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a rare view of the Reserve -not usually water in this ditch
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Just a few steps into the Reserve on Friday morning and it became clear that something was not right. Water was rushing along the ditch and under the concrete bridge near the entrance. This is always a sign that the inlet pipe is blocked and the incoming stream is then forced along the boundary ditches before going under the road at the usual outlet. I shot along the gorse boundary towards the inlet pipe and found this was indeed the case. The main stream still had some water flowing along it but there were small mud banks starting to show. I headed for the hide to get a long handled rake and had a go at removing the debris that was causing the problem. The water level was too deep for my wellies though, so I had to give up. My husband would have to have a go later with a better selection of tools from home. I must have achieved something though, because next time I walked past the stream the water level was rising slightly.
Another problem seemed to be that the latch on the hide door was jamming. A very kind gentleman also at the reserve ( we were socially distanced and both wearing masks) said if we had a pair of pliers and a hammer in the tool shed he could easily fix it. Fortunately we have both so while I was trying to unblock the pipe he was able to do the repair. Many thanks if you are reading this, Peter.
So a whole hour went by before I even started my walk round the reserve! Here's what I then noted as I walked round ( apart from standing water and lots of mud!)
Birds:
SC210694 Robin
SC209694 Song Thrush; Blackbird; 2 x Robins singing alternately from each side of path; Chaffinch;
SC208695 2 x Chaffinch.
SC208694 2 x Chaffinch; 2 x Great Tit; Robin; 2 x Goldfinch; 2 x Blue Tit; Hooded Crow.
SC209695 Great Tit; flock of 21 Goldfinch in tree which joined larger flock making about 40 later; Coal Tit; Magpie; Long tailed tits heard but not seen; Song Thrush seen briefly; 2 x Chaffinch. 2 x Blue Tit.
By far the most bird activity today was near the Bowman bench. I just stood quietly and let everything come to me!
Other:
SC208695 7 spot Ladybird on Bramble
SC210694 Snowflake in flower ( garden escape)
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A total of 21 Goldfinches landed in the tree
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this one had been there with just one other earlier
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three of the flock
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there were Chaffinches about too
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and Blue Tits
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a pair of Great Tits elsewhere
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Chaffinch in the Alder catkins
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very vocal Robin
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and another answering back
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stream flowing under the concrete bridge
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this is the ditch our volunteers cleared of brambles last year
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somewhere under this pool is the blocked pipe
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water flowing along ditch behind bank instead of through pipe
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dry patches starting to appear in stream
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dry patches disappeared after my attempts to clear the pipe
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whole reserve very wet after recent heavy rain
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some earlier torrent has revealed the pathway grids again
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looking across a very damp meadow
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water had stopped running in front of the reeds - just mud
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a cloudy January day
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Garden escape Snowflake in flower
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7-spot Ladybird
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My husband visited the reserve later with some tools from home and managed to unblock the pipe. I imagine it would take quite a while though for the water levels in the ditch to drop back to normal.
As I type this on Sunday evening, it has been announced that our circuit breaker lockdown has been successful and is being lifted from midnight tonight. This means that my next visit to the reserve should be a proper recording visit with observations from the bird hide included, if appropriate. I am so looking forward to that.
please click on photos to enlarge them
