Our first full work party after the break to allow for ground nesting birds took place on Saturday morning. The weather was perfect with the sunshine tempered by a pleasant breeze which meant comfortable working conditions, even if the undergrowth was a bit scratchy! Our priority task was to cut back the vegetation along both streams and dig out the silt where necessary to improve the water flow. With volunteers starting from opposite ends of each stream it wasn't long before we met in the middle - what I call a Channel Tunnel moment! First voices, then faces appearing through the forest of Hemlock Water Dropwort and finally the cut vegetation was piled up on the banks and we had a visible stream once more. We have a narrow window of opportunity to complete this work between allowing the ground nesting birds some peace and quiet and observing DEFA regulations to stop disturbing silt by the end of summer. A fine balancing act between the needs of different species.
While the majority of volunteers were enjoying the mud, other tasks were also going ahead. Carrie always does an excellent job weeding the boardwalk - something that is time consuming and fiddly but which she attacks with both great gusto and patience. Meanwhile our Castletown ladies were cutting back brambles etc. along the pavement as well as along the various paths inside the reserve. If you have been following the progress on the repair of the hide roof you will be glad to hear that work done so far seems to have stopped the leak and that our excellent roofing team managed to extract the wet carpet layer from beneath the butyl and expose the timber to the warm sunshine before joining the rest of us down in the ditch.
A sudden holler from the hide told us that refreshments were ready. I don't think I have ever seen such an array of cakes at a work party before! But with 18 hungry mouths to be fed no one was complaining! This was a real opportunity to catch up with each other after the long break and also to get to know our two new volunteers who are great guys and very welcome additions to the team.
Another half hour after the break saw all the jobs done in record time - many hands certainly make light work! Ian once more kindly took some of the tougher vegetation to the tip in his trailer, although the piles of Dropwort etc. soon compost themselves down when left on the stream banks. Tired perhaps but fitter for the exercise and certainly all very cheerful after spending a happy morning together, we all headed homewards for a well-earned lunch.
A very big thank you to all concerned, including those who provided the refreshments to revive us at half time.
It's always very gratifying to see the wildlife on the reserve while we are working - what reserve management like this is all about really. We were treated to two sightings of a Buzzard overhead being mobbed by corvids. Once we could see the water again we noticed all the freshwater shrimps, beetles and other water creatures swimming around in the streams. The butterflies seemed unconcerned by our presence and I photographed a Small Copper and a Common Blue before leaving. There were also some Speckled Woods about and even a report of a Holly Blue too.
Earlier in the day while setting out the tools etc in preparation for the work I was chatting to a couple of visitors to the hide, one of whom had taken an excellent photo of a Water Rail at Ballachurry. We thought it might be a juvenile but expert advice has since determined that it was a two year old bird. We are all so pleased though to know that these generally quite secretive birds still can been seen at Ballachurry Reserve.
A few mobile phone photos to give you a flavour of the day.
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| A disappointing start to the day - having to pick up litter | (culprit William on 3rd August) |
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| keeping the pavement clear of protruding brambles etc |
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| weeding the boardwalk |
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| hide roof repair ongoing |
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| starting on the stream |
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| the other team come into sight |
