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!