Feeding time

The morning started dry and was pleasant enough to eat outside.  Whilst having lunch a yellow lady bird landed on me.  Thos is a sign of how mild the autumn has been if things like this are still awake and active.  Though this did not last and after lunch the heavens opened and a prolonged downpour ensued.

loaded trailer awaiting emptying

The day started with me showing one of the new deal workers how to go about feeding the birds in front of the activity centre hide.  Though the task its self is as simple as putting peanuts and seed out on feeding platforms and on the ground there are also holes drilled into the support legs that fat balls are rubbed into, as well as the etiquette of first checking the hide for visitors before walking in front and possibly scaring off a sighting.

Log pile awaiting to be chipped for path laying

The task for the reminder of the day was taking down a few willow trees and then loading the branches into the back of the tractor trailer and taking back to the compound for chipping later.  The smaller twiggy branches were piled up to rot close to where the trees were felled.

A couple of branches and a few trees also came down near to the activity centre as they were in a position that was making it difficult to get the tractor though.

A mixed bag to pass the day

The day started nice and sunny and soon warmed up to tee shirt temperature.

The long access road to the mess room

Once the feeders outside the feeding station hide had been topped up, the next task was to ensure the hebridean sheep were ok and not stuck in the brambles. 

Railway lines cross the site at many points

On the Sunday there is a planned event for children that require willow stems to be used to make Christmas shapes.  So with a pair of loppers in hand it was off to the far side of the reserve where some willows had been cut the previous year and would provide a suitable size and number of stems for use by the education team.  A peanut sack of stems later it was off back to the mess room.  On the way back i found a pair of lost binoculars at the side of the path and chatted with a chap that had just taken some very good bittern snaps. 

The mother drain that provides water for the ponds

 

Peanut sack of willow cuttings

After a quick lunch break it was onto tidying up some more of the weeks vista opening site and placing the cut stems into a pile and selecting larger stems to at a later date chip for path material.

A very tidy scrub heap

Vista

Today was another wet drizzly start to the day. The rain had soon cleared by the time we got to the work site that was close by where we had work for the last few days. The morning was spent removing willow and elderberry trees to open up a view onto a pond and let light onto the meadow grass. All thorn bushes were left behind to provide a site for nesting birds as well as the winter berries.

Drizzle caught in a silver birch

The wood was graded into that suitable to be chipped and turned into path material and the rest was piled up to rot in piles and provide a beneficial habitat. The wood for chipping was loaded into the tractor trailer and returned to the compound for chipping at a later date.

The three amigos

The afternoon was dedicated to a staff meeting, of which the highlight was working out the staffing level for the remainder of December and into the New Year.