Pause for a pup!

A neighbourly lunchtime chat

A good wash by the weir

Heavy rain early morning but fortunately it cleared for Wednesdays session at Sherborne so another good September day weather wise for what will be my last bit of volunteering for the next few weeks. The length of my break will depend on how well my English Springer pup settles in we'll have to see.

Not surprisingly wood processing was to be the task to meet the rising orders for wood now Autumn's here. This second session with the new Posch wood processor provided an opportunity for introducing some fine tuning learnt from our first experiences. After the first trailer load was delivered to dairy cottage we had created enough space to use the wood lifter for the first time. The next load went to Bill in the village with the second manual unloading featuring launching the split wood over a barbed wire fence and wall of brambles onto a narrow path. The last load of the day was at the oldest house in the village where we enjoyed a well earned cuppa and biscuit plus a tour inside by its friendly residents of an impressive property

Lunchtime was especially rewarding with the weather rapidly improving and the swan family relaxing by the deep waters by the weir. Was treated to a visit by a grey wagtail and kingfisher who made good use of the remaining bit of the tree still in the brook. Two red kites flew over probably checking out if last weeks sheep carcass was still there. May manage a visit to the Broadwater next week while Mike's on leave and before the puppy arrives. It may be the last time I see this years swan family together.

Short and sweet

Sherbornes' Mallards skittish

Almost time to leave ...

Bit of a delayed start at Sherborne as Mike had to organise the 'ancient & notable' tree survey which included transporting the 3 volunteers to the survey area near Lodge Park. Today marked the end of this impressive one year survey which covered over 1000 trees across the Sherborne estate.  The challenge for today was to use the new wood processor for the first time which meant transporting it to the nursery, setting it up and getting used to operating it. There's no doubt it requires more co-ordination of both arms and leg to synchronise the various levers for the conveyor belts, splitter, saw and 'log grip'.  Needless to say Mike soon mastered it as did I although not quite as smoothly. At this point we decided adding in the 'log lifter' was something we would leave until next time. We did however get a load delivered before lunch which wasn't bad considering everything.

Whilst I enjoyed the pleasures of the Broadwater with the Mallards, egret and almost grown-up swan family Mike had to rejoin the survey party. 

As we were running late the afternoon session produced 2 more trailer loads of wood, short of our target but it proved a good workout for the new wood processor and with some fine tuning I'm sure the production rate will rise considerably.

No surprises in this Wildlife Trust piece

Posch but no Becks!

Interesting colour scheme, but new wood processor is here!

Early start today at Sherborne and an interesting one with a formal introduction to a solidly engineered Austrian wood processor with log lifter!. Introduction was by a Scot {who is a No to breaking away} and we soon got to know how to operate the 'beast' with its extra 'nobs', its going to be a great addition to Sherborne's boys toys. We are certainly going to need it with orders for wood already mounting.

Lunchtime was different today with everyone off to a leaving do which meant I had the place to myself except for Pepper. Good news was I was able to take Pepper for a long walk through the Pleasure Grounds. Enjoyed the experience with such a young Springer but its made me think twice about taking on two springers at the same time.

Temporary fencing up by Ewe Pen Barn

The afternoon was a little intense with the erection of a temporary barbed wire fence around the next site for more dry stone wall repairs by the Cotswold wardens. This was up by the Ewe Pen paddock which usually has at least 2 large bulls but fortunately they were not there today. No doubt the 'wallers' will appreciate the fence we put up when the bulls return! Following this task we needed to carry out some brush cutting both sides of the existing wall to further assist the 'wallers'. As if is this wasn't enough there were some larger shrubs to remove which needed my expertise with the 'Silki' given their size. A long warm day but as always very satisfying.

Something to keep a careful eye on, EU birds and habitats Directive

A long and winding wall?

New kid on the block, Pepper!

Interesting start to this weeks session at Sherborne as the first task was to unload the new boat from the long trailer. This mighty vessel has been recently bought to sail the Broadwater and of course to enable more effective removal of weeds from the water. Having unloaded the boat we made our way, with long trailer, to the Lodge where 40+ straw bales were waiting to be removed from the premises, now the exhibition of Mike's photos has finished. We then transported the bales to the nearby tenant farm where they came from and neatly stacked them in one of the barns. The farm is one of the smaller ones in Sherborne's estate but it certainly sets excellent standards in balancing its use of the land for wildlife & plants with the arable and livestock farming.

Not the Osprey I hoped to spot, but one of the pair of egrets

Lunchtime was spent entertaining the new springer puppy which has Maddie's colouring and then searching the Broadwater for the Osprey Mike had spotted flying in this area earlier in the day. I wasn't so lucky but it was still good to see the pair of little egrets, our resident swan family, heron, coots and mallards.

The afternoon was spent brush cutting along the estate drystone wall by the A40 and East Belt. This was a continuation of the work from last week and we must be well over the 1000 yard mark now and there is still a fair amount to go. At least my skill levels are improving in this area although the mixture of  'old mans beard', low lying tree branches and brambles were quite challenging in the hot September temperatures!

Link to the NT blog on the Chedworth Archaeological work I joined a couple of weeks ago, this was day 12 showing much more than I was able to see at the time! If you have the inclination there are several blogs covering each stage of the 'dig', just follow 'the previous' link.

More bad news on the environment, this time on SSSI's