Dark Knight back from Oz

Sunny but very wet in the water meadows

After 2 weeks of cancelled sessions a respite in the stormy weather has at last permitted a return to some  normality. I got a head start on a sunny Sunday with a visit to Sherborne's water meadows which also included a visit to Greater Rissington. Water levels were very high and I only just managed to cross the waterlogged Windrush bridge to gain access to the Barrington estate and the footpath up to Greater Rissington.   A good day for wildlife with yellow hammers, green finches, chaffinches, bramblings, 'serin/siskin', buzzards, red kite, heron, cormorants, mute swans, 100+ lapwing, deer and my first spot of a large male hare of 2014.

Todays Sherborne session welcomed back from Oz,  Morris, who was joined by Simon, Richard with Mike and myself. So plenty of help for the February bat count where expectation for increased numbers of lesser horseshoes were high. Sadly this didn't prove to be the case with 138 in the bat cave, 0 Kennels, 0 the Bothy and 15 the nursery cellar giving a grand total of 153. This was 17 fewer than the January count and a significant increase is needed for the March count if we are to reach last years May high of 212. The count took a little longer than normal since a good deal of knowledge sharing from Morris was the order of the day, with tales from Australia including their healthy Bat status, and some current news on nearby Cotswolds bat roosts.

Ragged Copse, fallen larch to be cleared

The afternoon was spent at the top end of Ragged Copse where fallen larch had blocked the footpath. Access was going to be a challenge given the wet ground but with Mike/maddie in the tractor and me driving the 4x4 with trailer { Simon & Richard on board}  we risked an ascent up the Sherborne Park slope. Amazingly the journey was managed with minimal impact on the grass pasture  and Mike managed to position the tractor, with grab over  the boundary fence close to the area of fallen larch. Given the large team the clearance of quite a few fallen larch was completed and a survey of the paths through Ragged Copse checked for any other obstacles/threats. This all proved to be a timely operation as activity during this half term was busy & the families 'out and about' grateful for our labours clearing the paths for them. The larch were cut into lengths for loading onto the tractor grab where they were then gently loaded into the trailer. It seems the larch was to be used to enhance the play facilities in the Pleasure Grounds, what lucky local children!. With almost spring like weather all day it was a relief to be able to enjoy a rewarding day outside doing some useful work again. Mike couldn't resist informing us of plenty more clearance of fallen/damaged conifers & broadleaf waiting to be dealt with given ground conditions permitted access. Personally I can't wait to get stuck in and hope the future weather plays ball to help us catch up with an ever growing task list.