A Christmas paddle!

Stormy weather sadly took out top of oak on the left of track!

Being a little fed up with the stormy weather of late and carrying a slight injury to my leg I seized the chance on a frosty, sunny xmas day to get some fresh air! Where better than Sherborne water meadows where its fairly flat and offered me the chance of seeing if any short eared owls might be around. Luckily I thought to take my wellies although waders may have been more appropriate as it turned out.

The beginning of my walk was a little sad as one of the fine oaks on the track down to the Water meadows had succumbed to storm damage, something which will no doubt have to be tidied up in the new year. I decided to take the track through Picardy and Commons towards the Water Meadows and was immediately greeted by a small herd of Roe deer. Already the ground was decidedly wet and  for the first time I was forced to go over a bridge as the main track was lost under deep water.  As I entered the Commons I came across 2 more Roe deer {mother and young} and just before the Water meadows I disturbed a large buzzard { the first of 6 I came across} which had just caught a field vole for brunch!.   Almost immediately a large heron { 3 in all today} took off in front of me and as I came to the actual water meadows  there were a dozen pied wagtails and the same number of lapwings enjoying the flooded meadow area. In fact all the ditches and water courses were full to the brim or had overflowed. As I headed over to the Windrush and the bridge between the Sherborne and Barrington estates I saw the first of 6 red kites. The Windrush  too was full or overflowing and only a couple of inches below the bridge which to my surprise seems to have lost the new gate the Barrington estate had erected this year!

Birch copse, difficult to see edge of Windrush, track on right

Lake formed by side of 'Sherborne brook' and Birch Copse

Made my way down the fisherman's path by the Windrush and headed towards Birch copse.  This proved to be quite a challenge as both the Sherborne brook and Windrush had burst their banks and created a 'Bayou' like terrain. Got a bit wet wading towards the bridge which would allow me across the Sherborne brook and in the water logged pasture the other side saw several red kite , black backed , common and herring gulls plus a flying V of canada geese. Paddling towards Gravelpits copse and the 'footpath' I spotted a green woodpecker followed by a kestrel {1 of 3 in the day}. Finished the days walk following the main track back out of the Water meadows and was pleased to see several goldfinches and greenfinches in the hedges bordering the track. To complete a fine day I spotted 2 fine looking buzzards hunting over Northfield copse.

A small footnote as Boxing day was looking good I couldn't resist a visit to Slimbridge. Was impressed with the thousands of lapwing and golden plover who provided spectacular flight displays in-between  their feeding sessions.

In absentia...

They think its all over…..

So with an advertised stormy day ahead I set off on what is my last official ranger day for 2013. The day was rescheduled to avoid the worst of the weather with a December bat count, requested by Morris who is currently roasting away on holiday in Australia, to be carried out in the anticipated wet afternoon. Luckily our Dark Knight Morris is not a cricket fan and unlike some of us will not be hugely saddened by England's capitulation in the Ashes series!.

So with one or two hiccups we began the day with 2 wood deliveries, the second being more memorable given the provision of a nice cup of tea & a tasty cake. We then shot up to the West Belt for a continuation of thinning together with a bit of hedge laying with the aim of avoiding the worst of the weather. Fortunately the weather was kind and even better the trees 'behaved'  themselves with only a few requiring a little gentle persuasion from the tree lever. So despite limited time available we were still pretty productive and  completed the woodland management work in this section of the West Belt. Lunchtime was soon upon us and my luck held weatherwise so I paid a quick visit to the Broadwater. Good to see a pair of swans, a pair of canada geese, 1 heron and the usual array of ducks. 

The afternoon with the weather worsening began at the bat cave and joined by Pat, who kindly acted as safety man,  Mike and {promoted} me were to carry out the bat count inside. The temperature, both inside and out, was pretty mild for December at ~10 degrees. I was grateful to stand in for Morris, since while we were inside the dry cave,  Pat was suffering in the wet outside. The final counts for 2013 were 151 {6 ringed} lesser horseshoe bats in the cave, 0 for the kennels & bothy, 7 in the nursery cellar giving a grand total of 158 which was slightly less than the November count.

Couldn't quite finish the year without a timely comment on biodiversity {state of Nature} & the NGO's , neatly supplied from Mark Avery. I have to admit to being puzzled by the NT position, its resistance to collaborating with 'like' NGOs on the big issues and the fact I haven't found any comment {finally spotted 20 Dec, better late than never} from it on the impending decision on CAP funding eg. Martin Harper blog, blog2. Sad news just in on CAP funding distribution, although the Wildlife Trust announcement tries to put it in a positive light.

Through the mist...

3 in one, not my pic though

I'm on a good run on the bird spotting front at the moment {must convert these observations into photos though} and started this week well at Snowshill Manor on tuesday, spotting a family of 3 green woodpeckers {they do like the pastures with abundant ant mounds, clearly containing live ants} and a red wing.

Weather today advertised as dry & sunny and surprisingly this looked to be true first thing this morning in Cheltenham. However things didn't turn out as planned after a text from Mike ruled him out of action through illness {Rangers are human after all} and fog & mist were to persist throughout the day. Not put off by these setbacks I decided to head over to Greater Barrington to approach the river Windrush via the Barrington estate. It was to be an eerily quiet walk with limited visibility and very little signs of life. Things picked up as I turned left towards the Windrush and the Sherborne estate where I spotted 6 forlorn looking red kite perched at the top of some Cyprus trees followed by a couple of Kestrels one perched on an electric fence plastic pole looking very sorry for itself. It certainly wasn't great weather for raptors given the visibility issues plus their prey was probably hunkered down in the poor weather. On a more cheery note I was pleased to see  20 or so goldfinches happily flying about through the long grasses and stands of teasel. Ever hopeful that the fog/mist would lift I crossed over the Windrush to check out the willow tit nest boxes and see what was happening around the Water meadows. It was interesting to see sheep for the first time in the previously 'wild' ground the Sherborne 'hyde' overlooks. Spotted another less than happy raptor, a buzzard, a tree creeper, a few field fares and a lot of 'disturbed' rooks. Water levels in the ditches and the river Windrush were down from my last visit but still healthy enough. With visibility worsening and even less wildlife sightings I decided to call it a day, not too disappointing a day after all.

Its getting near decision time on CAP spending will the NFU or the Environment win the day, Martin Harpers blog reminds us what's at stake.

As seen on TV!

Clear view across ditch, lots more shrub waiting on right!

Out with the Wildlife Trust Monday, at Greystones, the last session for me of the year. The task was shrub clearance of one of the ditches,  again to make the area more attractive for water voles. Two surprises awaited the volunteer team; the first was how dense the shrubs were and my sawing skills were tested to the limit, the second was the presence of BBC West who were interviewing Tom on the Greystones nature reserve, Will on volunteers and John on water voles. Filming took place of the reserve plus work going on during the day at Greystones, including our little shrub clearing exploits. No I didn't star or more to the point talk the BBC crew into the ground!

Magnificent oak down by the Broadwater

Lots of good stuff on the Sherborne estate regards birds but first task of the day was giving Pat a hand in the morning clearing a water channel running alongside Tight Lane which starts at the Sherborne school. For the afternoon,  following a stay of execution on the return of the Wood processor,  Mike had set up a final {really!} wood production session. Before commencing we duly delivered this years xmas tree to Sherborne House and mighty fine it looks to! As in last weeks session we finished the days work in the dark,  our wood stocks now cleared but the wood store full {alongside both trailers with loaded wood}.

On the bird front I spent last Saturday afternoon down in the water meadows where I was treated to great views of Buzzards, over 16 Red Kites many roosting in the 'poplar stands' alongside the Windrush. In addition there were a pair of cormorants, mute swans, a heron, 3 fieldfares, marsh/willow tits and goldfinches. This was complemented by todays lunchtime down by the Broadwater with lots of wigeon, mallards, coots, canada geese, {1 with orange collar}, 1 greylag, heron, pair swans, red kite, buzzard, raven and to make my day a kingfisher. The kingfisher was fishing down by the Broadwater weir and for over 10 minutes I watched it finally catching its lunch. The only downside was I didn't have my telephoto but took a couple pictures anyway with my wide-angle zoom. Yes it is possible to see the kingfisher in my snaps but an opportunity missed for a quality image!

Woodstock ?

Its all about the wood, music would be good too

Weather almost tropical compared with yesterday, and yet another surprise start at Sherborne. This involved the delivery of a Christmas tree, courtesy of the Commons, to Northleach Church. Was impressed by the 13th century church at Northleach and even better by a chance sighting of a kingfisher on a 'tributary' of the river Leach just outside the church grounds. However the main task of the day was to be in the nursery generating as much wood as possible before, sadly, the wood processor is returned to Ebworth. So the rest of the morning was spent filling the tractor trailer which was then duly unloaded into a pretty full wood store. This is just as well since the seasoned cord wood supplies are rapidly disappearing.

Lunch was down by the Broadwater where 2 mute swans {no cygnet}, wigeon, mallards, canada geese , 1 Greylag and 1 tufted duck were on show.

The afternoon included 2 wood deliveries and ended in the dark with another trailer load, destined for the wood store.  So a really productive day with our 'woodstock[s]' in good shape before the christmas holiday demands. As to repeating the 69 iconic festival, I don't think Lodge Park is ready for something that large so happy to settle for the 'peace' and birds of Sherborne!

Final count 2013

Cheltenham avenue, near Bat cave

The morning was to prove damp at Sherborne, but fortunately we were to carry out the last bat count of the year so we were under cover most of the time. Morris was on good form, possibly because he's soon off on a 6 week Australian adventure, and much historic information was imparted on quarries in the local area plus their bat populations. The temperatures recorded in the bat cave were fairly high and the bats certainly took advantage with a large grouping to be found at a 12 degree hot spot. So in the bat cave were 142 lesser horseshoes, 0 in the kennels, 0 in the bothy and 19 in the nursery cellar giving a total of 161. This was slightly down on the last count of 175 but apparently this is normal as some males disperse to other roosts in search of females, so we are expecting at the next planned survey, a higher count in January 2014.

Spent a dry and sunny lunch with a leisurely walk through the Pleasure Grounds on my way to the Cheltenham Avenue to witness the end of the Autumnal colours in the beech and larch. On the way back I had a quick look over the Broadwater where to my surprise was a new swan family with one cygnet {a little late in the season}. They were in the company of significant numbers of canada geese and various ducks.

The afternoon was spent in the nursery with the wood processor, generating and delivering 2 trailer loads for local customers. Bad light and further rain showers prevented further wood processing work so next week will be a concentrated effort to increase our wood supplies as much as possible {we'll probably finish off the remaining seasoned wood left} before the wood processor returns to Ebworth. Clearly we'll need the weather to cooperate so hopefully the expected winter snow will hold off a little longer.

Just in case there was any doubt regards this Governments record on 'being green', Mark Avery's 'nature check' blog reminds us in detail how badly they are doing against their own targets.

The Tree whisperer ?

The Broadwater

First real signs of winter with a frosty start this morning but ideal working conditions on a mainly sunny day. A relaxing start with a wood delivery for Simon, a fellow volunteer, and providing excellent hospitality. This was followed by a trip to the West Belt for a continuation of thinning. It was to prove a  difficult session and one of those days where our patience was certainly tested. The trees to be felled seemed to resist the simple task of just falling to the ground. So rolling, levering using both tree levers, use of the wedge, levering the trunk backwards and 'super cuts' with the chainsaw were all brought into play to bring the trees to ground. I think even Mike was surprised by so much resistance to our efforts and I'm sure a few quiet words were also employed at one stage. It was certainly not boring and at least the last tree to be felled before lunch actually fell to the floor with no additional help.

Spent lunchtime by the Broadwater [part of Sherborne brook close to the village] where the canada geese, mallards, moor hens, coots, wigeon, teal and a friendly wren were all on show. Interesting news from Mike was that 7 mute swans visited the Broadwater earlier this week, a good chance they were 7 of the 9 cygnets that were born here and encouraged to leave by their parents!

The afternoon was spent back in the West Belt but this time on some hedge laying. True to todays form this proved challenging, as the shrubs/trees to be bent into the new hedge were on the large size, entangled with each other and also leaning in the wrong direction. Progress was therefore not as impressive as the hedge laying last week but despite one or two setbacks we did finish the day with a reasonable stretch completed.

The Windrush, water levels high by water meadows

The first short eared owl in the water meadows this season was reported by Andy L {NCOS} so must find time to pay a visit to see if it has been joined by more of these winter visitors.