Short and sweet

Weather we'd like for Apple weekend 

Tuesday at Snowshill provided dry and sunny weather which was a great help as we erected the 3 large Marquees and collected/setup the tables in readiness for the apple weekend celebrations starting this coming Saturday at Snowshill. Our hope for the great weather of last years event may be a stretch but the apple collection will be much improved given better growing conditions this year.

Morris was at Sherborne today which can only mean one thing, a visit to the bat roosts for a bat count. Not so lucky with the weather, heavy persistent rain, we seem to be making up for a relatively dry year. Nice surprise at the bat cave, given the temperatures have been mild of late, as there were one or two bats flying around in this winter roost. The final tally was 83 lesser horseshoes in the bat cave,  31 in the kennels, 5 in the Bothy and a record 56 in the Nursery cellar. They all looked in good shape and the total for this time of year pretty healthy. Even though we completed the count in record time we were all soaked, so since the rain showed no signs of relenting,  Mike called it a day for any further outside work.

Possibly not my best decision but I opted to pay a visit, while in the area, to the Water meadows and river Windrush. In the heavy rain I was glad to be wearing wellingtons as the previously dry paths were pretty damp. Not much luck in spotting wildlife but the Sherborne brook and Windrush water levels were looking better given a fairly dry year. Good to see the newly erected rustic fencing down by the  Windrush completed and  surprised to see one of the large pastures adjacent to the Water Meadows ploughed. The  sun did finally make an appearance but by this time, even with waterproofs, I was pretty damp. Spotted a heron, cormorant and red kite before I left the meadows area. To end the day I paid a visit to Clarks Close where I had a quick look at the hedges we built and aside from the weeds most of the hedge plants looked to be growing well.

Return of the PALAX!

Busy time down in the nursery

With the threat of arctic weather I succumbed to wearing a jumper for Wednesday at Sherborne. The first surprise of the day was the news that Mike had secured the loan of Ebworth's wood processor, this closely followed by a realisation that in the unexpected sun I found it much warmer than expected. Its a good job we had the PALAX wood processor because we had two full trailer loads to produce and deliver in the morning. All went to plan and by midday I was ready to enjoy my lunchtime in the Pleasure Grounds. Had the chance for a quick survey of Sherborne brook and sadly the swan family was again absent but I still think there's a chance for them to return before the youngsters go their separate ways.

The afternoon was spent in more wood processing, this time filling up the big red trailer { ~2-3 normal trailer loads}.  Part of the load was made up from wood reclaimed from the severed limb of the 500+ year oak which certainly proved a challenge for feeding through the processor because of the awkward shapes of the cord wood. Still by close of play the wood store was left looking quite healthy which should help meet the demand which will be increasing rapidly as the colder weather begins to dominate.

Windrush, Slaughter Farm

Out today with the Wildlife Trust, Will & John in charge, with a return visit to the section of the Windrush which passes through Slaughter farm near Bourton on the water. As usual a good turnout even though the weather was chilly but sunny. Again it was clearing shrub and small trees to open up the ground to more sunlight which will encourage sedge and general vegetation growth in the 'oxbow lake' area adjacent to the river Windrush. Plenty of sawing so keeping warm was no issue. The highlights were some tasty cakes supplied by 2 generous volunteers plus a sighting of a kingfisher which sadly I missed.

Following the reports on the badger cull has been a sad affair and not helped by the failure to complete the cull with an extension to follow. Martin Harper's blog sums it up pretty well, so DEFRA's potential credit on CAP implementation is somewhat offset by this poor showing. 

Taking 'Stock' and the 'swans song' ?

Belted Galloways sheltering on Rack Isle

The only 'swan' [pub in Bibury]  I saw today!

Managed to penetrate dense fog to arrive in one piece at Sherborne today. Mike was 'chained' to the office so I was to visit Bibury to check on the Belted Galloways on Rack Isle and to ensure the electric fence was in good order. Maddie came along for the ride and I managed to get to Bibury before the rush so managed to secure a parking place. Surprisingly, given its October, I was ambushed on my survey of the electric fence by a small army of enthusiastic Japanese tourists. Hopefully the NT won't be too damaged by an enforced 'photo session' down by Arlington Row, obviously they were going for character not beauty!  Soon completed a check of the fence {still charged}, ensured the water troughs were full and all Galloways were present and well. On my return journey back to Sherborne I was treated to my second viewing of the day of the much missed Red Kites, this was a close up view of a Red Kite taking advantage of a road kill of Pheasant. The morning was completed by a visit to number 61 Sherborne to mow its lawn in readiness for the new tenants arriving this weekend.

Lunchtime was to prove a shock for me as the swan family were absent from Sherborne brook, no card or call to let me know!, but hopefully they will return before the young cygnets go their separate ways. So at least the youngsters are flying now. I had to make do with 1 egret, 1 heron and 1 buzzard.

The afternoon was spent in the nursery where I was re-acquainted with splitting with Mike blocking with chainsaw. The wood wasn't the best and I wasn't  'match fit' but in spite of a couple of showers we managed to add a reasonable load to the wood store supplies. More is needed to meet what is an increasing demand for this local wood service. So quite a day with lots of variety and I'll certainly sleep well tonight.

Had to add as a late addition other fine blogs by Martin Harper on CAP {CAP2, CAP3}, it even puts Owen Patterson in a better light. If Patterson follows up his promises I would be only to happy to give him credit on this key issue.

'A romp' down by the Windrush & the first 'fall' of Autumn

Windrush, with good feeding for water voles

Pair of kingfishers frequent this area, but not tempted today by this  perch

Out with Will and Richard from the Wildlife Trust, on the Windrush. beginning of the week along with  a shedload of volunteers. I like collective nouns but they do vary, with for example a romp of otters or a colony of water voles. The voles get a bad deal here so I prefer Richard's offering of a shedload or maybe mine a drizzle of water voles?.  In any case I didn't spot either otters or water voles whilst we were working a new stretch of the Windrush  just upstream from Bourton, owned by the 'Slaughters' farm. With so many volunteers we soon cleared a good stretch of the Windrush from overhanging scrub/trees and this should encourage more of the existing riverside sedge to grow, remove shade & help the recently discovered water voles plus the local fishing club.

500+ year old oak minus one large limb

3 hours of clearing later reveals the large limb

Today at foggy Sherborne was intended to be a thinning session but circumstances were to change this.  Shaun the fence master working down in the water meadows phoned in to inform Mike of a fallen oak across the track down to the meadows. After completing a wood delivery to Sherborne village, with heavy heart, we set off with tractor & 4x4 to survey the damage. Good news was the ancient oak tree, one of Sherborne's finest, was still standing but minus one of its large limbs. Lots of debris of brash and smaller branches required moving using the chainsaw, tractor and me before the main limb was revealed. Other good news was the tree looked healthy enough and no rampant disease seemed to be the cause of the limb falling.  The rest of the day was spent clearing up, ensuring the area was safe and removing 3 trailers worth of usable wood from the area. I even managed to round up some of the sheep which had escaped over the broken fence before we repaired it, temporarily at least.

Despite  the day's unexpected events I still managed a visit to Sherborne brook. The swan family looking good plus 1 heron, 1 egret and a buzzard under attack from a number of rooks & 1 raven. The weather improved throughout the day with ever increasing temperature, so although a satisfying day I was glad to get back home to an ice cold beer and curry!

Solo performance

Selection of tools at the bat cave

Spiral staircase, 7 of the 13 steps 

Mike back from Scotland but already had confirmed that  50 lesser horseshoe bats were now back in their winter roost residence. So no work possible in the bat cave so TPs tardiness in delivery has cost us the opportunity of completing the planned work. As Mike was engaged in office work today I was to go solo and the morning was to be spent completing the steps to the bat cave.  True to form the weather  forecast was inaccurate so I had to contend with showers and mud. Not so bad since it put off the flies and as the year so far has treated me well weather wise I can't really complain. So armed with saw, lump hammer , spade and metal bar I got stuck in and by lunchtime had completed the steps despite some inconvenient bands of stone.

Lunchtime with the weather clearing was spent  as usual down by the Sherborne brook where the swan family, herons, coots and mallards kept me company.

The afternoon was a bit of a surprise as I was charged with completing the mowing of the village verges and lawn areas that Mike couldn't cover with the Kubota. Should be the last mow of the year and some of the verge slopes certainly offer a challenge. Already quite a few fallen leaves and some trees were showing autumn colour changes. May have to think about a jumper soon!

 Mark Avery on form with his pithy but fairly accurate appraisal of the main parties form on our environment. This followed by Martin Harper's blog on  Biofuels says it all but I still keep the faith what else can u do!

All quiet ...down in the Meadows

Windrush, good water flows plus kingfisher perch!

Although Mike's up in Scotland this week still popped into Sherborne to check on 'my' Swan & Red Kite families plus a quick wander around the Water Meadows. Pretty quiet down in the Water Meadows, down by the Windrush where the recent water management work has been done. Already mother nature has started to cover up the areas subjected to heavy duty traffic and digging. Surprisingly still some butterflies and dragonflies out and about plus a couple of buzzards. That said it wasn't until I had finished my meander down by the Windrush that wildlife activity increased. I managed to disturb a young deer near the Commons and then was treated to a fly by of a green woodpecker up by Century wood. Spotted a few jobs {tree fallen over fence line, walkers gate and bridge repair} to be added to Mike's list for the coming weeks but that's par for the course.

Egrets visiting Sherborne 

Finished off my visit with a trip down to the Sherborne brook close to the village. Still no sign of the Red Kites but the swan family were enjoying their lunch downstream from the weir. The Swans had some new guests they seemed to accept alongside them {unlike the Canada geese} and this gave me my first sight this year of a pair of Egrets. The Egrets decided to fly off as I approached and settled in one of the dead trees closer to the weir. Interestingly one of the local herons was already perched in the tree but seemed relaxed about its white 'cousins'.

Been a while since I have had a whinge about this government's attitude to the environment so here it is.  Was a little boosted by Martin Harpers excellent blog on INNS but still irritated by this Government's latest 'attack' / apathy regarding nature with the lobbying bill. If it were only possible to trust someone like Osbourne when he says  the Conservatives have shown they really pay attention to what the people say {the Syrian crisis}. This parties actions {and *inactions  Patterson/DEFRA} don't exactly demonstrate too much heed to NGO's/ peoples views on our fragile environment: money {Fracking, HS2} & shooting/hunting still rule!

*to be fair to DEFRA this latest blog by Martin Harper shows they are quite capable of doing good stuff, helped by RSPB.

'The boys are back in town'

Adonis at Calstone Down, one of many!

It's good to see that this year is still providing mainly good news from a nature perspective {badgers in west , moths and ladybirds aside}. Fruit trees are certainly going to out perform last years poor yield and butterflies are still going strong. A late visit to NT Cherhill and Calstone Downs plus Avebury Windmill Hill provided some impressive butterfly sightings. Especially pleased to see Clouded Yellows, Brown Walls and Adonis Blues.

Bit of a good news, bad news today at Sherborne. Good news was TP had finally delivered the supplies for the bat cave, Simon was part of todays team and the weather was still great. Bad news was our Dark Knight couldn't make it, the 'late' supplies were not complete and we had some early returning lesser horseshoes in the bat cave! As ever a few problems don't deter this countryside team and we decided to get the most out of the day as we could. A very hot morning saw us move some substantial supplies of Acro props, poles and clamps to the bat cave. We very carefully began to move a portion of the supplies into the cave. Mike ensured this was done so the early returning bats were avoided by using alternate routes through this underground winter roost.

Lunchtime chat, Sherborne  Brook

Was pleased to see lunchtime so as to cool down and paid my usual visit to Sherborne brook. Swan family were on their lunch break so didn't pay me much heed, only a single heron and buzzard showed up plus the usual mallards plus 1 white duck. Difficult to believe we are in September already and still enjoying such great weather. Rest of the day was spent completing the transfer of supplies into the bat cave and all done without disturbing the bats. No construction today was possible without impacting the bats and it looks like further work will have to wait until next year, subject to another bat survey on 18th September.