Reunited with two 'old friends'

My favourite axe, Mike keeping me supplied with big blocks

'Gripples' to the rescue after fence flattened by Beech 

Surprised by two things today, firstly the weather was particularly fine and secondly the first task involved blocking and splitting, old style, in the nursery. Fortunately three things were to assist in producing a trailer load of wood: Simon was assisting Mike and I, Mike was blocking up some excellent seasoned wood { too large for the absent wood processor} into 'man size' blocks and I had my favourite axe to attack the wood with. In no time we had filled the trailer and so with little delay headed up to Lodge Park to tackle the aftermath of storm damaged Beech trees. The first task was to repair a stock fence crushed by a large beech branch. Enter the Monkey strainer and that old favourite of mine the 'mighty Gripple'.  A little fiddly especially since we had a limited supply of gripples but by lunch the stock fence was restored to working order and even better the two barbed wire strands re-tensioned & connected with the use of super sized gripples.

Lunch time was a little disappointing weatherwise but the Broadwater entertained with the usual water fowl complimented by an additional  pair of  mute swans, a pair of canada geese and a handsome Red Kite. The afternoon began back at Lodge park to tidy up a fallen beech and for Mike to carefully bring to earth a large beech branch hanging precariously higher up an adjacent tree. Before leaving this area of the park my attention was drawn to the Lodge Park 'barrow mound' which sadly and inspite of over four thousand years age still lacks a suitable name {all suggestions welcome}. Next stop from here was to exit the Lodge Park to head for the next damaged beech in the south west corner of the Park. Again we were faced with a sizeable clearance task but with a sting in the tale. An even larger beech branch was propped up by the main trunk and with one of its limbs hanging over a drystone wall. After attaching a rope to different parts of the offending limb Mike finally pulled the branch down to the ground using the 4x4 and more importantly without damaging the wall.  A good end to the day and here's hoping for a continuation of fine weather for next wednesday.

Looks like a positive outcome from Defra on future environmental management schemes NELMS. A timely comment from Mark Avery on the Badger culling following a particular bad BBC showing where a farmer and 'tame' vet illustrated the uphill struggle still facing this issue.

Dark Knight back from Oz

Sunny but very wet in the water meadows

After 2 weeks of cancelled sessions a respite in the stormy weather has at last permitted a return to some  normality. I got a head start on a sunny Sunday with a visit to Sherborne's water meadows which also included a visit to Greater Rissington. Water levels were very high and I only just managed to cross the waterlogged Windrush bridge to gain access to the Barrington estate and the footpath up to Greater Rissington.   A good day for wildlife with yellow hammers, green finches, chaffinches, bramblings, 'serin/siskin', buzzards, red kite, heron, cormorants, mute swans, 100+ lapwing, deer and my first spot of a large male hare of 2014.

Todays Sherborne session welcomed back from Oz,  Morris, who was joined by Simon, Richard with Mike and myself. So plenty of help for the February bat count where expectation for increased numbers of lesser horseshoes were high. Sadly this didn't prove to be the case with 138 in the bat cave, 0 Kennels, 0 the Bothy and 15 the nursery cellar giving a grand total of 153. This was 17 fewer than the January count and a significant increase is needed for the March count if we are to reach last years May high of 212. The count took a little longer than normal since a good deal of knowledge sharing from Morris was the order of the day, with tales from Australia including their healthy Bat status, and some current news on nearby Cotswolds bat roosts.

Ragged Copse, fallen larch to be cleared

The afternoon was spent at the top end of Ragged Copse where fallen larch had blocked the footpath. Access was going to be a challenge given the wet ground but with Mike/maddie in the tractor and me driving the 4x4 with trailer { Simon & Richard on board}  we risked an ascent up the Sherborne Park slope. Amazingly the journey was managed with minimal impact on the grass pasture  and Mike managed to position the tractor, with grab over  the boundary fence close to the area of fallen larch. Given the large team the clearance of quite a few fallen larch was completed and a survey of the paths through Ragged Copse checked for any other obstacles/threats. This all proved to be a timely operation as activity during this half term was busy & the families 'out and about' grateful for our labours clearing the paths for them. The larch were cut into lengths for loading onto the tractor grab where they were then gently loaded into the trailer. It seems the larch was to be used to enhance the play facilities in the Pleasure Grounds, what lucky local children!. With almost spring like weather all day it was a relief to be able to enjoy a rewarding day outside doing some useful work again. Mike couldn't resist informing us of plenty more clearance of fallen/damaged conifers & broadleaf waiting to be dealt with given ground conditions permitted access. Personally I can't wait to get stuck in and hope the future weather plays ball to help us catch up with an ever growing task list.

A Century up and almost a washout

Wildlife Trust team approaching river Dikler worksite

Tranquil setting just outside Upper Swell

Impressive riverside clearance by end of day

It wasn't looking good this week, especially for my 100th blog on countryside volunteer experiences, as both NT and WT sessions were cancelled. However the Wildlife Trust rapidly rescheduled for today and we didn't miss out on a very rare sunny winter day. Will {in spite of ill health}  and John led the team to Upper Swell {fortunately not as flooded as the name suggests} to carry out some clearance by a very full, fast flowing river Dikler. The usual shrub/tree clearance, to remove shade, was the order of the day  but with the added 'pleasure' of rampant brambles a real favourite of mine! We were treated to a raven seeing off a buzzard at the first break and it was hard to believe how pleasant the weather was with our youngest team member down to his tee shirt. What a fine spot, with a parkland estate further downstream and a characterful old bridge as our 'break spot' where we could  'bask' in the warm sun! Needless to say we did get stuck into the work and by close of play had made an excellent start of clearing this stretch of river.

Not so long ago the weather patterns provided us with 'too dry' winters but this year seems to be making up for lost ground! The seemingly constant wave {no pun intended} of storms blew away this weeks wednesday session at Sherborne. Fortunately I did manage a visit to Sherborne on Monday where, in the main, the water levels in the water meadows were higher than I've seen them, almost a waders only zone. Some wet socks and trousers testify to this especially down by the old Sherborne brook where lots of gulls, buzzards and a few remaining lapwing were on show. I also spotted 2 pairs of heron, pair cormorant, a flock of small waders {still to ID but plover is favourite} and 3 red kite in the pasture/lake overlooked from the 'hyde'. Most enjoyable sight was that of my second bullfinch of the year in the hedgerow on the boundary of Picardy followed by 3 fallow deer deeper in the wood. Not so good was some additional tree damage especially the fall of one of the trees into the Broadwater, an interesting removal challenge for Mike.

While on the topical subject of floods another sensible blog from Martin Harper.