the usual array of ducks. 

The afternoon with the weather worsening began at the bat cave and joined by Pat, who kindly acted as safety man,  Mike and {promoted} me were to carry out the bat count inside. The temperature, both inside and out, was pretty mild for December at ~10 degrees. I was grateful to stand in for Morris, since while we were inside the dry cave,  Pat was suffering in the wet outside. The final counts for 2013 were 151 {6 ringed} lesser horseshoe bats in the cave, 0 for the kennels & bothy, 7 in the nursery cellar giving a grand total of 158 which was slightly less than the November count.

Couldn't quite finish the year without a timely comment on biodiversity {state of Nature} & the NGO's , neatly supplied from Mark Avery. I have to admit to being puzzled by the NT position, its resistance to collaborating with 'like' NGOs on the big issues and the fact I haven't found any comment {finally spotted 20 Dec, better late than never} from it on the impending decision on CAP funding eg. Martin Harper blog, blog2. Sad news just in on CAP funding distribution, although the Wildlife Trust announcement tries to put it in a positive light.

Through the mist...

3 in one, not my pic though

I'm on a good run on the bird spotting front at the moment {must convert these observations into photos though} and started this week well at Snowshill Manor on tuesday, spotting a family of 3 green woodpeckers {they do like the pastures with abundant ant mounds, clearly containing live ants} and a red wing.

Weather today advertised as dry & sunny and surprisingly this looked to be true first thing this morning in Cheltenham. However things didn't turn out as planned after a text from Mike ruled him out of action through illness {Rangers are human after all} and fog & mist were to persist throughout the day. Not put off by these setbacks I decided to head over to Greater Barrington to approach the river Windrush via the Barrington estate. It was to be an eerily quiet walk with limited visibility and very little signs of life. Things picked up as I turned left towards the Windrush and the Sherborne estate where I spotted 6 forlorn looking red kite perched at the top of some Cyprus trees followed by a couple of Kestrels one perched on an electric fence plastic pole looking very sorry for itself. It certainly wasn't great weather for raptors given the visibility issues plus their prey was probably hunkered down in the poor weather. On a more cheery note I was pleased to see  20 or so goldfinches happily flying about through the long grasses and stands of teasel. Ever hopeful that the fog/mist would lift I crossed over the Windrush to check out the willow tit nest boxes and see what was happening around the Water meadows. It was interesting to see sheep for the first time in the previously 'wild' ground the Sherborne 'hyde' overlooks. Spotted another less than happy raptor, a buzzard, a tree creeper, a few field fares and a lot of 'disturbed' rooks. Water levels in the ditches and the river Windrush were down from my last visit but still healthy enough. With visibility worsening and even less wildlife sightings I decided to call it a day, not too disappointing a day after all.

Its getting near decision time on CAP spending will the NFU or the Environment win the day, Martin Harpers blog reminds us what's at stake.

As seen on TV!

Clear view across ditch, lots more shrub waiting on right!

Out with the Wildlife Trust Monday, at Greystones, the last session for me of the year. The task was shrub clearance of one of the ditches,  again to make the area more attractive for water voles. Two surprises awaited the volunteer team; the first was how dense the shrubs were and my sawing skills were tested to the limit, the second was the presence of BBC West who were interviewing Tom on the Greystones nature reserve, Will on volunteers and John on water voles. Filming took place of the reserve plus work going on during the day at Greystones, including our little shrub clearing exploits. No I didn't star or more to the point talk the BBC crew into the ground!

Magnificent oak down by the Broadwater

Lots of good stuff on the Sherborne estate regards birds but first task of the day was giving Pat a hand in the morning clearing a water channel running alongside Tight Lane which starts at the Sherborne school. For the afternoon,  following a stay of execution on the return of the Wood processor,  Mike had set up a final {really!} wood production session. Before commencing we duly delivered this years xmas tree to Sherborne House and mighty fine it looks to! As in last weeks session we finished the days work in the dark,  our wood stocks now cleared but the wood store full {alongside both trailers with loaded wood}.

On the bird front I spent last Saturday afternoon down in the water meadows where I was treated to great views of Buzzards, over 16 Red Kites many roosting in the 'poplar stands' alongside the Windrush. In addition there were a pair of cormorants, mute swans, a heron, 3 fieldfares, marsh/willow tits and goldfinches. This was complemented by todays lunchtime down by the Broadwater with lots of wigeon, mallards, coots, canada geese, {1 with orange collar}, 1 greylag, heron, pair swans, red kite, buzzard, raven and to make my day a kingfisher. The kingfisher was fishing down by the Broadwater weir and for over 10 minutes I watched it finally catching its lunch. The only downside was I didn't have my telephoto but took a couple pictures anyway with my wide-angle zoom. Yes it is possible to see the kingfisher in my snaps but an opportunity missed for a quality image!