Winter by the brook

coppicing by the bridge

All clear but material needs to be moved to far bank

Looking much clearer along old Sherborne brook

Sad to see demise of old dead tree

First day of winter and a sunny but cool day with the GWT coppicing along the banks of the old Sherborne brook.  Will, assisted by Emma, lead the large volunteer team which headed down to the water meadows and initially focussed operations by the Gravelpits copse stretch of the brook and later moved onto the Birch copse stretch. We soon discovered that most of the coppicing was on the bank adjacent to the Gravelpits copse although I did get a good clump by the bridge on the other side. Was expecting to operate in the brook, having donned waders, but soon discovered the brook was too deep so had to operate from the bank. This meant I had to throw all the coppiced wood across the brook to the Gravelpits side where it would be tidied up by that part of the team working there. Was happy to see a couple of Red Kites but not so pleased to see that one of the iconic dead trees of the Sherborne estate had finally fallen leaving the landscape that much poorer.

Have resisted, for a while, mentioning the short comings of DEFRA, NE,NFU {and to some extent the NT } but the issues regarding Grouse shooting, wildlife crime and countryside mismanagement remain [although grudgingly criminal activities now being acknowledged by the likes of the Moorland Association]  as references by Mark Avery's blogs peak district and wildlife crime demonstrate.

Hare and 'Tortoise'!

Small Tortoiseshell, where have the large ones gone!

Wednesday session with NT was cancelled but on Thursday I did help carry out Sherborne's first ukbms butterfly survey, led by Anna {newly appointed environment ranger for Sherborne}, on a Transect {divided into 5 sections, section 1 Budge Hill Belt to section 5 Windrush camp} in the Budge Hill area. Weather was favourable but it was  clearly too early in the season for any significant butterfly numbers to be seen. As it turns out we spotted in section 2 a Small Tortoiseshell and  two Peacocks  in section 5, but no 'Dukes'!. That was it for this survey,  apart from an appearance of a fine looking hare in section 5. and ~6 roe deer in section 1.

Original Revetment work on Sherborne brook, 2013

Mike's tractor trailer full of fascines & stakes, all used!

River risen higher than original fascines 

Some serious repairs and re-tying of fascines

One of the new compartments taking shape on 'land' side of new bank 

Todays session with The Wildlife Trust, ironically was at Sherborne, down in the water meadows by Sherborne Brook. The task led by John, with Alan and George assisting, was to carry out some repairs and to add additional 'compartments' to the river bank work previously completed on a stretch of the Sherborne Brook. Already the existing river work can be seen to be doing its job nicely with river depth and flow increased {which should please the fishing fraternity}. The increase in depth meant that additional fascines needed adding to increase height of artificial bank and repairs to some existing fascines needed by adding and/or re-tying. I joined one of the teams in creating the new compartments which were to be constructed on the 'land side' of the new bank to stimulate new plant growth and speed up the process of establishing the new river bank. In the fairly warm conditions it was good to be working in the cool water, provided the waders remained watertight and you didn't swallow any of the water.  In addition a water vole survey was carried out and provided good evidence that the habitat improvements in this area is helping to increase vole numbers.

Some more detail from NT director Simon Pryor on a better environment, hope to see this for real in my patch!

Bark spade and drawing knife are we Bats ?

Lesser horseshoes 'just hanging'

The March bat count took place on Wednesday with James & Mike at Sherborne in pretty wet conditions and alas without Maurice. On the plus side the number of Lesser Horseshoes were up on the February count [156] with 52[1] bats occupying the summer/transit roosts, 20 of those having moved from the main winter roost. So the final tally was 136 Bat cave, 6 Kennels, 39 Bothy and 7 Cellars with a grand total 188.  Temperature outside ~ 7.5C and inside a balmy 8C-9C with 97% humidity.

Here's one I prepared earlier

Its not only Sherborne where exciting new activities have started {with ~ 18 months duration} but its all action at Greystones as well. The new visitor centre building work is well under way, so much so we had to park at the nearby Co-Op car park. Today was spent with Tom at Greystones where further preparation work was to be carried out in support of an iron age Roundhouse build. The size of this build was going to be ~ 8m diameter of circular floor  with 10-15m? {can't remember figure quoted but thats very tall! ,correction welcome} roof height. Looking at the materials {oak and ash cordwood, hazel sticks and prepared faggots} it was hard for us to see how you could create any building  but as Tom pointed out it was akin to a rustic 'flatpack' without the usual instructions {no bad thing in my experience}. Add to this the addition of new tools: the bark spade {supplemented by sharpened normal spades} and the drawing knife  it wasn't getting clearer. The pictures may add some clarity? to this very early bark stripping and hazel shaping part of the build. It was another first for me and others so that's no bad thing.

Early stages of hazel pruning

Large stock of faggots for Roundhouse walls

Greystone cows as perplexed as us

Crude bark scraping and fine tuning with Drawing Knife

Some hard scraping of oak cordwood and more delicate DK smoothing

Interesting article in telegraph, I knew NT would get with the programme eventually? , even a statement from Andrea Leadsom who has been pretty invisible as Defra minister, lets face it Defra deputy Coffey is pretty hopeless.

Even more River work!

Frosty start on the Windrush on Slaughter Farm, WA1

Looking down the Windrush to bridge & WAs beyond

Large multi-organisation team near WA2

WA2 stake line set ready for fascines

Fascines in place for new river bank, WA2

WA3, extensive shrub clearance

WA5, EA team setting stake line

Frost gone near area of Windrush I worked, WA1

Today was spent with the WT on the Windrush, near Bourton on the Water at Slaughter  Farm. Will and John led a 30+ strong team which included/had contributions from the usual GWT volunteers, an EA team, Bourtons local fishing club members and Cotswold wardens. Its been a while since I have worked this area of the Windrush and it was a good deal warmer than today. The team were to carry out shrub clearance and river bank narrowing along a long stretch of the Windrush. Earlier stakes and fascines had been placed down by the Windrush where the new river narrowing was to take place. After the introduction of the days task was delivered by John teams were formed to work various sections of the Windrush. My area, as I wasn't wearing waders, was work area 1 where stakes were already in place {circa 10 years ago}. The first task was to coppice the willow which was growing along a ditch which fed into the river. This willow was then used to weave a barrier between the existing stakes, as there were not enough fascines to cover all the sections requiring them. I unfortunately had to leave early but as the pictures above show an impressive amount of work had already been accomplished.

Have been working at Sherborne the past few weeks mainly on adding to the wood service supplies and this Wednesday on helping to clear shrub and trees along 'tight' avenue. This starts by Sherborne school/war memorial and continues up past Hope farm to Vincent Lodge by the A40. Recent growth and fallen yew has began to interfere with traffic using this narrow lane. Needless to say even with Mike using the pole saw, James with chain saw and me with loppers the work was not going to be completed in a single session!

Sadly but not surprisingly the petition I supported to ban Driven Grouse shooting to save the Hen Harrier {plus thousands of other mammals and reptiles} and highlight the damage to unique blanket bog and peat land was 'Shot down" in the parliamentary debate. I received letters from Defra ministers to respond to my questions and transcript/video of the debate which were to say at best embarrassing {not for me and 120,000 + supporters}.  I can't criticise my local Conservative MP who responded helpfully to my concerns on the issues and even showed some sympathy to this conservation issue. Given the wealth of scientific and compelling evidence questioning this Victorian pastime the need to ban this particular form of shooting will become irresistible and the behaviours of certain MPs and Defra be shown to be completely unacceptable. The only hope is this will happen before rare species like the hen harrier become extinct and  the rare upland environments damaged beyond recovery.

'Tintin' and a less 'Poplar' Bibury?

Wednesday at Sherborne, with James, started off with a grim task. 6 Canada geese were found dead in the West Belt by a family taking a walk through the woods. Our task was to find these unfortunate geese and discover what might have happened. It was clear when we tracked their location down that poachers had been at work and having shot theses geese probably somewhere along the Sherborne or Windrush had taken what they required from the birds then just dumped the remains over the wall in Westbelt. The incident would be reported and the bodies suitably disposed, its unlikely the perpetrators will be found. Whilst carrying out this task, and on a slightly more positive note, we discovered a lost labrador, 'Tintin', who happily we reunited with his owner. 

6 dominating poplars, Rack Isle

Less dense vegetation, courtesy Belted Galloways

Rack Isle nicely cropped, but something is missing!

No more poplars on Rack Isle

The main job of the day was to visit Bibury to carry out some coppicing plus some ground work in the Arlington row private car park. Quite a change to Rack Isle, Bibury, since my last visit. The Belted Galloway's had certainly done their job in reducing the dense vegetation and the contractors had done an impressive job of removing 6 large poplars a task long awaited for. Lots of willow to be coppiced, alongside the river Coln, all of which would need to be placed in the trailer for disposal in the nursey area.

This week evidence was given, from both sides, on driven Grouse shooting {yet more slaughter, see above,  of wildlife as a consequence}. Odd thing was the Countryside Alliance/Moorland Association were grilled by Simon Hart MP who happens to be chairman of the Countryside Alliance! Next is the Government debate on 31 October, not expecting the pro shooting MPs will be 'shot down' by the petition to ban driven grouse shooting. However its a strong warning to those arrogant elitists that scientific, reasoned arguments eventually will break down their fortress of misinformation, lies, criminal acts and 'tradition' sooner than any of us thought possible only a short time ago.

Will's first ditch!

view over Sherborne and Broadwater

Hidden in the pasture a yellow cow-pat toadstool?

Varied session at Sherborne wednesday with James, which began on the pasture across the Broadwater and next to the repaired wall adjacent to the road to Northfield barn.  We were scavenging for Cotswold stone, leftover from previous wall repairs, which was to be used for repairing some of the damaged walls in Sherborne village, this time by one of the new drystone wall contractors. After collecting sufficient stone to satisfy the 'waller' James suggested we pay a visit to the Windrush where he had positioned a motion detection camera. This was close to a spot on the river bank where it appeared an otter had been entering /exiting the river. On the way there we spotted an adult red kite, a  female fallow deer but weren't lucky enough to see the juvenile peregrine seen recently in the vicinity. A quick browse  of the camera photos unfortunately revealed no interesting activity so James re-positioned the camera for another attempt to capture the elusive otter.

Nicely maturing hedge running alongside scrape down by the Birches

After checking the motion detection camera for sign of otters a minor detour was made to check out the hedge built by the WT team which looked pretty healthy considering it was built just over  year ago!

Some thick scrub to cut back in the rain, Greystones

Getting stuck in, there is a water course ditch there somewhere

The water course revealed, happy days water voles

Team by the bridge, sunny but next ditch beckons!

Its been a while, February this year, but spent this morning at Greystones with the WT.  Will and John from WT led a team of 8 volunteers down to one of the water courses {ditches} in the meadows at Greystones for some shrub clearance. As it happens it was a return to Will's first ditch shrub clearance experience with the WT leading a team of volunteers.  This was 7 years ago hence the impressive growth that needed attention on this stretch and as it transpired adjacent ditches in this area. As ever it all about the water voles and ensuring they have the appropriate unshaded 'water ways' to enjoy as they thrive in the water meadows at Greystones.

The? shared vision of farming and  the countryside.

A view to a kill...

Ted , new kid on the block

Pip, she's no longer the youngest

Commons, Red Admiral

Commons Ride almost cleared for the 'Hunter'

Commons Ride cleared by new tractors flail

Started the morning at Sherborne playing with the resident dogs: the new pup Ted with Pepper the springer plus young Pip the border collie. 

Was eventually persuaded to join James in the 4x4 where we were to join up with Mike with tractor down in the Commons to continue work on clearing the overgrown rides. Pole saw, tractor flail, loppers, and saw were all needed to carry out the required clearance in a rarely used part of the Commons. It was good to see a fair collection of butterflies {no dragonflies though} which included Red Admiral, Speckled wood, Ringlet and Meadow brown { this complements my Crickley Hill observations earlier in the week of Comma, Silver Wash Fritillary, Painted lady, 'Blue', Marble White}.  

Another necessary but  unpleasant reason for clearing one of the smaller rides was for the resident hunter.  Unfortunately the deer population is still too large so culling has to take place to prevent excessive damage to crops and woodland. I climbed up the 'hunters' seat situated up one of the trees to ensure the view down the ride was not obstructed by vegetation and overhanging branches. So another interesting session down at Sherborne and at least I didn't suffer as much with the biting insects this time.

A positive 'awakening by the NT' to nature wrt farming policy as reported by Martin H blog.

Can't tell Stork from Heron!

Tricky access through wood on left, for delivering walling stone

Stork at Sherborne Broadwater

Stork not a Heron!

Back of Monks Farm, rebuilding of  drystone wall

Hot and varied morning at Sherborne on Wednesday, starting with a fire alarm drill at the estate offices before we 'escaped' with both tractors and the 4x4. Mike took the 'new' red tractor with large trailer to Lodge Park to collect a supply of stone. This was for the rebuilding of the dry stone wall at '33' in Sherborne village. The access to the wall was tricky and needed the smaller blue tractor with trailer to deliver the stone supply through a narrow wood trail. Some testing driving of both tractors was needed to even get to the start of the wood trail just up from the Broadwater weir. While Mike and I moved the stone from the large to the small trailer James set about 'strimming' the overgrown trail before we could move it to the work site. As we were discussing with the waller where the first load of stone was to be placed Mike interrupted with news of a rare visitor to the Broadwater.

One of the villagers had spotted a Stork landing/flying in the pasture by the Broadwater. Without too much persuasion and armed with binos, camera {no long lens!} all of us {including 'waller' } headed back to the Broadwater pasture to get a look. It was indeed a Stork and I was volunteered to try and capture it on camera by careful approaching it { couldn't stalk it given I tweaked my back earlier in the week}. An amusing sight I'm sure but I did my best. Although the Stork was the star of the morning we did also see an actual heron, an egret and I saw the mute swans with at least 2 cygnets. All in all a good mornings experience at Sherborne. 

Meanwhile on the 'bigger picture' we now know who replaces Truss heading up DEFRA, Andrea Leadsom  'being a mother' and therefore having a real stake in the future could mean her children might have a countryside environment  left to enjoy?. Sadly Truss gets promotion for doing absolutely nothing {well nearly if we ignore her dismissal of the ban on lead ammunition}. Question is will her replacement Leadsom take any notice of this Martin Harper blog.

On the rails?

Note one  rail 'join' per post for more stable structure

Mike assessing the mornings work at Clarks Close

Got to get some practice with the hammer and drill this week at Sherborne where I helped Mike and James finish off attaching the rails to the poles installed a couple of weeks ago. While Mike and I attached the rails James made a start on replacing the old gate post. I certainly needed the practice since I am a little rusty on this type of construction and as Mike has lots of tree guards to be constructed this season I am going to need to get stronger! Nice and peaceful in this part of the estate and the wildlife obviously enjoying a break since we didn't see any. Still no sign of cygnets on the Broadwater this year hopefully its not too late for their appearance. 

Can't resist a mention of the EU referendum,  the following 2 Blogs [Mark Avery and RSPB] confirm my position.

Fencing with rails?

Hedge plants starting to mature, Sandy Hill Copse in distance

Northfield Copse in distance, fence gone by Clarks Close

It's a long stretch of fencing needed down to Sherborne wall

First fence section poles erected at Clarks Close 

Not a new olympic sport but alternative fencing construction to usual stock fencing. Previous volunteer session had removed old rail fence line along the top section of Clarks Close, it was a significant stretch of fencing to replace so the tractor was a welcome support to the task. Before starting to layout the fence poles I took the opportunity to see how the hedges built in 2013 were doing. Although James and I had a healthy number of fence poles in the trailer it became obvious we had insufficient  to cover the extensive fence line needed. Mike also concluded the old rails wouldn't be good enough to re-use and the old gate posts giving access to Clarks Close would also have to be replaced.  James and I positioned  the posts while Mike using the power of the new tractor pushed the poles into the ground. Given the unseasonable cool weather the limited use of the drival and metal pole for positioning the poles was sufficient to keep me warm. Unfortunately I didn't get to attach the rails to the first section of the fence line but hopefully I may get the chance to have a go next week unless Mike and James get the extra poles and finish the job over the next week. Whatever the outcome Mike has more fencing work planned plus plenty more tree guards so my drilling and hammering skills will come into play over the coming months.

This blog from Martin Harper confirms a number of things: EU is a positive {albeit slow} force for the environment/wildlife, DEFRA {Truss} are pretty useless, Shooting fraternity {with their super figure head Botham} may start to worry their sorry minority of privileged, arrogant members could face a bigger threat from 'us' than they ever considered and Mark Avery's dogged persistence is edging the environmental position slowly forwards. Not bad since this Government supported by the press {owners/editors with shooting bias} continue to provide a powerful negative force concerning issues impacting our Natural environment.