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.