September always see the resumption in earnest of our work parties at Ballachurry. There are various annual tasks to be got underway once the bird nesting season is finally over and we can access all areas of the Reserve. First up is always stream clearance as there are deadlines laid down by the fisheries department of DEFA for when we can undertake this work.
Accordingly on Saturday, 16 volunteers dressed in old clothes, wellies and work gloves reported for duty to clear both streams. But the first problem was to find them! A year's growth of vegetation made them hard to see and our first task was to hack back the bracken, brambles and Hemlock Water Dropwort to reveal the water courses and make ourselves some working space. Once the vegetation was removed it was down in the mud with shovels at the ready to dig out a vast accumulation of silt and get the water flowing once more. This is very hard work and I am full of admiration for our regular volunteers who turn out each September to undertake it.
This was not the only task of the day though - other volunteers were repairing the boardwalk, weeding wooden structures and cutting back those inevitable brambles. Two volunteers were out on the pavement for most of the morning cutting back vegetation overhanging from the reserve which was making life difficult for passing pedestrians. I have never seen this pavement look so spick and span once our two ladies had finished sweeping up at the end of their task! I have yet to see a professional street sweeper with a dustpan and brush!
As usual thanks are due to the baking sub-committee ( Helen and Margaret this time) for reviving us at half time with home made cake and to Ian for doing the civic amenity site run with a trailer of brambles. We retain most of the cut vegetation on site so any wildlife it might contain can remain at Ballachurry but brambles can be bulky and are slow to rot down so at least a proportion are taken away. Any with blackberries were retained as food for birds etc.
Here are a few photos to give you a flavour of the day:
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"Caution Stream!" - but can anyone see it?
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it's here somewhere! I began hacking my way through
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eventually I could see the volunteers working from the opposite end
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Peter was coming along behind me removing plants...
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.... from the water and on the banks
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this is the team working along from the opposite direction
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the mud was a couple of feet thick in places
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Richard is an old hand at this job
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and always tackles the area over the bridge where the stream joins the reeds
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meanwhile the roadside boundary is looking much better
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and even the dead leaves have been swept up
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Chris (and Anna just out of shot) had done sterling work along the other stream
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having repaired the boardwalk, Peter started on the brambles
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Margaret too was finding plenty more for Peter's bin
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time to sit ( or even lie) down at last
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our own flasks of coffee for the time being....
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to avoid congestion inside the hide while Covid continues to be an issue
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but self service outdoor cake was appreciated by all
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then back to the glorious mud
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Chris gets down to work
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a MWT "Mucker" for years, she's used to wielding a shovel!
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makes a change from strimming, I suppose!
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Wendy getting back down to work
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and assessing the situation under the bridge
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compare this with the first picture above - stream now visible once more
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and the water flowing well again
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looking back towards the reed bed
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and along towards the pond - another job for another day
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As everyone headed home at 1 o'clock for showers, rest and sustenance I took a last walk round the reserve to see what the wildlife was doing. I didn't stay long but here is a brief list:
SC209693 several Inkcap fungi in the path, Hare's foot species, I think.
SC209694 Speckled Wood, Common Blue and Small Copper butterflies; unidentified small moth inside toolshed; 4 x Mallard on pond
SC209695 Small Copper butterfly
SC208694 Small Copper butterfly
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Inkcaps along the path
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they can be incredibly delicate
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Speckled Woods abound at Ballachurry
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that "motorway services" cushag ( see previous post) still doing good business with the butterflies
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likewise another at the opposite end of the reserve -Small Copper
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a rather faded Small Copper on Greater Birdsfoot Trefoil
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this tiny moth flew into the toolshed
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4 Mallards seemingly unperturbed by all the activity on the Reserve
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A huge thank you to everyone who turned out on Saturday morning to start on the annual tasks for the 21/22 work party season. You are a great team, hard working, but also good company!
My apologies to those of you not shown working in these photos - a few of the phone shots were blurred or distorted on this occasion. Apologies too if I didn't catch you to say thank you as you left.
Please click on the photos to enlarge them
