The weather for our work party on Saturday was perfect. Blue sky and lots of sunshine. I arrived late, having forgotten to take my wellies, which I had placed by the garage door so I couldn't miss them! Fortunately I live close by and it was a matter of minutes to go back and collect them. When I returned there was a large group of volunteers gathered around the new pond learning how to roll back the turf round the edge to accommodate the border of the liner.
I and a few others set off for the opposite end of the Reserve to tackle some of the other tasks programmed for the morning. The non slip strips had arrived for the boardwalk and soon there was a whir of electric screwdrivers as a handful of volunteers fitted them to the planks.
I meanwhile was helping other volunteers cut back in front of the reed bed to the channel we excavated last year to keep the water flowing in front of the reeds. A couple more volunteers were clearing the section of stream from the boardwalk bridge back into the reed bed itself, something we left last time as nesting warblers had been seen in the area. Eventually our two groups met together in the reeds and we decided it was definitely refreshment time!
A quick head count during the break showed 16 volunteers including two guests from Somerset, over on the Island to visit a relative. Welcome, Veryan and Andy and thanks for your help today which was most useful.
After fortifying ourselves with delicious cake, thoughtfully provided by the Committee, as well as catching up with everyone's news since our last meeting, it was back to work. Not satisfied with baling out the pond water and playing in the mud all morning, the volunteers now turned their attention to the streams which needed silt digging out. This had been impossible at the last work party as the streams had run dry in the drought and were baked hard. Recent rain had now softened the stream bed and there was plenty to dig out ahead of the winter rains. This job has to be finished by the end of September every year to comply with Government regulations, so we are always pleased when the weather allows us to finish it on time.
With tasks reaching the end, people began to collect up their tools and say goodbye until next time. We had achieved an enormous amount of work between us in about 3 hours and all went home for a well deserved lunch!
Here are a few photos taken during the morning to give you a flavour of the Work Party.
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making a start on the reed bed
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and clearing vegetation from the last section of stream
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at last Janet breaks through the reeds to meet the other party
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front of the reed bed once work completed
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and a better flow into the reeds with vegetation and silt cleared
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putting down the anti slip strips
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and the finished job
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meanwhile a hive of activity at the new pond
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baling out water and digging out sharp stones
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a few more to go
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buckets at the ready for stones
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the rolled back turf
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then back to work - more mud!
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getting a good flow under the bridge is important
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a happy worker!
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this is where the birds were bathing in my last Blog post
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but recent rain has now made the stream too deep for that
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I called in at the pond on my way out
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they had dug out plenty of stones to stop them puncturing the liner
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the Daphnia and midge larvae now find themselves in a water butt!
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the water is being saved to go back into the pond once the liner is in
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final view once today's work was done
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Today's wildlife included a frog which was seen diving into the pond SC209694
3 x Long Tailed Tit SC210694
Speckled Wood Butterfly SC209693
SC208694 Common Funnel fungi near compost heap ( Clitocybe gibba)
One volunteer who arrived early was lucky enough to see a Great Spotted Woodpecker too!
A very good morning's work which I think we all enjoyed. Thanks to all concerned for your hard work and good company today and to the Committee for the delicious cake which was much appreciated.
With thanks to Liz Charter of the IOM Fungus Group for ID.
please click on photos to enlarge them
