Back from the Fens

Lambing in full swing at Sherborne

Early peacock in the sun

What is this and where is the plug

Weather sunny but fresh in Norfolk for my brief visit to pick up my new car and on the return journey I enjoyed a relaxing visit to Welney wetland centre where Marsh Harriers, lapwings, Avocets and Oyster catchers were amongst the birds on view. Missed seeing the hares who like the birds were breeding early this season.

As I also missed my normal Sherborne duties this week couldn't resist a visit to the Sherborne water meadows this Saturday and with the warmest weather of 2014 wasn't disappointed with the wildlife on show. Got off to a good start from Northfields car park with 3 red kites play fighting in the sky above the Broadwater with a buzzard looking down on them with interest. Couldn't mistake that spring is well underway as I took 'Sabrina way' down to the water meadows and witnessed lots of healthy young lambs in the upper pastures. Nearing Century wood five more Red Kite were flying in and around Picardy. Decided to take a right and head over to the Birches via the Gravel pits and discovered some freshly installed Solar panelled water pumps. Ground still soaked but navigable and the Sherborne brook running full hence the 'vortex' of water above. Although the 'lake' in the pasture by the brook and Birch copse had almost disappeared there were plenty of gulls along with a few lapwings. Disturbed a magnificent male stag with impressive antlers in Birch copse on my way to the bridge to allow me access to the river windrush. On a pleasant walk alongside the windrush was accompanied by brimstones, peacocks and tortoise shells plus plenty of bees! Again managed to disturb a couple of snipe,  spotted a reed bunting and then a tree creeper.  Was hoping to spot a hare or two as I wandered towards the 'hyde' area but was content with spotting a heron, a pair of canada geese and cormorants, 2 more buzzards, and a watchful sparrowhawk perched in one of the mature oaks.

Surprised that not more people were out on such a fine day but suits me and although not a rare sight it was good to see a number of chaffinches on show on my return back to Northfields. It was all about the lambs today though, how can you not be lifted by their presence.

A Dark Knight army!

Large turnout for the March bat count

A bit of an 'upside down' day at Sherborne with the March Bat count taking place in the afternoon. The morning was spent in the nursery splitting wood with 2 full loads delivered to local Sherborne customers. Its amazing how the remaining 'seasoned' wood stock is lasting but hopefully the demand should be tailing off now spring is upon us.

Lunchtime by the Broadwater provided some interesting changes: with the resident mute swans having built their usual nest by the boathouse, the new pair of mute swans  establishing their nest on an island above the weir, a pair of red-crested Pochard and a little Egret. All the usual suspects on the water were also present with a single Red Kite flying low over the Broadwater and 3 Buzzards flying high over the woods up from the brook. Also spotted at Sherborne by a local resident was a female hen harrier, I will of course be attempting to spot it myself.

The afternoon began with a bat count in the village roosts:  the Cellar 17, bothy 1 and the Kennels 8 lesser horseshoes. We met Morris up at the bat cave accompanied by a number of students and consultants. In addition Anna one of the new Sherborne volunteers joined Mike and Maddie to complete the bat enthusiasts. So it was quite a group looking forward to exploring the winter roost for the first time. The count for the cave proved very disappointing with only 88 lesser horseshoes giving a grand total of 114 well below last month and the 183 last March. The much warmer weather than last year  and a possible undiscovered summer roost may account for the drop, here's hoping its not something more serious.

On a totally different note I quite liked this piece from the Wildlife Trust providing good examples of youngsters adventures in nature, in this case more is even better. A final word about this years budget from Martin Harper, his blog unfortunately and unsurprisingly revealing no positive news for the environment.

Away from the gold cup, a little bit of everything

Sherborne village in the mist, from 'upper' brook bridge

Lodge Park farm buildings,  view from Larkethill wood

Fresh and misty weather dominated the early morning at Sherborne but at least I had escaped the congestion that the Cheltenham festival brings to my local area. A good start to the days proceeding at the nursery as a red kite provided a very low fly by in order to pierce what was a thick blanket of fog. Mike had to fit in a meeting reviewing the Sherborne estate's conservation performance indicators [CPIs] which also included other NT estate/properties. So Simon & I were charged with splitting a number of Ash 'cords' {blocked by Mike} for a new customer order for Windrush and also to measure the cubic metres it took to fill the trailer. Its not often we get the chance to split nicely blocked Ash and it was a pleasure filling the trailer with 'hand crafted' uniformly shaped Ash wedges, the customer hopefully appreciating what a special trailer load he was getting.

Lunchtime, with slowly improving visibility, was spent by the Broadwater on the section above the weir. It looks like we have an additional pair of mute swans settled on this part of the river with our resident pair happy enough with the waters below the weir. Also on show were lots of especially wigeon, coot, mallards plus half a dozen tufted ducks,  a pair of canada geese plus two roe deer. A bonus awaited on my return to the estate offices as I enjoyed a good view of a greater spotted woodpecker in the large cyprus tree, followed by another low flying red kite. 

A departure from normal activities was offered by Mike for the afternoon as he 'kindly' invited me to enjoy the completion of the CPIs for the Sherborne part of the review meeting. This included progress on objectives associated with features like Archaeology and historic background (e.g. iron age Windrush hill fort , long barrow at Lodge Park),  Arable land (habitats and species), Parklands and designed landscapes , Woodland and Trees (e.g. ancient & veteran trees, managed woodland, tree disease monitoring), Views and iconic settings (photographic records of landscapes). Missed the Water( habitat and species- local rivers & water meadows). All enlightening & food for thought for me!

Fortunately Mike & I were able to leave the meeting mid afternoon and in excellent weather re-visited Larkethill wood to continue thinning (and haloing where needed!). An excellent way of completing another storm free day at Sherborne.

Interesting Martin Harper blog on the sort of strategic planning (25+ years) and ideally cooperation needed for effectively protecting our natural environment, plus to Frack or not to Frack.

Spring in the air!

Will our male resident swan better 9 offspring 2014?

Water flow still strong by the Broadwater weir

Slight frost first thing but temperatures soon up to double figures at Sherborne today. The morning was spent at the nursery splitting wood and by lunch we had completed 3 customer orders. Spent a warm lunchtime down by the Broadwater where springlike activities were well underway. A pair of coots had built their nest on the remaining weed patch on the Broadwater close to the fallen oak, a pair of buzzards were perched close together in the copse above the weir {probably preparing for nesting in Clarkes close nearby}, the resident swans look ready to start this years family {can they beat last years 9 offspring!}, and the various wigeon, tufted ducks, mallards were all 'pairing up' on the quieter places upon the Broadwater.

The afternoon with weather still holding was spent up at Larkethill wood initially tidying up the previously cut wood into cordwood piles and the smaller items loaded on the trailer. Mike was then unleashed on some much needed thinning of sycamore, beech and ash. In no time additional cord wood piles were building at quite a rate given most of the trees felled put up little resistance. I only had to use the wedges and tree lever on a couple of trees with Mike using the 'lever' technique to untangle a tree caught up in an adjacent trees branches. Again in this springlike weather, once the chainsaw was silenced,  the birds {males} were certainly showing off their voices. So another productive day out in the country and perhaps we've finally escaped the incessant round of winter storms.

Obviously the flooding this year notably in the Somerset levels and alongside the Thames has and is distressing for those impacted but hopefully an adequate/more long lasting response will come out of this as outlined by most 'experts'/NGOs  illustrated by this WT piece.