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.