Working on a scrape

A fresh Stoat kill at the side of a path

Today three new deal people started at the reserve, as it was their first day the morning was spent showing them around and walking the green route.

Not a bad office!

The afternoon was spent out on the furthest pond that set up to be used by wading birds as a scrape.  The scrape had been cut earlier in the year, but due to the mild weather the rushes had come back strong and needed a second cut.  The afternoon was spent shin deep in the pond following along after the brush cutter raking out the cut reed and then pitching it into piles along the bank.

Sunset to end the day

A wet day in a wet meadow

After a drizzly start to the day the Sunday volunteers headed out to rake up grass cuttings. 
while unlocking for the day I had the luck to view a stoat at under 10 meters.
By the time we arrived in the wet meadow the day had brightened up and the rain had eased off. But this turned out to be the low before the storm, after we had racked up and pilled the biomass up out the way on the side of a hill to root the heavens opened.  Out of nowhere a black cloud came over and dumped a huge amount of water that quickly caused gloved to have to be wrung out.   

A heavy shower

After a break for lunch and the majority of volunteers heading home, the afternoon entailed visiting the hides and putting up event posters and drilling birch logs to make fat ball feeders for sale in the shop.

 Feeder logs

Back on the beat

With the cold all most gone it was time to get back out there and do my conservation thing.  I spent the day walking the site talking to visitors and getting a better idea of the sites layout.  In a nutshell the site is split not just by the different habitat types but it is also dissected by railways.  Running across the site is the main line as well as a mineral line so to get to some areas the track has to be crossed at designated points.

 Viaduct supports

The day stated wet with a strong falling of rain.  By the time I had walked up the access road and managed to work out the keys to not only get into the compound but to also unlock the mess room and get a brew on the rain had stopped.   The day then remained mainly cloudy with a chilly wind.

 Fleshy fungi

I took a wander round to the sheep field to ensure they were all accounted for and not showing any signs of lameness and then carried on walking round the perimeter route as I intended to see if there were any star fungi still up.  After giving up hope of seeing any as the area they had been was now back to just earth I set off only to come across them a short way on when tying up my shoe.  There was only a limited number out so i grabbed a few shots before they rot off.

 Star fungi

The rest of my time I spent walking and looking for other differing fungi and interesting things while stopping to observe the odd bird.

 Splash of colour provided by a maple leaf

Popped into the café to see if they needed any assistance, thank fully they were ok without me and they just got me emptying the bin.

Man Flu 1 - Man 0

Whilst away there were a few folks that had the classic “man flu”.  So being weak through drinking too much managed to pick it up. So instead of spending the remainder of the week outside in the squally showers that have been blowing through, i decided to opt instead for the warmth of staying inside.

Whiter than white

 Rain drops on a leaf

A few days away from the conservation volunteering took place over the weekend of the 21^st of November.  The time was spent down in Brixham Devon, SCUBA diving with UWE sub aqua club.

Diving might be a bit strong a term for my weekend.  Total number of dives for me was one and that was mainly a weight check.  The water was very milky and so we headed to the pub.  Saturday morning there was a lie in to remove the hangover and then start the day.  Neptune had not come to our rescue over night and the sea was still calm even with the storms, but still very murky with all the suspended solids.

The English channel -mill pond calm

So i decided to help out on shore and get soaked to the skin in non diving wear making sure those that were going in were sorted.  In the late afternoon when the divers were back on shore, there was the opportunity to sit in on someone going over the skills needed to cox the dive RIB.  Never missing the chance to get out on the sea i was in my dry suit in a flash and out on the sea and pulling doughnuts in no time.

Another night out in town followed, with a visit to the pub with a parrot.  On the way back we ran into some hostility from a couple of young locals that decided to make some trouble.

Sunday was a nice sunny day but the underwater visibility was still at arm’s reach so instead of diving I decided to swim in the sea

99 red balloons go by

Threat to Potteric Carr - we need your help!

Doncaster Planning Committee will be considering an application on the 24th November for a huge warehouse development immediately to the South of Potteric Carr Nature Reserve. The warehouses proposed will cover 171 hectares or about 170 full size football pitches, and be over a mile long and half a mile wide. The development will be in the Green Belt next to Rossington colliery. The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has objected to the development on a number of grounds but remain very concerned that the council will approve the application.

The feelings of local residents are extremely important to the Doncaster Council and the Trust would be most grateful if you could record your objection to the development by sending a letter to the Planning Department. Outlined below are the key issues and a suggestion of the letter you may choose write. It would be wonderful if you were also able to support our objection in person by attending the Planning Committee Meeting on Tuesday 24th November at 2:00pm in the Council Chamber, Mansion House.

If you would like to find out more about the application, all plans for the development are available online on the Doncaster Planning Website.  the reference number is 09/00190/OUTA.

Your letter - Please make it personal!


Potteric Carr is the Trust’s flagship nature reserve made up of habitats of exceptional quality – a mosaic of wetlands (open water bodies, reedbeds and wet woodland), woodland and meadow – supporting a range of extremely rare species, e.g. bittern, large flocks of golden plover and lapwing and black necked grebe and avocet.

Potteric is visited by an increasing number of visitors every year and provides wonderful educational opportunities for local school children.

The inland port is proposed to be on agricultural Green Belt land and will remove valuable feeding areas for farmland birds (including lapwing and golden plover), bats and other wildlife.

Potteric Carr will be cut off from adjoining countryside increasing its isolation and reducing its value for wildlife currently using the site.

The development will therefore reduce biodiversity and is contrary to Government policies as well as Local Council policies.

The enhancement of the value of Potteric Carr for wildlife and people will be essential so that the reserve is more robust in the face of increasing isolation from the surrounding countryside.
Effective habitat corridors/linkage are essential in perpetuity to ensure that wildlife is able to freely move to and from this nationally important site.

Get with the program

A wet start to the day, mad the motorway fun once again.  The downpour stopped by mid morning after the feeders had been topped up.  The ship had to be checked and counted and after an initial missing sheep they were all accounted for.

A large part of the day was then spent finding out what was involved in the winter program of jobs to ensure the continuing function of the reserve.

The final part of the day involved assisting in the construction of recycled plastic picnic benches designed to be accessible to people in wheel chairs.

This was the end of the week for me on the reserve as I had lined up a trip scuba diving in Brixham some time ago.

Slash but no burn

After a very windy night I woke expecting the worse and the heavens to spring a leak and a wet day ahead.  But no the sun was on its way up and little cloud in the sky.  The motorway was playing ball and the trip into the rising sun was a nice way to start the day.

The day’s main activity was to be removing reed (Phragmites australis) – if reed beds are not cut back and the old stems removed the pond margins will gradually fill in with biomass and turn from open water into a wet wood land through succession.

Luckily it was volunteer day so a small group of keen volunteer’s descended on Potteric to assist in clearing the site and reopen the view of open water from the hide. 

before the clearance

 

after the day of reed removal

The day was spent in leg waders in water often all most at the top of them raking out freshly brush cut reed, sedge and rush onto the bank.  From here the reed was then pitched onto the back of the tractor trailer to be then deposited into the undergrowth out of site to rot down and provide a site for inverts, reptiles and amphibians.

rabbit at the side of the path

The final task of the day for me was to wade into another pond and place a perching point for kingfishers in view of the hide to ensure the visitors get the opportunity to see and photograph the bird in action.

view from the hide before the kingfisher post was put in

The morning after the night before - the Pied Pipper of Potteric Carr

So after yesterdays post about how warm it’s been etc  today was also another warm day but as i went out to the car the heavens broke in a all mighty cloud burst.  After a slow drive down the motorway in low to no visibility it was time to start day one helping out at Potteric Carr.

As it was some one else's and my first day there the day was spent get familiar with the site and how it has been managed in the past. (a gentle walk around the hides seeing whats on the ponds and making sure the sheep are OK)

This basically meant a nice long walk round the site that was carried out as soon as it stopped raining and the sun came out.

face in the woods

Whilst it was still raining first thing there was the small job of filling the feeders by a hide with mixed grain and peanuts, on heading down to the waters front i realised I was not alone and then it dawned on me i had become the Pied Piper of Hamelin, but instead of children I had a fat large rat following me.

Again as you can see below I came across a range of different fungi and have put some of those seen below.

When will winter arrive?

It has been another unseasonal warm and sunny day, perfect for sitting outside in a tee shirt.

Though at least with the recent rain the fungi have started to be visible above ground. It seems to be a very good year for the fly agaric. The classic red capped toadstools are popping up all over the place and brightening up walking the dog.

But on a positive not this war weather and dry days means the dog can be walked further with out having to wrap up in many layers and waterproofing.

Looking back to two weeks in La Brenne via the EuCAN - THE EUROPEAN CONSERVATION ACTION NETWORK,

At very short notice finding out about the trip on Saturday by the following Saturday i had travelled down from Yorkshire to Dorset to abandon my car on a farm and then jump on the fun bus for the trip to Portsmouth and the overnight crossing to caen. Then an overland drive to Meziéres en Brenne.

Two weeks of hard work enriching the habitat for butterflies and dragonflies by clearing scrub and trees flew by. Whilst there we got to see wild boar, red deer, musk rats, coypu, tree frogs, praying mantis and many other sights.

There was the odd day off to see some sights and recover from wine tasting night as well as the Randonnees en Brenne (50 odd miles of off road cycling).