Bats..

With the arrival of Maurice this Wednesday the December 2016 bat count was ready to take place. James and I were to act as health and safety while Maurice and Mike carried out the count inside the winter roost bat cave. The temperatures outside and inside the cave were unusually high {11C outside and 10C inside with 96% Humidity}. The counts for all roosts were 158 bat cave, 5 Kennels, 4 Bothy and 0 Cellars with a grand total of 167 lesser horseshoes[December 2015 total 146].

Major clearance at Greystones

Today was the final volunteer session 2016 for GWT which took place at Greystones. There was a good turnout possibly motivated by the end of year BBQ. The task for the morning was to 'clear and burn' a large amount of brash and wood at the margins of an SSSI pasture at Greystones. The SSSI factor meant that the construction of the two fires were on platforms at a height that prevented damage to the ground. This clearance work would allow a new fence to be constructed along the pasture boundary plus the laying of  a new hedge and make available a significant additional area to the existing pasture.  A very important consequence of this should ensure Greystones will meet the conditions of the environmental grant allocated to this reserve.