Bridge over the river Eye!

River Eye with healthy flow and river banks clear here

Brash piles mounting and river edge now visible 

Fence and bank cleared so clear stretch to bridge downstream 

Plenty of willow to be dragged out of river Eye

Ollie wants his ball back and a good feed!

Winter finally making its mark with a hard frost on Tuesday morning making the journey to Greystone and the Wildlife trust more interesting. The task for today was clearing the banks of the river Eye upstream from the main bridge where we had previously positioned some Dipper boxes. Rampant willow had enveloped both sides of the river and in parts obscured parts of the fence line. So with the river running high and fast the team led by Will and John was split into those with waders  attacking the willow from the river whilst the rest of us sawed away from the relative dry of the river bank. Initially with some fine sleety rain falling it felt damp and cool but soon the weather cleared,  internal warmth increased and the brash piles grew fast. By the time I left, the fence line was clear and the river banks visible, a good effort all round.

Today was the 2014 November bat count at Sherborne , {last years total 161}, sadly Morris our Dark Knight couldn't make it but we did have Ant to help out. The Bat cave had 124 lesser horseshoes, the kennels 0, the bothy 3 and the cellar 11 giving a total of 138. Lower than last year but probably accounted for by the mild autumn and early winter weather.

Fun at the Mill

Rissington Mill, on the river Dikler

Phase 1 of bank clearance, team well earned break

Bonfire working well

Mandy up the tree, John in deep water

Dikler bank cleared, bonfire roaring away

potential future work downstream!

Joined another large Wildlife trust team led by Will and John at Rissington Mill on Wednesday, not Sherborne as usual since Mike was on a course (you never stop learning in the countryside). Another good location, by the river Dikler and on land which surrounds the Rissington Mill, the mill  sadly no longer in operation.

Another mild November day for some classic river bank clearance to benefit the water vole mainly but it also improves the look of the riverside environment. This task continued the good work of last year in this location yet the new growth in the meantime still provided plenty more to do. With the Dikler water level high,  running fast and the overgrowing shrub {blackthorn & willow} uncomfortably far from the bank the risks of an 'early bath' were high. This time Mandy disappointed but did come close especially when climbing an overhanging willow to trim it back. The good news was an impressive bonfire was built to dispose of the lighter brash and debris {larger wood pieces were carefully placed in the nearby hedge line}. The bonfire provided plenty of heat for drying after any unplanned dips into the river but extra care over the flying embers was needed especially for me without hair or a hat!. Although the team of workers was large the long stretch of river bank being worked ensured sufficient space for all plus plenty to do. The first break in work provide the bonus of some tasty cakes baked by one of the volunteers. I left early again but the positive impact on the river bank was already clear to see, so another rewarding experience ticked off.

Martin Harper's latest blog illustrates the current spate of attacks on the 'conservation communities' a soft target for the mainly well to do hunting & shooting communities with too much time, too much money and little rational/factual argument. No one supporting conservation pretends everything is perfect but on too few resources, small numbers of lowly paid professionals and a healthy set of volunteers its been doing pretty well to stave of disaster in our natural world. I don't see the government or anyone else stepping forward to help conservation although I highly commend those small minority of farmers & gamekeepers who more than hold their own.

Otter 'des res'

Site of Otter holt, down on the left by upper lakes

Path to site by first lake, source of the river Eye

Lots of wood for building material, in great location

Front entrance to Holt, phase 1 of the build

Brash gathering for phase 2 of the Holt build

Richard 'fine tuning' brash layer forming Holt roof 

Interesting week considering the heavy rainfall recently and it began at Sherborne where I squeezed in a hard session on the wood processor with Mike. Two interesting things to note:

the first being the large size and awkward shape of the cord wood being processed which proved to be my toughest workout ever,

the second being a sighting of a snow bunting earlier in the week at Sherborne by Anna.

Today I met up with the Wildlife Trust at Greystones where over 14 people gathered before splitting up into 2 teams which then drove to the Rockcliffe estate. Here each team were to build 2 Otter Holts hopefully for use by the resident Otters  as 'second' temporary homes. One team went off with John and Alan whilst I joined the other team led by Richard.  Have to say the site for the Otter Holt by the Upper Lake area {source of River Eye} was impressive, made even more so by the warm sunny weather. It was difficult to believe its mid November and it wasn't long before clothing was discarded to combat the warmth. Obviously for Mandy wearing waders an unplanned dip into the cool lake water was the preferred method of combatting the excessive heat, something she is getting quite good at. The build started with us volunteers clearing some of the surrounding area to provide lighter building materials whilst Richard using the chainsaw felled a willow/alder which  sourced the  large cord wood for the Holt's foundation. The Holt situated close to one of the Lakes was built in layers with reeds providing a good 'light seal' and then lots of lighter brash 'the roof'. Unfortunately I had to leave early but the construction was well on the way to completion with the Holt hopefully looking like a natural feature of the environment. Another 'first' for me in the conservation build arena and a very  enjoyable one in yet another cracking location. I also managed to get home in time to feed a hungry puppy and take it for a great walk whilst the sun was still shining!