The third and (for now) final session of Alder sapling removal from Area G was done by six dedicated volunteers on Friday 16th October. As faithful readers might expect, your usual correspondent had another cast-iron excuse for his absence, but we’re grateful to Team Leader Julie for her photos anyway.
This reminds
me of the Ducks’ Ditty from Kenneth Graham’s The Wind in the Willows, which
begins:
All along
the backwater,
Through the
rushes tall,
Ducks are
a-dabbling,
Up tails all!
The heap of pulled alders …
Look no alder seedlings/small trees!!
We were expecting to have a working party on Sunday 25th October, but Storm Boelo put paid to that, with forecast very high winds making it unsafe to venture near any trees. We were instructed by NWT to cancel the scheduled work party. As Team Leader Julie said in her cancellation notice, “NWT George has advised that they are closing their reserves with wooded areas due to the risk to trees that have suffered in the heat and drought as they do not know how they will now deal with strong winds. Obviously, our dump sites are in the wooded area. We have already had a tree down overnight on Jubilee Boardwalk.”
Both storms
produced heavy downpours, but the Pit, so recently scooped out, still only
managed to collect a puddle: so we still need a lot more. Back in 1781, Gilbert
White was still reporting on the lack of rain in Selborne. I don’t suppose
“trick or treat” was a thing then, but although it was dry on Halloween it was
also frosty. Millers didn’t have enough barley to grind, and dairy farmers were
unable to fill the butter-pots of their customers. (Now, we’re being urged to
stock up for whatever coming disasters await us, and customers might again find
butter-pots hard to fill.)
That
blown-out session was re-convened for today (1st November), and the
weather was indeed very different to last week’s offering. As with the last
couple of days, we were treated to a clear blue sky and warm, bright sunshine.
This time 20 volunteers and one dog turned up to mow a meadow – or at least a
wet valley fen. The recent rain had been enough to make the peaty ground soft,
without yet being muddy.
I mentioned the dog: she’s called Bella and accompanied our recent recruit Julian. Already she has the look of a team Leader…
Or maybe not…
20 is a very creditable turnout, and we were pleased to welcome back after an interval of a few years three guests of TL Margaret’s. How much coercion was involved is shrouded in mystery, but they seemed pleased to be there on such a fine morning.
Here we see a concerted effort to get your usual correspondent and photographer to actually join in on some of the work.
Having been dragged into it, I did my little bit without the aid of a pitchfork, under Noel’s supervision.
Songs were in short supply today, but brief snatches of the Beatles’ Come Together and Blackbird (triggered by nearby birdsong) were attempted.
Meanwhile, others were working, widely dispersed across the area. Whilst the winch was used for the longer drags, it was also possible to load some sheets less fully and move them by hand, such was the lightness of the material involved.
It was only a few hours since the high-jinks and jumps of Halloween, so volunteers of a nervous disposition blanched at this sight:
They should not have been so scared; these were in fact merely jackets making use of the stakes marking out the survey areas! Or so we thought…
And now for
two obligatory photos:
Firstly, one of the inevitable frog trying to keep out of our way.
And then the usual group shot of the refreshment break – complete of course with Nina’s famous and fabulous Apple cake.
At that break there was talk of the recent invasion of Ladybirds, with some people reporting numbers in the plague league, whilst others had seen very few. If it helps, I saw a Red Admiral butterfly flitting about in the warm sunshine yesterday. (The butterfly was flitting; I wasn’t.)
Also
featuring in the break was the revelation from the botanists present that some
Purple Reed Grass had been discovered, this being the first time it had been
recorded here.
Here is a sample, being modelled by TL Margaret.
The cut
vegetation having been so light and easy to handle, we actually managed to run
out of work early, so were all packed up and back at the tool store by 12.00.
Here’s how the area looked at the end of today’s work.
Here is Julie’s message of thanks:
Good
afternoon
This is a
massive thank you to the 20 volunteers who turned out today on a beautiful
autumn morning on the common. We split
into several units, some clearing to yellow sheets and hand pulling them to the
dump site and some to the red sheets for the winch to take the load. However,
the material was so light we packed up the winch at coffee time and completed
the remaining material by hand. Make the
most of the light weight material as in a few weeks’ time we will be on the
reed bed where the material will not be so easy to handle!
As this
was the rescheduled work party from last week, we will be out again next Sunday
spilt between the remaining clearance on the central area and clearing
Bradfield Road for the snowdrops. So one more week of the light material!
Thanks as
always for all your hard work, and to Margaret for providing the refreshments
and to Nina for the lovely cake. Always appreciated.
Enjoy the
mild weather while it lasts!
Regards,
Julie for the TLs
Beyond the
Bird Table
Back at the
beginning of August, I mentioned in this blog that the BTO had announced the
launch of its new podcast, Beyond the Bird Table. The latest episode is a
fascinating explanation of the mysteries of bird migration – which of course is
very much underway at the moment. It’s great, so do give it a listen, on
Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
