14th August 2012 ... weekly volunteers

Present:

John, Alan, Keith, Ray, Pat, Neil, Jonathan  and Martin

Mike visited the site, and inspected the work.

Activities:

- lookered ponies
- checked ragwort on cricket field
- pulled ragwort along road
- cleared channels at causeway. Remade a path surface over both Irish bridges with extracted sods, bracken and dug clay and peat.  Water level has now fallen considerably.
- pulled bracken along beeches avenue at northern end.
- slashed bracken on path side of fence there
- pulled bracken along M1
- slashed half the deer track under the pylons

Observations:

- 7 buzzards in a thermal
- dodder still in flower
- couple of blue butterflies
- s hawker, b hawker
- bee flies
- checked the bee hive.  Thinking of allowing expansion into second nest box.
- flocks of house martins and swallows moving
- hobby
- blackcap, stonechats
- s wood, brimstone, m brown, gatekeeper, l skipper


Martin