Title says it all.
just about 20 yards west of the car park, just outside the reserve was a green hairstreak on a dead bit of gorse.
It clearly had not worked out that dead gorse was not a good background for its colour.
Ponies, Ravens, staghorn all fine. Large red damsel fly also in the car park.
Some strange items near the log pile and water trough. Ripples may be a stall name plate. Some cut bits of machined pole, a strange scrap bit of window frame (?) nailed to 2 other bits of wood on the log pile, Silver ( for chocolate) half penny wrapper, large bottle of water, and a currant bun bits (in the trough the other side). What is going on?
martin
Monday, May 31, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
25th May 2010 ... Weekly volunteeers
Present: John, Ron, David and Martin
Activities:
- lookered the ponies
- dug up ragwort on the cricket field, both sides
- cleared bracken from M1, beeches avenue
- cleared birch and pine saplings from area of wood and heath opposite the cricket field
- inspected the sphagnum heath for berm possibilities
observations:
- two adult and at least two young Ravens
- Hobbies calling from one of their standard haunts
- Tree pipits behaving in a strange territorial way -- appearing to be young?
- Small copper, brimstones, speckled woods and one green hairstreak
- crossbills, 4 siskin, Jackdaw, swift, swallow, tree creeper singing
- palish adder
Activities:
- lookered the ponies
- dug up ragwort on the cricket field, both sides
- cleared bracken from M1, beeches avenue
- cleared birch and pine saplings from area of wood and heath opposite the cricket field
- inspected the sphagnum heath for berm possibilities
observations:
- two adult and at least two young Ravens
- Hobbies calling from one of their standard haunts
- Tree pipits behaving in a strange territorial way -- appearing to be young?
- Small copper, brimstones, speckled woods and one green hairstreak
- crossbills, 4 siskin, Jackdaw, swift, swallow, tree creeper singing
- palish adder
Monday, May 24, 2010
More green hairstreaks
Today I saw two male green hairstreaks having a 'dog fight' behind the tool store. Another was reported by Brent as seen at the ride junction on some holly.
I also saw the black ( well almost black) adder near the log piles, and moving off into the wood. Definitely something spooky about it.
Otherwise normal things. Crossbills, tree pipits, linnets, lesser redpolls.
martin
I also saw the black ( well almost black) adder near the log piles, and moving off into the wood. Definitely something spooky about it.
Otherwise normal things. Crossbills, tree pipits, linnets, lesser redpolls.
martin
Additional tools etc
For the record, here is a list of the additional tools that we have access to.
click here for spreadsheet
martin
click here for spreadsheet
martin
Friday, May 21, 2010
Hobbies, Green Hairstreaks etc
Yesterday I saw my first hobbies (2) over the reserve. Hope they are alright. Ron and I saw a crow land on their old nest site earlier in the month.
Today was the first really warm day, and I thought it would be fun to find green hairstreaks. Indeed I think I found 2 of them high on a Holly tree behind the tool store. It could just have been one, that was incredibly quick at relocating, but I don't think so. The hollies have an enormous amount of flowers at the moment, and must be the largest current source of nectar. You had to really get your eye in to see them. The green is slightly different from that of the Holly leaves.
There were a couple of male holly blues there as well, fighting it out.
Brimstones ( male and female) and a speckled wood completed the company
martinW
Today was the first really warm day, and I thought it would be fun to find green hairstreaks. Indeed I think I found 2 of them high on a Holly tree behind the tool store. It could just have been one, that was incredibly quick at relocating, but I don't think so. The hollies have an enormous amount of flowers at the moment, and must be the largest current source of nectar. You had to really get your eye in to see them. The green is slightly different from that of the Holly leaves.
There were a couple of male holly blues there as well, fighting it out.
Brimstones ( male and female) and a speckled wood completed the company
martinW
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
18th may 2010 ... weekly volunteers
Present: John, Mike, Keith and Martin
Activities:
- unpacked, documented, sorted and stored Alan's equipment that Alice had left for us
- lookered the ponies
- discussed the new Pony Ember with all and Monty
- Keith has taken two nestboxes to be refurbished
- did the last part of the nestbox count. One dead female redstart in one box with 6 eggs. No obvious cause.
- improved the ground around the main post of the kissing gate, with stones and soil and turf.
- pulled up and loppered lots of silver birch and a few remaining pine on area opposite forester's cottage. There is still much work to be done here. The brash was deposited in the woods nearer the stream.
- some bracken destruction, but they are still only just emerging. There is evidence of frost damage.
Observations:
- Ravens calling a little
- woodlark, tree pipits, redstarts, tree creeper singing
- map of reserve pinned to tractor shed door
Activities:
- unpacked, documented, sorted and stored Alan's equipment that Alice had left for us
- lookered the ponies
- discussed the new Pony Ember with all and Monty
- Keith has taken two nestboxes to be refurbished
- did the last part of the nestbox count. One dead female redstart in one box with 6 eggs. No obvious cause.
- improved the ground around the main post of the kissing gate, with stones and soil and turf.
- pulled up and loppered lots of silver birch and a few remaining pine on area opposite forester's cottage. There is still much work to be done here. The brash was deposited in the woods nearer the stream.
- some bracken destruction, but they are still only just emerging. There is evidence of frost damage.
Observations:
- Ravens calling a little
- woodlark, tree pipits, redstarts, tree creeper singing
- map of reserve pinned to tractor shed door
Monday, May 17, 2010
Bird count for May 13th 2010
Here is the spreadsheet for the bird count on May 13 2010, that Ron and I did.
Ravens definitely included at least an extra call from the nest site, and so is recorded as 3.
No hobbies.
Raven and Buzzard had a barny, with them both flying increasingly high, before the Buzzard had had enough aggro from the Raven
Not yet warm, but a better day than recently.
click to see spreadsheet
martin
Ravens definitely included at least an extra call from the nest site, and so is recorded as 3.
No hobbies.
Raven and Buzzard had a barny, with them both flying increasingly high, before the Buzzard had had enough aggro from the Raven
Not yet warm, but a better day than recently.
click to see spreadsheet
martin
Nest Box count 11th May 2010
Here is the spreadsheet of the nest box count for may 11th. We did just over half the boxes.
The weather has been bitterly cold and everything seems rather delayed. Certainly the adults seemed to want to stay on the nests.
We will try to do the rest next week.
click to see spreadsheet
martin
The weather has been bitterly cold and everything seems rather delayed. Certainly the adults seemed to want to stay on the nests.
We will try to do the rest next week.
click to see spreadsheet
martin
New pony and Green Hairstreak
Title says it all.
Ember is a new gelding on South Heath and OL1. Quite big and dark. Looks settled in with the dark Filly as a companion.
I saw a green hairstreak on its favourite gorse bush ( as of last year). In fact it was pretty well on the same sprig. Like father, like son, presumably.
Ravens around, swallows passing through, no hobbies yet.
martin
Ember is a new gelding on South Heath and OL1. Quite big and dark. Looks settled in with the dark Filly as a companion.
I saw a green hairstreak on its favourite gorse bush ( as of last year). In fact it was pretty well on the same sprig. Like father, like son, presumably.
Ravens around, swallows passing through, no hobbies yet.
martin
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
11th May 2010 ... weekly volunteers
Present: John, Ron, Mike and Martin
Activities:
- first half of the nest box survey done. Mostly 'adults on nest', but some restart eggs.
- fencing around the South Heath Cess pit checked and renovated
- birch and Pine seedlings lopper'ed opposite foresters cottage. partially tidied away under trees.
- 2 replacement nest boxes installed, and the old ones returned to the tool store
- Some ditch work around stony pond to make sure the water flows into the pond and does not short circuit
- tidying up the birches that were felled last week
- gps of the nest box route recorded.
- lookered the ponies, with 11 + 1 foal on the main reserve, and 3 on OL1
- 2 pine branches intruding onto the path near the bench were cut back
Observations:
crossbills, plenty of redstarts, stonechats, whitethroats, swallow
Almost no butterflies, as is still pretty cold for the time of year
Did not hear any ravens
Future work
- finish nest boxes
- mend nest-boxes
- improve ground at kissing gate
- bracken
- coppicing gorse after the nesting season
- get rid of more saplings
- bird count this Thursday
Activities:
- first half of the nest box survey done. Mostly 'adults on nest', but some restart eggs.
- fencing around the South Heath Cess pit checked and renovated
- birch and Pine seedlings lopper'ed opposite foresters cottage. partially tidied away under trees.
- 2 replacement nest boxes installed, and the old ones returned to the tool store
- Some ditch work around stony pond to make sure the water flows into the pond and does not short circuit
- tidying up the birches that were felled last week
- gps of the nest box route recorded.
- lookered the ponies, with 11 + 1 foal on the main reserve, and 3 on OL1
- 2 pine branches intruding onto the path near the bench were cut back
Observations:
crossbills, plenty of redstarts, stonechats, whitethroats, swallow
Almost no butterflies, as is still pretty cold for the time of year
Did not hear any ravens
Future work
- finish nest boxes
- mend nest-boxes
- improve ground at kissing gate
- bracken
- coppicing gorse after the nesting season
- get rid of more saplings
- bird count this Thursday
Saturday, May 8, 2010
A google map of Old Lodge
I hope that below you should have a live google map of the reserve, which you can wander around in.
View Old Lodge reserve in a larger map
martin
View Old Lodge reserve in a larger map
martin
Nightjar records on a map
This is a little test of records that can be displayed on bing maps or Google earth.
You may have to download it and double click it
click here for geographic records
martin
You may have to download it and double click it
click here for geographic records
martin
Cess pit update
Work continued yesterday on the pipe to the cess pit.
There is now an inspection cover in place where the blockage was. Some strange stuff in the pipe !!
Apparently the pipe was damaged by a tractor or other heavy vehicle some time ago ( a number of years), partly because it was not laid into a decent bed of material. The current reset length has pea gravel as the base.
The other 2 holes should be completed by Thursday next week.
The ponies are arriving this Sunday, and will have to be kept in OL1 as is usual for when they arrive, in order to reduce risk of them jumping over the fences and road to join the rest of the herd.
martin
There is now an inspection cover in place where the blockage was. Some strange stuff in the pipe !!
Apparently the pipe was damaged by a tractor or other heavy vehicle some time ago ( a number of years), partly because it was not laid into a decent bed of material. The current reset length has pea gravel as the base.
The other 2 holes should be completed by Thursday next week.
The ponies are arriving this Sunday, and will have to be kept in OL1 as is usual for when they arrive, in order to reduce risk of them jumping over the fences and road to join the rest of the herd.
martin
Ordinance Survey map
Here is a map of the site, with thanks to get-a-map from the Ordinance Survey
click here for map (jpg file)
martin
click here for map (jpg file)
martin
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Cottage cess pit problem
The pipe between the cottages and the cess pit/ soak away in the middle of south heath had got blocked. It was noticed last Tuesday flowing up out of the ground about 80 metres from the cess pit itself.
The head gardener at Windy Ridge did not manage to clear it himself with rods and today called in a contractor to help do the work. The contractor drove onto the south heath and starting at the bottom of the pipe hosed up the pipe work doing something like 40 metres at a time, until the blockage was found just below where the stuff was flowing out. It looks as if the last repair at this point had managed to damage the adjoining pipe connection, and this had built up into the blockage.
It is planned to take advantage of the three pits that were dug to expose the pipe work, and to fit inspection / rodding traps there, allowing easier maintenance.
For future reference
- the soak-away is actually a properly constructed cess tank, with brick and concrete work.
- there is a metal inspection cover at the east end fairly close to the existing fence work.
- the pipe work is say 2 feet below the current surface. The pipe was back filled with some pretty rough soil and stones, and looks very different from the surrounding peat. I am happy if the stones are left on the surface, rather than buried.
- if one is rodding the pipe work through a T-junction, then care must be taken to ensure that the plunger goes the direction that you are aiming at.
- the fence work around the soak-away probably needs a little attention.
- the new inspection traps will be near the fence ( outside ) and 40 metres up from there. The one wher ethe outflow occurred will be replaced or reset.
- if you look closely you can see the path of the pipe work and where the soil has been disturbed in the past.
The pipe is now clear and the rest of the work should be done before next Tuesday. There are no domestic animals on the South Heath at the moment. I guess Monty should be told about the outflow. But with a bit of rain in the next few days, I doubt if it will be much trouble.
Though it should be noted that last time we fenced it off with a photo cell driven electric fence that Alice provided.
martin
The head gardener at Windy Ridge did not manage to clear it himself with rods and today called in a contractor to help do the work. The contractor drove onto the south heath and starting at the bottom of the pipe hosed up the pipe work doing something like 40 metres at a time, until the blockage was found just below where the stuff was flowing out. It looks as if the last repair at this point had managed to damage the adjoining pipe connection, and this had built up into the blockage.
It is planned to take advantage of the three pits that were dug to expose the pipe work, and to fit inspection / rodding traps there, allowing easier maintenance.
For future reference
- the soak-away is actually a properly constructed cess tank, with brick and concrete work.
- there is a metal inspection cover at the east end fairly close to the existing fence work.
- the pipe work is say 2 feet below the current surface. The pipe was back filled with some pretty rough soil and stones, and looks very different from the surrounding peat. I am happy if the stones are left on the surface, rather than buried.
- if one is rodding the pipe work through a T-junction, then care must be taken to ensure that the plunger goes the direction that you are aiming at.
- the fence work around the soak-away probably needs a little attention.
- the new inspection traps will be near the fence ( outside ) and 40 metres up from there. The one wher ethe outflow occurred will be replaced or reset.
- if you look closely you can see the path of the pipe work and where the soil has been disturbed in the past.
The pipe is now clear and the rest of the work should be done before next Tuesday. There are no domestic animals on the South Heath at the moment. I guess Monty should be told about the outflow. But with a bit of rain in the next few days, I doubt if it will be much trouble.
Though it should be noted that last time we fenced it off with a photo cell driven electric fence that Alice provided.
martin
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
May 4th 2010 ...Weekly volunteers
Present: John, Ron, David, Neil, Mike, and Martin
Activities:
Special week where we celebrated John's 70th birthday. So as well as the work done below, we all went to the Hatch were John fed and watered us. Much appreciated.
We presented John with card, copy of Selbourne Natural History, and a pair of work gloves.
- repaired the kissing gate at the main car park, so that the latch worked and kept the gate fixed. A pull and push construction was used to correct the main twisting that had affected the gate. Probably some extra soil on the top would be useful.
- Repaired the fence along side the tool store onto the common, which was in a very poor state. About 5 new supporting posts were put in place. This does not effect the ponies, but only the cattle and sheep on the common.
- A couple of marked silver birch behind the cottages were taken down.
- reported a leak in the effluent system for the cottages. There must have been a blockage more than half way towards the soak away, which had resulted in a blow out. This was in exactly the same place that it happened about 4 years ago. The head Gardener from windy ridge came out and started repairs, which should be quickly completed. We must watch this progress.
- Order taken for 3 group photos and a south heath photo of Alan for the Sunday group.
- last bit of 'freecylce detergent' and jam bottles taken.
- butterfly and moth leaflets pinned up in shed noted as OK.
retired early
Martin
Activities:
Special week where we celebrated John's 70th birthday. So as well as the work done below, we all went to the Hatch were John fed and watered us. Much appreciated.
We presented John with card, copy of Selbourne Natural History, and a pair of work gloves.
- repaired the kissing gate at the main car park, so that the latch worked and kept the gate fixed. A pull and push construction was used to correct the main twisting that had affected the gate. Probably some extra soil on the top would be useful.
- Repaired the fence along side the tool store onto the common, which was in a very poor state. About 5 new supporting posts were put in place. This does not effect the ponies, but only the cattle and sheep on the common.
- A couple of marked silver birch behind the cottages were taken down.
- reported a leak in the effluent system for the cottages. There must have been a blockage more than half way towards the soak away, which had resulted in a blow out. This was in exactly the same place that it happened about 4 years ago. The head Gardener from windy ridge came out and started repairs, which should be quickly completed. We must watch this progress.
- Order taken for 3 group photos and a south heath photo of Alan for the Sunday group.
- last bit of 'freecylce detergent' and jam bottles taken.
- butterfly and moth leaflets pinned up in shed noted as OK.
retired early
Martin
Sunday, May 2, 2010
December 2009 - March 2020 - Weekly Volunteers
December 2009 - March 2020 - Weekly Volunteers
I used to email Alan with reports of our weekly conservation work. I used to find it difficult to keep this routine up, but he would always chivvy me for them.
I guess that he would never have read some of the latter one's when he was unable to get down to the library to get onto the Internet.
For the record I am placing them here for people to see. I may have to edit a few items which are personal and medical.
I try to get them in chronological order.
all errors and omissions are my fault. Sometimes it is difficult to remember the details of a Tuesday session.
martin
-------------------------------------------------------------
old lodge conservation --- Dec 1st 2009
hi Alan,
present john, Ron, David and myself
We did the next site along, towards the cross roads, but still roller stand side of fence.
Another quite large fire, but we did not manage everything up to the fence. There are three pines in a triangle that will be a small site for next week. We did clear a pine that was out in the open below the slope.
we prepared two bonfire sites. The one above, and then one on the staples hill slope. This will cover everything that don has cut so far there other than one large birch.
cheers
martin
-----------------------------------------------------------
old lodge conservation ---- Dec 8th 2009
Hi Alan,
The Sunday group are having no luck.
We had a burn up of both the remaining bonfire sites along beech's avenue.
present
john, mike, Ron, David and self, plus a visit from Neil who is invalid after surgery on moles, and the stitches stop him doing forestry work apparently.
Neil made a similar quick appearance last week.
covered the previous fire sites actually last week, but forgot to mention.
had phoned don telling him that we are running out of brash. he promised to do a day the Monday ( which was the day before) John and David went to check and found no work done, but did find don himself, who was just arrived and was about to do some work. He promised to do more on the following Friday and Monday.
Ron and I went to clear the drain at Hayward's pond/path, and inspect Gilly's outflow. Drain flowing, but we cleared leaves and did a bit of precautionary work. Gilly's outflow is still dripping, but everything is relatively clean after all the rain. Not the time to take up again yet.
We obviously did not make up any bonfire sites, but there should be our earlier brash work available.
ravens
cheers
martin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
15th Dec 2009 ... old lodge conservation ..... martin
Hi Alan.
present john, David myself and john luck ( after coffee )
don has cut enough trees to keep us going for a bit. He also turned up for a days work, which was down the slope and along the pippingford boundary.
We chose the south west corner, by the cricket pitch for our first bonfire here. Quite a nice block of trees ( about a dozen).
we also did some small conifer eradication along the m1, since there was a particularly dense patch of them. these are small and old, but they are starting to get a foothold. We will have increased the grazing pressure at least.
next week the priority I think should be the big trees on the slope which came down 'today'. but must depend on wind etc.
Raven and Crossbills.
5 new patches of nail fungus found previous Wednesday.
cheers
martin
--------------------------------------------------------------------
22 December 2009 ... old lodge conservation .... martin
hi Alan,
john and I braved the snowy weather, and had a bonfire in the cricket field wood. A wonderful day.
Ron was rescuing his abandoned car.
cheers
martin
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
conservation 12 Jan 2009 .... martin
Hi Alan,
Neil and I have bad colds, the roads are difficult, and there is a lot of snow on the forest. John was in favour of cancelling !
cheers
martin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
19th Jan 2010 old lodge conservation .... martin
Hi Alan,
just to record this last Tuesday.
present
Neil, Ron, mike, john and myself
- had two bonfires above west pond. There are still some trees to be felled towards the hunt gate for another fire. There is one tree which is high up which we did not burn while it was the other side of the mire. We will leave that for the next one.
- The new west pond dam has been breached and will need more repair. We did a little. Obviously it was not strong enough to withstand the height and flow of water.
- on the way back we completed processing of felled birches behind the cottages. Log pile is currently that side of the road, and should be brought back when we have time.
nice day and lots of work done.
Raven and crossbills ( 6+)
cheers
martin
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
conservation --- old lodge--- 2 Feb 2009 .... martin
Hi Alan,
present
John, Ron, Neil, mike and myself
The weather was forecast to be nasty, though it turned out to be nothing like as bad.
But we decided to start near the tool store
John and I took some perk firewood
We bagged up bricks and hardcore for John and his daughter. This is now in the tractor shed awaiting removal. There really are no walls left, and only broken bricks and tiles. We removed a partly exposed iron pipe outside the concrete base.
Ron and Neil repaired / reinforced the fence at three points in front of the tractor shed. It is weak further down, but we did not do anything there.
Ron and Neil did a further repair to the gutter at the back, using a bit of tree tube to reinforce the problem join.
Brought some more logs into the tractor shed for drying and cutting later.
Finally decided that we should brave the weather and went off to the willow pit and burnt the gorse that was stacked there. Quite difficult to light, but eventually it went quite well. We also burned a bit of the dead willow branches, that have recently fallen. There is a pile of cut gorse wood there for collecting.
Noted that the stag horn moss is alive and growing.
weather after lunch was less good, and we decided to go home at about 3.
cheers
martin
--------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
17th Feb 2010 ... old lodge conservation ... martin [ actually the 16th]
Hi Alan,
just john, Ron and myself this Tuesday. The weather forecast is bad.
We went to see how the fallen branch/tree was along the top. Alice was organising someone to come and chainsaw down. The fence needed one staple only. we tidies up some of the bits. It should be fine as a decaying natural habitat.
Obviously whoever did the sawing had a few attempts !!!
The we cut up lots of the logs in the tractor shed and reloaded it. Now all the logs outside in the first row are under mikes plastic. All the plastic sheets are in good condition.
then we went home after coffee.
cheers
martin
----------------------------------------------------------------
conservation days .... various....Feb and march 2010 ..... martin
hi Alan,
-----------------------------
Feb 23rd
john, myself, Ron, John Luck and David had another two bonfire just east of beeches avenue on staples hill. Don was felling in the area.
The toy Rat was duly found by Ron, and is now with the frog and man behind the tool store
re-instated the OLD LODGE board by the car park kissing gate. It has been treated with various oils and hardeners. May last a little bit longer.
----------------------------
march 2nd
I was away at a funeral. John, David, Ron and Mike I think had a bonfire, if not two, on the route down from the cross-roads to the bridge.
--------------------------------
march 9th
you came up to the reserve. John, David and later myself had a fire near the path at the south east corner of the cricket field wood.
It was pretty safe being on green bilberry, which did not burn.
Ravens on OL2
---------------------------
march 16
started a bonfire at the north east corner of the cricket field wood. it went far too well and we abandoned it when we discovered that the spread of small outbreaks were not self igniting. This was mostly in green bilberry !!
did pine and birch pulling on the area the other side of the path down to the crossroads. ie the area with the fire beater stand.
and then an area of pine saplings south of the high beeches, just east of one of the studded blue areas. Looked far better.
-----------------------
march 23
John, Ron, Neil, David and mike. big bonfire at the north east corner of the cricket field wood. In the site we had to abandon last week. It had rained and the fire was never in any danger.
It looks really good now.
Ravens calling, and plenty of crossbill. Ravens are south of the power line post between the cricket field one, and the one at the top of the hill on the M1. About 50 metres in, say. Different type of call, and surely at the nest.
don has collected virtually all his logs. there are three rows of them at the roller stand. two on the north, and one on the south.
martin
---------------------------
I used to email Alan with reports of our weekly conservation work. I used to find it difficult to keep this routine up, but he would always chivvy me for them.
I guess that he would never have read some of the latter one's when he was unable to get down to the library to get onto the Internet.
For the record I am placing them here for people to see. I may have to edit a few items which are personal and medical.
I try to get them in chronological order.
all errors and omissions are my fault. Sometimes it is difficult to remember the details of a Tuesday session.
martin
-------------------------------------------------------------
old lodge conservation --- Dec 1st 2009
hi Alan,
present john, Ron, David and myself
We did the next site along, towards the cross roads, but still roller stand side of fence.
Another quite large fire, but we did not manage everything up to the fence. There are three pines in a triangle that will be a small site for next week. We did clear a pine that was out in the open below the slope.
we prepared two bonfire sites. The one above, and then one on the staples hill slope. This will cover everything that don has cut so far there other than one large birch.
cheers
martin
-----------------------------------------------------------
old lodge conservation ---- Dec 8th 2009
Hi Alan,
The Sunday group are having no luck.
We had a burn up of both the remaining bonfire sites along beech's avenue.
present
john, mike, Ron, David and self, plus a visit from Neil who is invalid after surgery on moles, and the stitches stop him doing forestry work apparently.
Neil made a similar quick appearance last week.
covered the previous fire sites actually last week, but forgot to mention.
had phoned don telling him that we are running out of brash. he promised to do a day the Monday ( which was the day before) John and David went to check and found no work done, but did find don himself, who was just arrived and was about to do some work. He promised to do more on the following Friday and Monday.
Ron and I went to clear the drain at Hayward's pond/path, and inspect Gilly's outflow. Drain flowing, but we cleared leaves and did a bit of precautionary work. Gilly's outflow is still dripping, but everything is relatively clean after all the rain. Not the time to take up again yet.
We obviously did not make up any bonfire sites, but there should be our earlier brash work available.
ravens
cheers
martin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
15th Dec 2009 ... old lodge conservation ..... martin
Hi Alan.
present john, David myself and john luck ( after coffee )
don has cut enough trees to keep us going for a bit. He also turned up for a days work, which was down the slope and along the pippingford boundary.
We chose the south west corner, by the cricket pitch for our first bonfire here. Quite a nice block of trees ( about a dozen).
we also did some small conifer eradication along the m1, since there was a particularly dense patch of them. these are small and old, but they are starting to get a foothold. We will have increased the grazing pressure at least.
next week the priority I think should be the big trees on the slope which came down 'today'. but must depend on wind etc.
Raven and Crossbills.
5 new patches of nail fungus found previous Wednesday.
cheers
martin
--------------------------------------------------------------------
22 December 2009 ... old lodge conservation .... martin
hi Alan,
john and I braved the snowy weather, and had a bonfire in the cricket field wood. A wonderful day.
Ron was rescuing his abandoned car.
cheers
martin
-----------------------------------------------------------------
29th Dec 2009 .... old lodge conservation --- martin
Hi Alan,
present
Neil, Ron, john and myself.
a bit rainy, and we abandoned after lunch.
- cut up the sweet chestnut in the tractor shed, and some of the birch. This was all taken away.
- dug up the montbretia on the path down the side of the tool store on way to log piles. 4 bags are in the tool store awaiting removal
- pollarded some gorse on the main road either side of the car park entrance. The snow had flattened this and it was a visibility hazard for people coming out of the car park.
- brought some more wood into the tool store for future cutting.
- had a bonfire at the side of the cottages, which is where we dragged all the small birch we dug up from the south heath.
- cut down some of the marked birches in the wood besides the cottages, putting brash on the fire
- pollarded and burned a little gorse that had been flattened by the snow
we had to abandon the fire before it was all burnt, because of the rain. It was safe. Some of the felled trees are still to be cut up.
we could not make any fire sites for the Sunday group.
Ron has the sign board from the main entrance, which had fallen off. He is waiting for it to dry, then he will clean and reattach ( probably in a less movable place )
cheers
martin
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conservation -- old lodge -- 5th Jan 2010 .... martin
Hi Alan,
present
David, Neil, john, mike and myself.
We did the bonfire, of the big trees that are on the slope down to the pippingford boundary. This included about 5 very large pines and a couple of very large birch. We organised a good fire site from which we could clear all the brash.
A very large fire, and pretty exhausting.
Don has done a chunk more of the cricket pitch wood, and there are several places for fire sites. We did not make up any.
cheers
martin
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conservation 12 Jan 2009 .... martin
Hi Alan,
Neil and I have bad colds, the roads are difficult, and there is a lot of snow on the forest. John was in favour of cancelling !
cheers
martin
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19th Jan 2010 old lodge conservation .... martin
Hi Alan,
just to record this last Tuesday.
present
Neil, Ron, mike, john and myself
- had two bonfires above west pond. There are still some trees to be felled towards the hunt gate for another fire. There is one tree which is high up which we did not burn while it was the other side of the mire. We will leave that for the next one.
- The new west pond dam has been breached and will need more repair. We did a little. Obviously it was not strong enough to withstand the height and flow of water.
- on the way back we completed processing of felled birches behind the cottages. Log pile is currently that side of the road, and should be brought back when we have time.
nice day and lots of work done.
Raven and crossbills ( 6+)
cheers
martin
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conservation ---- Jan 26th 2010 ---old lodge .... martin
hi Alan,
present
john, Neil, Ron, john luck and myself.
went bonfiring again around cricket pitch wood ( north side), and had two bonfires, which were right on the edge with the heath. One half way along the north edge of the wood, and the other on the same edge but right away from the cricket pitch.
still plenty to do at the second site and round the corner towards the crossroads.
Quite big fires, and we did well to do as much as we did. It leaves one patch of brash near and on the cricket pitch, which I now know was burnt by the Sunday party.
went back to the tool store and Ron and Neil mended the problem gutter. John luck took a load of firewood. I think John had a load of bricks for his road.
A replacement key for the tool store has been cut, to make up for the one John has mislaid.
There would have been a week when people might have had difficulty opening the three ( ex five) bar gate, as it had a substitute lock on it.
The bags of mombretia compost has now been taken.
cheers
martin
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conservation --- old lodge--- 2 Feb 2009 .... martin
Hi Alan,
present
John, Ron, Neil, mike and myself
The weather was forecast to be nasty, though it turned out to be nothing like as bad.
But we decided to start near the tool store
John and I took some perk firewood
We bagged up bricks and hardcore for John and his daughter. This is now in the tractor shed awaiting removal. There really are no walls left, and only broken bricks and tiles. We removed a partly exposed iron pipe outside the concrete base.
Ron and Neil repaired / reinforced the fence at three points in front of the tractor shed. It is weak further down, but we did not do anything there.
Ron and Neil did a further repair to the gutter at the back, using a bit of tree tube to reinforce the problem join.
Brought some more logs into the tractor shed for drying and cutting later.
Finally decided that we should brave the weather and went off to the willow pit and burnt the gorse that was stacked there. Quite difficult to light, but eventually it went quite well. We also burned a bit of the dead willow branches, that have recently fallen. There is a pile of cut gorse wood there for collecting.
Noted that the stag horn moss is alive and growing.
weather after lunch was less good, and we decided to go home at about 3.
cheers
martin
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Feb 9th 2010 .... old lodge... conservation .... martin
Hi Alan,
my last conservation email got the wrong date on it somehow should have been the 16th Feb, not the 17 Feb !!!
Present
Ron, Neil, John, Mike, John Luck, and myself.
Windy and cold, so we chose bonfire sites within the cricket field wood. About in the centre. We had two pretty big fires.
I covered over the neighbouring old fire sites to hide them.
Mike told us about the Sunday group finding a large branch down on the east boundary near the car park, and their difficulty in knowing whether it was ours or the rangers. After the bonfire, a number of us went [ not myself, as I was still watching the embers] to inspect. Concluded that
- it was ours
- too large and dangerous for us to attempt
- safe at the moment
Later I contacted Alice and explained.
suggested
- need good chainsaw person
- should leave bulk as fallen wood
- I had done a little tidying up.
The staghorn moss is still there and growing
John L took some wood.
cheers
martin
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17th Feb 2010 ... old lodge conservation ... martin [ actually the 16th]
Hi Alan,
just john, Ron and myself this Tuesday. The weather forecast is bad.
We went to see how the fallen branch/tree was along the top. Alice was organising someone to come and chainsaw down. The fence needed one staple only. we tidies up some of the bits. It should be fine as a decaying natural habitat.
Obviously whoever did the sawing had a few attempts !!!
The we cut up lots of the logs in the tractor shed and reloaded it. Now all the logs outside in the first row are under mikes plastic. All the plastic sheets are in good condition.
then we went home after coffee.
cheers
martin
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conservation days .... various....Feb and march 2010 ..... martin
hi Alan,
-----------------------------
Feb 23rd
john, myself, Ron, John Luck and David had another two bonfire just east of beeches avenue on staples hill. Don was felling in the area.
The toy Rat was duly found by Ron, and is now with the frog and man behind the tool store
re-instated the OLD LODGE board by the car park kissing gate. It has been treated with various oils and hardeners. May last a little bit longer.
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march 2nd
I was away at a funeral. John, David, Ron and Mike I think had a bonfire, if not two, on the route down from the cross-roads to the bridge.
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march 9th
you came up to the reserve. John, David and later myself had a fire near the path at the south east corner of the cricket field wood.
It was pretty safe being on green bilberry, which did not burn.
Ravens on OL2
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march 16
started a bonfire at the north east corner of the cricket field wood. it went far too well and we abandoned it when we discovered that the spread of small outbreaks were not self igniting. This was mostly in green bilberry !!
did pine and birch pulling on the area the other side of the path down to the crossroads. ie the area with the fire beater stand.
and then an area of pine saplings south of the high beeches, just east of one of the studded blue areas. Looked far better.
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march 23
John, Ron, Neil, David and mike. big bonfire at the north east corner of the cricket field wood. In the site we had to abandon last week. It had rained and the fire was never in any danger.
It looks really good now.
Ravens calling, and plenty of crossbill. Ravens are south of the power line post between the cricket field one, and the one at the top of the hill on the M1. About 50 metres in, say. Different type of call, and surely at the nest.
don has collected virtually all his logs. there are three rows of them at the roller stand. two on the north, and one on the south.
martin
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