No dragons for our Dark Knight!

A special day!

Yes its St George's day and although the weather was to produce typical April showers we had the pleasure of a visit from our own Dark Knight. Sadly no dragons around and also a measure of trepidation for our last bat count of the season. This 'mood' reflected the low count in March {118} and spirits were not lifted when the count at the bat cave was a low 42. However the Kennels provided a record count with a really large cluster of lesser horseshoes which we could only guestimate the numbers, we settled on a total 105 {also made difficult by a number of the bats flying around}. The newly refurbished Bothy provided 8 and the cellars 20. So a grand total of 175, although not up to last years 212, it was much healthier than last month and nearer the norm. Finished the satisfying morning task with my first sighting at Sherborne of this seasons swallows.

Yet another function performed by the tractor

The afternoon started in the nursery where a 'late' order for wood was to be satisfied and my last opportunity this season to practice my axe skills! The remaining part of the afternoon was to be occupied down in the water meadows where the wet winter had resulted in very deep ruts on the main track. This meant the local fishermen were unable to drive their vehicles to gain closer access to the Windrush hence Mike was called in to rectify the problem.  So Mike using the tractor filled the 4x4 trailer with gravel from Lodge Park and I drove it down to water meadows with Mike following in the tractor. To help spread the gravel and remove the deepest ruts Mike added yet another 'tool' to the tractor, the digger. It soon became clear we would not be able to complete the 'resurfacing' of the track today but at least a workable method of 'repair' was trialled for follow up work. So not the best of weather on St George's day but certainly not preventing a full and rewarding days work.

As ever an interesting thought for 'Developers' {well companies carrying out development} from Mark Avery on how to save money whilst helping wildlife! Plus an EA view on the health and approach to environmental recovery.