Winter count 2013, the Dark Knight returns

The Bat team, Mike, Morris and Simon

New young pair swans, Sherborne Brook

 Sub zero temperatures but lots of 'treats' today, and over the past few days! This covers the Snowshill Manor Wassail last Saturday, an Orchard visiting Wassail with special guests the Happenstance Border Morris musicians and dancers. The weather was kind and the enjoyment factor for this traditional celebration high. Highlights featured 'toasting' the selected apple tree ( literally toast dipped in cider was hung from the tree by all who could reach) and  dancing by all to the unique Snowshill Wassail dance!

Another 'treat' was the delivery of the Dendrochronology report on the Oaks at Lodge Park which provided more details for the October visit. In summary it verified and more accurately measured the ages of the three oaks sampled at 290, 440 and 520 years. Additionally it showed a very slow girth growth rate during the 'formative'  phase but no reason given. Mike proposed this may be a due to a combination of the limestone soil and possibly a long dry spell in the 90 years of formative growth.

 Today joined by Morris (our Dark Night) with additional support by Simon we were to carry out a bat count for the Sherborne area. So with a light covering of snow and sub zero temperatures we headed for the main winter roost at the 'Bat Cave'. At the 'cave' entrance it was amazing to feel the heat from within which was a steady, barmy 9C. The lesser horseshoes inside favour the warmer temperatures and inside were  a very healthy population of 161. No greater horseshoes but its still early days and the April count  may reveal some along with more lessers. (2012 Feb count). We paid a quick visit to the other bat roosts in the village and a further 6 lesser horseshoes were found but also 1 brown long eared bat! Quite a relief for Mike our Ranger and Morris the Bat expert since the wet 2012 with less insects may have impacted the Bat population.  It still is a worry if we have a prolonged cold spell, so until the counts later on in the year show the Bat numbers are still healthy, fingers are crossed.

Spent an enjoyable lunchtime walking around Sherborne village and Brook. Was treated to views of nuthatch, coal/great/blue tits, green and gold finches by the bird feeders. At the Sherborne brook 2 pairs  of swans, one flying heron,  lots of ducks (mallard & widgeon) , and 1 red kite. Bumped into a couple of BT engineers who were both keen on sharing with me the recent invasion of waxwings in Cheltenham which I seem to be the only one living in Cheltenham who missed out on seeing this spectacle!

The afternoon saw us return to Snowbottom Belt for the next stage of thinning. Even with Simon it proved to be hard work again but satisfying and warm in spite of the freezing mist. As with last weeks thinning the trees needed rolling, levering, cutting, and occasionally prayer to get them to ground level. Mike even let me loose with the new tree lever to force a couple of the big beeches to cut through the overhead canopy to reach the ground. In no time darkness brought an end to the day with more cord  wood piles for Mike to gather up with tractor and trailer tomorrow.

What no snow?

Impressive and heavy Beech, start of thinning 2013 

Snowbottom Belt

What a contrasting week which began at Snowshill Manor with me on bonfire duty with temperatures at 12C and that's without including the heat from the bonfire which helped to melt my mars bar. So today in glorious sunshine, but temperatures down to 2C, Mike & I set off for some thinning in Snowbottom Belt  (derivation of this name unknown, but snow does seem to feature in a number of areas/places in the Cotswolds).  Before starting we had a quick tour through the Belt which also included the Rabbitground plantation with its Scots pine. Snowbottom Belt is one of the larger woodland areas at Sherborne and has a healthy variety of broadleaf including Beech, Ash, Elm and Hornbeam.  There's a lot of wood! which although well managed over the years was ready for some serious thinning. It just so happens that most of the trees selected for felling by Mike today were on the big side and included a number of 'dense' Beech. Good news for Mike since he got to use his new extra large tree lever but not so good for me since the wood piles were made up of heavier than normal cordwood. Still we both were kept suitably warm especially in the afternoon with more trees resisting a graceful fall to the ground & needing additional work with tree levers, wedges and cutting.  So although a hardworking day, its difficult to beat being in such a peaceful attractive woodland environment watching the deep red sun sinking below the horizon to end a very satisfying day, even in the absence of snow.

Can't  finish the blog without mentioning (re-iterating) a couple of things. First is if we are to preserve such woodland environments we can't forget there still appears to be no 'sustainable' common response to the threat the fungal diseases pose. Equally there is still no visible evidence of any impetus to renewed & resourced plans to combat pests like grey squirrels & deer which continue to significantly add to the overall threat to such woodland environments and their regeneration. Whether my views on this are actually fair is difficult to say but it would be interesting to survey those rangers and foresters, who are charged with facing these threats, as to whether they are receiving any practical advice and additional support {or changed priorities} to help them respond!

On a lighter note I hope to enjoy an old tradition at Snowshill Manor this saturday, which thanks to head gardener Linda  is celebrating a New Year Wassail!

Jericho? and the walls came tumbling down

Oops, imploded drystone wall

Welcome to 2013 with at least some respite from the wet stuff of 2012 thus far. Was looking forward to starting the new year with a bang but on arriving at Sherborne discovered a bit of a surprise at the estate offices. Unfortunately a large section of the 18 foot drystone wall had collapsed just before xmas fortunately injuring no-one but crushing one of the trailers. Coincidently a similar incident at Chastleton also occured, with age and excessive wet conditions not Joshua being the probable cause on both counts.

The days work was to be in the Nursery to make best use of the wood processing machine before its return to Ebworth next week. So with sleeves rolled up { temperatures pretty high for this time of year} we got stuck in, literally at times given the mud, and by the close of play the wood store was looking a lot healthier.

Quick visit to Sherborne brook at lunch revealed water levels still high something I also experienced down in the water meadows yesterday with the Windrush up at peak levels. Was treated to an impressive fly by of the resident swans who were investigating the brook above the weir.

Mandarin Duck Slimbridge,  not yet at Sherborne but...

Water meadows still 'saturated'!

Was intrigued over the festive break by a new Forestry Commission announcement? regards deer culling {large numbers} and the need to protect new saplings from them especially given the fungal diseases attacking our trees. Not sure I entirely understood this declaration given that good woodland management should be doing this as a matter of course regardless of the current situation. It seems there is evidence that deer will target healthier /disease resistant new plantings so its reasonable to re-emphasise/prioritise the use of woodland compartment management with deer fences etc.

Mud, mud glorious mud

We beat the All Blacks this year, I was there!, (c Colin Elsey)

Seriously muddy in the Nursery, (c Pete Williams)

Not a great end to the year but in keeping with one of the wettest for a long while. Spent the damp morning in the nursery churning out more wood supplies. As may be expected with the conditions the mud becoming increasingly cloying. This provided Mike with quite a challenge as he had to drive the Ford Ranger with loaded trailer out of the mud wallow to make the deliveries. Some pretty impressive driving required without resorting to a tow using the tractor.  Made it to lunchtime albeit a little wet and mud spattered but the rain put paid to the usual walk round this part of the Sherborne estate.  The afternoon was a bit of a gamble since the rain initially eased but gradually got heavier. However two more loads were produced before we finally called it a day without the Ford Ranger getting stuck and Maddie getting her afternoon exercise.

So not a bad year with the weather limiting the extent of countryside conservation I could contribute to but lets hope for better opportunities and weather in 2013. On the negative side are clearly the various fungal diseases attacking our woodlands and a Conservative Government influenced Defra which ought to be performing better ( Mark Avery view more extreme ).  On the plus side has been more reasonable documentaries raising awareness of our neglected countryside and core skills. Perhaps the leaders of our key charities and supporters of nature can inspire real action to get our youth and education centres more involved in nature. If only we could find something akin to the Olympics for involving more people 'in standing up for our countryside' and to act as a springboard for more sustainable actions.

Crank up the volume

Frosty in the Pleasure Grounds

Completed Play area

'cool'  Sherborne Brook 

Plummeting temperatures, -8 centigrade early this morning and not rising above freezing all day, has meant increasing pressure on Mike's 'wood' service. So armed with the wood processing machine and an increasingly 'honed' approach to this way of processing the wood piles {I still prefer the axe approach but bow down to the more productive machine} we were ready to crank up the volume of wood production. Before we started however the xmas tree for the Sherborne House residents needed to be installed in the quadrangle. After a slight delay caused by the low temperatures, with the additional help of Pat & a helpful resident,  the tree now stands proudly in its festive place once more.   

A cold lunchtime was spent firstly in the Pleasure Grounds where I was pleased to see the completed Play area which looked pretty good albeit in the absence of children. No doubt the swing, see saw, climbing wall and two stepping stones features will get plenty of use in the years to come. Just had time to have a quick look down by the Sherborne brook which was swathed in mist first thing this morning but had cleared by lunch. Lots of the usual bird residents still enjoying the habitat here even in these cold temperatures. 

Throughout the day we managed to fit in deliveries to 4 local customers ending up with the Sherborne school and all of them were genuinely pleased to see us and have their wood for the cold weeks to come.

Kestrel, Kites and Cormorant

A good day for flying

'Poplar' spot by Windrush

Bit of a busman's holiday as I visited Sherborne's water meadows while Mike was actually on a break in Prague! Water levels down by about a foot since my last visit but a fine sunny day and pretty quiet. Plenty of Red Kites on show together with a Kestrel being pestered by a Crow and a brief fly by of a single Cormorant. Oddly a juvenile Buzzard joined 3 of the Red Kites over one of the larger Barrington estate fields. Other than that 2 pairs of fallow deer I disturbed in my not so stealthy patrol around the meadows.  No owls or harriers on this visit but still a pleasant way of making the most of a dry sunny day.

Worth mentioning another good guest entry Ralph Underhill, on the Mark Avery Blog. Surprised to see  that NT wasn't one of the participants on the Common Cause for Nature project it looks worthy.

Playtime!

Childrens climbing wall

Natalie testing Mike's hand & foot holds

Surprise from Mike this morning as the day was to be spent in the Pleasure Grounds on local engagement duties. This was part of a Project to setup some child friendly facilities in the Pleasure Grounds which included a climbing wall, stepping stones , Seesaw and swing. Most of the material {larch based} was locally sourced and Mike had begun the work earlier in the week with the help of tractor  and directed by Natalie {manager}.  So in the morning I drove the Ford ranger while Mike drove the tractor down to the play site. Some tree clearance &  heavy tampering to secure the larch posts in the climbing wall, took up most of the morning.

Spent lunch down by Sherborne Brook where I bumped into our resident 'birders' who said they'd had a relatively quiet but wet underfoot observing day. Good news was that recent observations {includes mine!} indicate that some of last years winter visitors are back including Short Eared Owls, Red Kites, Hen Harrier, and Fieldfares. Add to this a Peregrine, Cormorant and Marsh Harrier? all we need now with the excess water are some waders and we have quite a collection.

The afternoon was occupied setting up the Seesaw support posts, surveying sites for swings and shaping the stepping stones and cutting the holds for the climbing wall {latter 2 tasks dominated by Mike on chainsaw}. We were ably assisted by a senior NT manager Natalie the first NT non Ranger I had seen in the countryside in my 18 months volunteering. So although I was not doing what I consider as core countryside work it was good to see manager involvement and also providing a hopefully enjoyable local facility for youngsters.