Dartford warbler today

It has been a long time since saw a Dartford warbler on the reserve.

Walking along the top to look the ponies, I heard a single call, and then walked towards it, and there it was on top of one of the remaining gorse bushes.

Wonderful.

It was still there on my way back from finding the ponies at the high beeches.

Martin

22th November 2016 ... weekly volunteers

Present:

John, Jonathan, Keith, Pat, Stuart, Neil, Mike m, Mike p, David a, Ian, Graeme, and Martin

Activities:

- cut and split load of firewood, brought more into shed
- looked ponies and checked reserve for any storm damage
- redug the diagonal trenches on the m1 for draining running water off the track, this reducing erosion and mud
- investigated the parallel ditches in the wood north east of the trough, and their flow of water. Changed the flow to increase the time the water takes to get into the steam, basically flooding the area of land towards the sphagnum Heath
- John did some gorse work along the road
- some bramble and Holly work done in the wood alongside the shed

Observations:

- noted the group photo on the swt Facebook page
- brambling, crossbill, Raven
- weather very windy, and bonfires impossible, lots of rain.

Martin

15th November 2016 ... weekly volunteers

Present:

John, Keith, Jonathan, Pat, Neil, David a, Mike m, Mike p, Graeme, Bernard, Ian, Stuart, Alan and Martin

Activities:

- looked ponies
- cut goose along the top near the ride junction
- bonfire of about two thirds of the cutting and one of the piles of tractor mowing
- John did some sapling pulling in the area

Observations:

- sparrow hawk
- ravens
- buzzard
- fieldfares, mistle thrushes, redpolls, bull Finch, long tailed tits, brambling, herring gull


Martin

8th November 2016 ... weekly volunteers

Present:

John, Keith, Mike, Ian, Steve, David a, Neil, Stuart, Bernard, Pat, Mike m, and Martin

Activities:

- looked the ponies.   Now on main reserve and 3 Koniks added. Hence 7 koniks and 3 exmoors
- 2 bonfires behind shed, using all the brash recently cut.  Pollarded more Holly and birch there.
- checked the high stock dove nest box.  Empty.
- rodded the two pipes through the Irish bridge under the power lines and the pipe under the path near the end of the power lines


Observations:

- crossbills, Raven, Reed bunting

Martin

1st November 2016 ... weekly volunteers

Present:

John, Steve, Keith, Ian (new volunteer), David a, Neil, Stuart, Mike m, Mike p, Alan, Bernard, Graham and Martin

Activities:

- looked ponies
- finished clearing the nest boxes
- pond work on level pond and slip pond
- pollarded some hollies at the back of the tool store,
- pulled some birch and pine saplings near the pillow mound and near the high beeches
- mended a lopper
- put up the last mended fire beater
- collected some pony poo from south Heath
- cut some more invasive bramble near the tool store

Observations:

- nice weather to start with, but at coffee time a cold foggy front came in and it was not so good
- 2 separate wood Lark singing
- big numbers of wood pigeons. Say 500 plus
- meadow pipits, reed bunting, goldcrests, redpolls, goldfinch, long tailed tits
- Jack has now moved

Martin

25th October 2016 ... weekly volunteers

Present:

John, Jonathan, Alan, Steve, Neil, Mike p, Mike m, David p, Keith and Martin

Activities:

- cleaned half the nest boxes
- pulled saplings on m1 and plateau
- split large logs at the tool store
- pulled some saplings near the pillow mound behind the cottages
- cut some Holly at both ends of the track down past the tool store
- mended a fire beater
- more pushing back of the bramble line
- looked the ponies


Observations:

- butterfly , peacock most likely, hiding in a wasps nest, in a nest box
- several hearings of crossbills
- Raven
- rutting Buck
- lots of redpolls
- woodlark singing
- possible brambling near roller stand
- one nest cleared was probably tree mouse


Martin

18th October 2016 ... weekly volunteers

Present:

John, Jonathan, Alan, Keith, Stuart, Mike m, Mike p, Steve and Martin

Activities:

- ponies had knocked down the bottom part of the fencing around the cess pit. Mended it and added electric fencing around the actual hole and new cover, and a new bit of fencing across the middle. Did not have the required fencing posts etc, but managed to find enough bits and pieces.
- John did some clearing of bramble etc around about.
- looked the ponies
- did some sapling clearing on the slope down from the roller stand
- inspected the chalet nest box, and found a barn owl secondary feather in good condition and numerous pellets with small mammal bones and fur.  So some occupancy since we last looked.
- put up the last two fire beaters, and found an old one with broken handle. This had no hole for hanging, and so most have been lying around for ages.
- cut some Holly behind the tool store on edge of south Heath, with brash added to birch in the ditch
- continued clearing bramble around the tool store, and some pollarding inside the copse
- put up repaired nest box on closest beech
- cleared gutter of tool store
- redug channel in drive to divert rain water away from area in front of tool store

Observations:

- Crossbill
- store cleared
- bamboo from two distributed
- the cess pit lorry was emptying last Thursday when we were mowing with the tractor, but there seemed to be still quite a bit in the bottom of the tank
- the tank appears to be brick built, with dimensions of 10 foot cubed. There is an over flow pipe going down hill for 5 yards, providing soak away. A new cover has been added since last checked. There is some 'flow' erosion on the surface.

Martin

11th October 2016 ... weekly volunteers

Present:

John, Keith, Alan, Mike m, Mike p, Bernard, Steve, David a, and Martin

Activities:

- looked the ponies
- put up two more fire beaters
- drilled holes in two more fire beaters
- cleared pines and birch saplings north of the ride junction and down to high beeches
- dug a drainage ditch across the path at the bench
- put up a mended nest box near ride junction
- cleared low branches and bushes at the large gate entrance near the car park to enable the tractor and harvester to come onto the reserve. Rearranged the lock.
- cleared more branches at the corner of the wood west of the tool store and more Pollarding inside the wood
- collected some pony poo from south Heath
- ring barked 6 pine and birch near the bench
- cut down nettles and thistles behind the tool store and brambles along the edge of the path to the road.

Observations:

- chilly, but nice in the sun
- crossbills, siskins and redpolls
- redwings
- Raven
- 2 slow worms


Martin

4th October 2016 ... weekly volunteers

Present:

John, Jonathan, Alan, Keith, Stuart, Neil, David a, David p, Graham, Steve, Pat, Mike m and Martin

Activities:

- continued fencing on south Heath, using up last 9 posts available
- looked the ponies.

- on OL1
- coppiced small Willow trees growing in the ditch down the boundary with the common land, stacking the brash as habitat piles
- extending the dam round the west side of the pond up to the tree, with mud and tussocks dug out of the main pond, and some cut birch logs and brash, and cut bracken.
- cut out some puddles in the area with sundews, to increase the germinating surfaces available to them.
- hammered in one of the posts of the style which has been used by ponies for scratching

- On reserve
- John did some birch sapling pulling
- pollarding of Holly and birch in the copse next to the tool store, and cutting down Holly and beech branches at the corner of the track and the road.  Brash put behind the tool store.
- cut holes in two fire beaters ready to put up on their stands
- tidied up the gorse wood pile

Observations:

- woodcock, Raven, kestrel
- a bit cold to start with, but sunny and nice after lunch
- Jack and Joan getting ready to leave soon
- shop had a good day
- Raft spider, dragon flies, comma
- Stonechats


Martin

27th September 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Jonathan, Mike m, Stuart, Alan, Steve, Keith, David a, Bernard and Martin.  Mark was with us with his vehicle.

activities:

- looked the ponies
- moved the ponies with food bribes onto south Heath
- picked up the 9 remaining fence posts from just beyond the cricket pitch and brought them to south Heath
- used most of these posts to strengthen the fences on south Heath. a bit of work still to do.
- dug about 30 bags of peat from the piles near the roller stand, and moved them to the tool store. maybe half have been taken home by volunteers.
- moved about 5 loads of logs from ol2 and some from near the car park to behind the tool store.
- put out a new lock in series at the roller stand with same combination

observations:

- dull day with of bit of drizzle
- filled out list of start dates for volunteers for Mark and Lucie.


Martin

20th September 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Bernard, Alan, Ray, Pat, Mike p, Mike m, Steve, Stuart and Martin

activities:

- mended fence from the crossroads to the hunt gate, including one new post and a new strut at the slight bend.
- cut 5 channels across the path down from the chestnut wood to reduce the boggy conditions of winter.
- ring barked around a dozen trees in two areas.  half way between the fence corner on beeches avenue and the bridge, and on the new edge to the plateau Heath.  in both cases trying to break up lines of pines, and to create breaks.
- pulling small birch saplings around the cross road and further down towards the stream
- cleared west pond
- looked the ponies

observations:

- cooler and still. quite nice for work in the open
- meadow pipits
- house Martins and swallows migrating
- ravens


Martin

Ring Ousel

There was a nice male eating Rowan berries just outside the reserve near the tool shed yesterday.

Probably been there for a couple of days.

Martin

13th September 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Jonathan, Neil, Pat, Bernard, Mike m, Mike p, Ray, Steve, Stuart, Alan and Martin

activities:

- looked ponies
- pulled bracken on south Heath
- finished off the second pond below the bench
- cleaned both troughs
- checked and mended staples on south Heath and the cess pit
- drilled some birch in ol1 to create natural nest boxes through rotting
- pollarding birch on south Heath just over the fence from the tool store
- pollarding birch and Holly in the copse alongside the tool store
- cutting down beech and Holly branches on the corner of the copse and the road. the branches were encroaching on the open space. Brash stacked up on the thistle bank behind the shed
- Mike p cut grass etc along the path to the car park
- final birch saplings dug out near the pond work

observations:

- Raven
- newt in the south Heath trough
- very hot weather
- about 10 new posts will be needed along the bank of sh.
- still no obvious sign of bracken spraying


Martin

6th September 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Keith, David p, Steve, Stuart, Neil, Mike p, Jonathan and Martin

activities:

- found a firebeater and hung it up on the post above the bench.  took remaining fire beaters from store, only to discover that they need holes drilled in them. to be done.  the fire beater found had probably been taken off a pole and played with by children.

- worked on the two pond below the bench

- pulled up birch in the area, and the odd rhododendron.

- recut some channels in the path down to the high beeches, to take water off the track.  cut a ditch and bank where the part gets near the bog to the north where there is often standing water.

- did some PR with visitors as normal

- completed the low hanging branch work along the main tracks

- did a bit of bracken sickling in the wood above the bench

observations:

- overcast but very warm
- lots of small Heather plants flowing in the long grass. this is thought to be unusual.  there must have been good germination conditions at some point.  the grass is also particularly prolific this year
- ravens


Martin

-

30th August 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Keith, Alan, Steve, Bernard, David a, Neil, Jonathan (briefly), Pat, Mike p and Martin

activities:

- pond work on amex and frog marsh ponds, including an extra bit of bank where water was overflowing between the two ponds.  an additional small pond has been constructed from the clay digging at the water outflow at the west end of amex pond.

- various bits of digging were done in the channel leading down to frog marsh pond, to create more diversity in the sphagnum cover

- Mike did some bracken scything in the area and the route back to the tool store

-new rhododendron growths were cleared at the corner sling the top, near the house and garden

- the drain under the path at the boundary with foresters cottage was cleared and the downstream channel dug out a bit

- the fencing across the cricket field was in a poor state and a lot of re-stapling and wiring was done

- several flowering ragworts were removed and taken of site for composting

- low hanging branches were cut down along most of the public tracks on the sw of the stream.  this is to open out the rides and also make vehicular access easier.  other half of reserve remains to be done

observations:

- sunny and hot
- Steve landed twice in the mud
- BlackBerry crop is good and delicious.  at least one crumble to be made
- young kestrel around
- 5 woodlands
- adder again under tin 4

Martin

23th August 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, David p, Mike p, Mike m, Pat, Keith, Neil, Ray, Bernard, Steve, Graham, Alan, Jonathan and martin

activities:

- pond work on 13th pond and Irish pond.  used some logs that Jim cut down on his training course, and some new fellings. Irish pond may some more work done on it.

- bracken cutting along the stream path, and up to beeches avenue

- more ring barking in the woods towards sphagnum heath.  now almost finished the red and yellow spots.

- John did some dragonfly counting and some birch work

- looked the ponies

observations:

- tree pipits
- raft spiders
- golden ring, brown Hawker, common Darter, southern Hawker, emperor dragonflies
- very hot. so in shade in stream area


martin

16th August 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

Jonathan, Alan, Keith, Mike p, Mike m, Barnard, David a, Ray and martin

activities:

- bracken cutting in ol2, including the edges of the cricket field, the bird count route and some of open space
- ring barking birch and cutting down thin birch along a ditch feature below the open area
- cleared the flower heads of some remaining ragwort at the bottom of the ol2 cricket field
- looked the ponies

observations:

- sunny and hot.  that is why we were in the woods
- raven and hobby
- a fritillary was seen at the weekend near the tool store
- the windows gone to be cold frames

martin

9th August 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Mike p, Mike m, Neil, Stuart, Keith, Steve, Pat, Jonathan, David a and Martin

activities:

- looked the ponies
- John did some wide area bracken pulling
- mike p and martin some bracken cutting along the path from the causeway to the bridge
- Jonathan, mike m and Stuart did some bracken slashing around the area of the owl box, where there is a heave gate in the central fence
- main task was ring barking some of the marked trees that were too big for Jim's training session. and some that were yellow spotted by Alan, John and martin years ago
- martin and mike m checked some of the ring barked trees at the top of slope and did addition work on them where necessary
- went down the stream looking at dragonflies

observations:

- quite a few dragonflies out. brown Hawker, southern Hawker, golden ring, azure, large red, common Darter.
- meadow and tree pipits, mistle thrush, tree creeper, bee's nest, redstart
- nice sunny weather


martin

2nd August 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Alan, Ray, Mike m, Mike p, Keith, Neil, Steve, Graham, David p and Martin

activities:

- looked the ponies
- pulled birch saplings in the difficult patch opposite foresters cottage
- small scything through birch grove along bird nest route
- put out most of the fire beaters. 2 left near owl wood
- ragwort work around cottages including one very tall growth
- covered up the first log piles with some sheeting that mike p brought

observations:

- horrid rainy weather. not what was forecast. we all got very wet
- crossbill

martin

26th July 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Ray, David a, Jonathan, Neil, Keith, Steve (new), Graham (new), Pat, Alan and martin

activities:

- looked the ponies
- completed the Irish bridge on the boundary with pippingford.  pond extended and bracken cleared around it
- ragwort cleared all over the reserve either covered in ol2 or taken off site. work was concentrated on flowering plants to avoid them seeding
- bracken clearing along m1, around the pippingford boundary and back to the store. some work on south heath in pm
- padlocks oiled and maintained
- nest box near holly taken down and taken off site for repair.
- some rotten wooden struts on top of fences along beeches avenue removed
- fence repairs on south heath, where sheep were coming in.  the bank has been badly eroded in places unrelated to breaking through.  one replacement post and a sheet of stock fence to fill the worn gap.

 observations:

- 2 tawneys at Irish bridge
- crossbill
- redpolls, siskins
- green woodpecker
- 7 woodlarks in a flock
- dodder along the road
- centaury
- nice weather, not too hot
- ravens
- kestrel
- dead mole (sunday)
- small white, gatekeepers, ringlet (sunday), meadow browns, small copper. no ssb
- Azures, keeled skimmer, brown Hawker, golden ring, l red, common Darter


martin

19th July 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Bernard, Keith, Ray, Alan, Jonathan and martin

activities:

- looked the ponies. all 7 together
- filled leaflet box
- put out 7 new tins. 3 on south heath, 2 near the car park and 2 on the plateau
- inspected the existing tins. too hot for things and one slow worm only
- looked for SSB.  saw two holly blue, 2 small coppers, meadow Brown's, gate keepers, one ringlet, marbles whites.
- bracken clearing along the top and down to the stream
- checked the pit for ragwort. none
- checked cess pit fence, and added 2 posts to strengthen broken posts
- put out 4 mended fire beaters
- looked for dodder. small amount on road but none spotted near car park
- in wood beneath sphagnum heath, moved cut logs around to make berms and dams to slow flow of water off heath to stream


observations:

- very hot. too hot to be out of shade
- kestrel
- siskins, redpolls
- more dragon flies


martin

12th July 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

Keith, John, Bernard, Ray, Pat, Stuart, Alan, Mike p and Martin

activities:

- looked the ponies.  now 4 koniks and 3 Exmoors
- Pat and Martin looked for silver studded blue butterflies, with no luck.  there were very few insects about at all.  plenty of bell Heather flowering
- bracken pulling along the road, beeches avenue, south Heath and various places along top and down to the high beeches.
- ragwort pulling around the cottages and along the road

observations:

- visitor saw a hobby
- meadow Brown's, gatekeepers, grasshoppers, slow worm
- could not find the dodder along the top
- celebrated Pat's birthday


Martin

5th July 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

Keith, Bernard, David a, Mike p, Mike m, Ray, Neil, Jonathan and Martin.  Mark came for interview with Ake, and John visited with grandson.

activities:

- Martin had interview with Ake
- bracken pulling up and down from the bridge on both sides.  later working up towards stoney pond.
- bracken cutting on OL1 along the bird counting route
- bracken and grass cutting on path up to the car park
- some more bracken work on paths in ol2
- 4 loads of logs brought back from ol2 and stacked behind the shed
- found someone who had seen the ponies

observations:

- nice weather for a change
- 3 exe-Moor ponies coming this week.  no separation from others


Martin

28th June 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Neil, Keith, Bernard, Stuart, Mike m, Alan and Martin

activities:

- looked the ponies.  one still 'very' friendly with the hunter
- bracken pulling under the power lines and up to the top corner
- bracken cutting along the paths down to the stream ( from the road side) and between them, and along the edge of the stream
- filled the brochures box.  nearly out of brochures again.

observations:

- found a nightjar nest (ie  nothing) and one egg. adult seen flying away
- woodlark singing nicely along the power lines
- single crossbill
- blackcap
- some sweet peas distributed
- John has done a map of areas to be sprayed

Martin

21st June 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Neil, Keith, Mike m, Ray, Bernard, Stuart, David (new - second visit), and Martin

activities:

- looked the ponies
- finished the last quarter of the nest box survey
- put up new fire beater post near the cross roads, cutting a new bit of chestnut for the job
- banged in the post of the squeeze gate
- bracken work all round the cross roads

observations:

- Martin delayed until coffee time with appointment at Pembury
- woodlark, tree pipit, siskin, redstarts, blackcap, goldcrest, tree creeper, mistle thrush, skylark
- slow-worms 3, one probably pregnant
- emporer, large red, broad bodied chaser, common darter, meadow brown
- remain/leave discussion


Martin

14th June 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Alan, Jonathan, Neil, Ray, Bernard, Keith, mark, and Martin

activities:

- looked the ponies
- collected 2 builder's bags of tubes and took off site for re-use
- tidied up wood piles behind tool store, and brought much stuff into tractor shed
- moved 9 load of birch from ol2 and built 2 and a half log piles
- sawed up some of the longer big logs
- cut bracken near the log piles in ol2

observations:

- some showers but survived
- woodlark
- about 20 sheep back in south heath
- Alan's car's capacity for tubes and builder's bags

martin

7th June 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Alan, Ray, Keith, Mike m, Bernard, Stuart, Neil, David a, and Martin.  Pat visited us as part of her recovery process.

activities:

- looked the ponies
- bracken pulling and cutting along the road and on m1 and ol2 , and moving towards the plateau
- nest box survey , except the last leg along the top

observations:

- red kite at crossroads
- crossbills on south Heath
- stock dove singing
- thunder and rain from lunchtime
- large red damsel flies
- Stoney pond leaking?
- saw Bob from Pippingford
- Mike distributed some broccoli plants
- Ray brought two tubs of goodies to celebrate last weeks birthday
- about 20 sheep in south Heath.  we blocked up the squeeze gate with gorse logs

Martin

31st May 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Neil, Stuart, Alan, Keith, Mike m, Bernard, and Martin

activities:

- cleared gutters and drain pipes
- opened up channels in the driveway a bit more
- patched the drainpipe at the back of the store near Jack's parking space, and created a slight soak away
- cut and split fire wood brought in from the log piles
- did some tidying of the log piles
- cut down some branches of beech and birch that were becoming bullies, near the log piles. arisings added to log piles and brash put in ditch to slow flow of water.
- tried to check the one nest box that needs a ladder.  box's lid is stuck, and possible adult great tit nearby, and so abandoned this
- looked the ponies

observations:

- horrid weather, cold, windy and very rainy and wet
- broke the handle of one of the two handed saws. Martin mending
- baby lettuce plants distributed
- Keith is mending a spare Cantsbury hoe (manure rake) for ol.
- crossbills




Martin

31st May 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Neil, Stuart, Alan, Keith, Mike m, Bernard, and Martin

activities:

- cleared gutters and drain pipes
- opened up channels in the driveway a bit more
- patched the drainpipe at the back of the store near Jack's parking space, and created a slight soak away
- cut and split fire wood brought in from the log piles
- did some tidying of the log piles
- cut down some branches of beech and birch that were becoming bullies, near the log piles. arisings added to log piles and brash put in ditch to slow flow of water.
- tried to check the one nest box that needs a ladder.  box's lid is stuck, and possible adult great tit nearby, and so abandoned this
- looked the ponies

observations:

- horrid weather, cold, windy and very rainy and wet
- broke the handle of one of the two handed saws. Martin mending
- baby lettuce plants distributed
- Keith is mending a spare Cantsbury hoe (manure rake) for ol.
- crossbills




Martin

Thirteenth pond

Testing out earth on my android

You can see the pond, mostly by realising that the shadows of the trees are a different shape.

Martin

knots for pulling up saplings

One of the problems with pulling up saplings with a lever or pulley system is getting the rope attached to the base of the trunk.  there is a tendency for the rope to strip the bark.  Once it has started there is almost nothing that one can do.

I have a solution to this now, and interestingly it involves knitting rather than knots.

the first thing is the tie a knot at the bottom.  Normally one is using a long loop of rope, since you need to hook it onto the pulley or lever.  so the first knot is the simple loop through the loop knot.  Pull it tight.



from here it is knitting up the stem.  No idea the knitting term, but it is basically working up, round and under.  this can be continued up the stem. Pulling tight as you do it. 

the theory is that the rope grips at multiple points up the stem so that the total force can be a multiple of the force just less than the stripping force. 

You need a surprising length of rope to do this. 

If it starts to strip at one point it will soon stop as the other points take up the strain.

The advantage of knitting is that the rope does not lock, and is very easy to undo at the end of the operation.

Martin

bracken spraying map 2014

this is for possible historical interest.

It is the map where we request bracken to be sprayed.  Whether it is done is another matter.  Instructions are basically John's

martin

Past photos of the fire along the boundary with four counties car park april 2011

Below are some photos of the 2011 fire, which I have not put in the blog before.

It is difficult now to see the results of the fire, other than most of the fire damaged trees on the boundary have now died.  Some have already  snapped off or even fallen.   Which is really rather rapid decay.

The noted effects include

- burnt pine fungus appearing
- a lot of grass initially growing on the four counties side, which became a favourite place for reed buntings, for the seed.  Up to 100.  These in turn attracted the odd great grey shrike.
- a number of the fence posts were so badly burned that we ended up replacing them
- now there is quite a nice lot of heather on the four counties side.  You can just see the edge of the fire area
- we are talking about having more fire breaks, though i doubt if any fire breaks would have stopped this fire by iteself.

a few comments in the captions

martin

looking north with fence on the bank on the right

the main area of burning on Old Lodge, from the track north westward

 towards the bench

  

looking a bit more north towards foresters cottage

near a burnt environment pile, towards the boundary bank, some bilbury did not burn

fire brigade landrovers rushed up and down the boundary, and held the line

Peacock on thistle 2011

This is at certain times the common large butterfly, particularly around the tool store.

There has recently been a big crop of thistles at the back, and quite a few nettles.  Some of the work party think that the thistles are a nuisance and a possible invasive plant, and occasionally they get scythed before I can complain.

They provide a goodly amount of seed in the autumn for the Goldfinch, particularly if the neighbours are not feeding them niger seed.

martin

( previously published photo)

Comma near the tool store 2011

These are fairly regular, though only in small numbers.  At the tool store there are plenty of plants providing nectar, including masses of bramble and fleabane.


Martin

( previously published photo)

Parrot Crossbills a couple of years ago

One of ten Parrot crossbills on South Heath during a bird count a couple of years ago.  Photo from Keith.

Yes, the bill and neck are large, but it was the feeding behaviour that struck us as definitive.  There is no agile balancing and tweaking at the cone.  The stem of the cone is grabbed, ripped off the tree, moved to an anvil on a branch and attacked.  Brutal.

It was the dropping of discarded cones under the tree, rather than the dropping of little bits of cone and seed wings, that was noticeable.

And these birds seem to totally ignore us humans, and we could walk quite happily under the tree that they were in, and they would not take the slightest notice.

They were just hidden from sight from the birdwatchers that were at the roller stand, by the slope falling away as it got to the ditch and bank.  We did not bother to mention the birds to them, and they would see them later.

They stayed together as a neat group of 10, and that alone probably was enough to identify them.

I am sure that plenty of other isolated birds, would have been misidentified during the weeks that they stayed with us.


Martin

Broad Bodied Chaser and Four Spot chaser

This is one of Keith's photos of dragonflies, taken during a bird count in 2011.  It was taken at a rapidly drying Stony Pond.

Broad Bodied male on the right, and the Four Spot on the left.  You should be able to see the spots at the various points on its wings.

These are the early dragonflies, and regularly seen on the reserve.  The BB Chaser is the more obvious, and does not need to be seen close up.


Martin

Hobby today

While looking for silver studded blue, I saw my first hobby of the year at old lodge.

No ssb though.  Lots of grass, gatekeepers and meadow Brown's.

Martin

Young cuckoo

Keith now reckons that a bird he saw on Tuesday last week was a young cuckoo

The adults will have flown but the young will still be around

There has been thoughts that it could have been a nightjar

I don't recall seeing any young before, and the obvious question would what the host species might be.  There are rarely any meadow pipits. Dunnocks or tree pipits would be my guess, though as we know redstart possible.

Martin

Occasional notes

Yellowhammers are only occasional birds on the reserve.

This year I have seen one looking territorial just above chestnut choose above the crossroads, and another singing near the tree on south heath

Not sure what they need to be more successful.

They seem to roost on the Ashdown forest, but not too keen to breed.  Do they need grain crops?

Plant some barley and oats on the cricket field?

Martin

Occasional jottings

Nice weather for a change today.

A party of young woodlark near the roller stand was the highlight.  There were at least 9 and maybe more. Parents have been busy, and maybe are having another brood before summer is over

Found some flowers of dodder along the road in the usual place

Quite a lot of meadow Brown's, but few other species

Martin

Bing Live Map of Old Lodge

this should be an Bing map of Old Lodge with vegetation etc and roads

martin

View Larger Map  |  Get Directions  |  View Bird's Eye

24th May 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Bernard, Keith, David a, David p, Mike m, Mike p, Alan, Ray, Neil, Stuart and Martin

activities:

- finished the nest-box survey from last week
- pulled pine and gorse from near the ride
 junction to the pillow mound. some larger ones cut.
- pulled and scythed bracken on south Heath
- looked the ponies

observations:

- small copper and green hairstreak on south Heath
- turtle dove heard
- nice weather, with ground getting dry.  this made pulling increasingly difficult
- one mattock handle broken

Martin

17th May 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

Alan, Bernard, Jonathan, Ray, Mike p, Mike m, David a, Stuart and Martin.  Lucie joined us for the day

activities:

- looked the ponies
- did repair work and strengthening work on the fence bordering foresters cottage, after the 'heat' problem
- did most of the nest box circuit
- did some experimenting with levering out the gorse.  failed because the ground was to hard
- did some tweeking of the kissing gate to make it easier to open

observations:

- had good session with Lucie about volunteering


Martin

10th May 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Jonathan, David a, Mike m, Mike p, Alan, Ray, Keith, Stuart, Bernard and Martin

activities:

- looked the ponies
- cut a lot of firewood
- cut some bramble behind tool store
- put down some hardcore on muddy start to path up to the car park
- demonstrated various tensioning and pulling implements we have in the tool store
- split some tree stumps for firewood
- pulled some pine and gorse near the ryde junction
- experimented with alternative ways of pulling gorse
- tamped down some of the hardcore in front of the tool store
- recovered the original a-frame


observations:

- horrid wet weather
- saw the leucidic blackbird

Martin

3rd May 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Jonathan, Mike m, Mike p, Bernard, Keith and Martin

activities:

- looked the ponies
- mending the fire beater post at the top of Reynard's way
- inspected fire beaters at bench and cricket pitch
- pulled pine near Reynard's way
- completed the first round of the nest box survey
- some gorse work along the road

observations:

- lots of redstarts
- slow worm under tin
- beautiful weather for once
- need to think about pulling up gorse in the same area
- bracken starting to emerge



Martin

26th april 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Keith, Alan, David p, Mike m, Mike p, Bernard, Neil, Jonathan and Martin

activities:

- more work on the beeches avenue track, with John providing stone
- pine and birch pulling above the crossroads and beeches avenue
- mending the brochure box
- digging up more three cornered leek in the car park and leaving exposed to dry out and die
- digging some drainage cuts across the path down to the stream
- mark could not make it with the truck
- looked the ponies

observations:

- nice sun out of a cold wind.  some snow
- Raven, buzzard, siskin
- redstarts


Martin

19th april 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Jonathan, Ray, Bernard, Stuart, Mike m, Mike p, Keith and Martin

activities:

- pine sapling pulling on the plateau and surrounds
- mending the gate near the small wooden gate.  this was attempted earlier when it was too wet, and needed redoing.
- filled the brochure box.  we need new supplies of them now
- some pea sticks harvested from birch along the road for Mike m
- some bracken peat taken from mound near roller stand for Bernard
- lock moved from mended gate to be in series with old lock on roller stand gates, to help with wheelchair access
- filling in ruts in beeches avenue track with some more hardcore


observations:

- possible kite, though could have been a buzzard
- some crossbills
- siskins, redpolls, Willow warblers, Chiffchaff's, blackcap, tree pipit, woodlark, probably 4 ravens
- brimstones
- slow worm, adder
- remain/leave discussion


Martin

12th april 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Bernard, Mike m, Keith, David a, David p, Stuart, Pat, Neil and Martin

Activities:

- dug up and took off site daffodils, three cornered leek and mombretia found variously at car park, back of the cottages and ol1
- replaced two posts and a strut at the roller stand
- David a took some bracken peat from the roller stand
- Bernard took one of the bags of tubes from ol2 for disposal at tw recycling centre
- nest box 62 put back up after repair the other side of the swamp
- the two new nest boxes Keith made from heavy duty water pipe/fitting put up in wood at side of the cottages
- pine sapling pulling continued from cricket pitch onto the plateau

observations:

- lots of redstarts, siskins, redpolls, tree pipits, ravens, 2 cuckoos at least, stonechats

martin

5th april 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

Keith, David a, Neil, Stuart, Mike p, Ray, Bernard and Martin

activities:

- continued from where we left off with pulling pine saplings, not quite reaching the plateau.
- did some ring barking of birches along the old track through ol2 to the cricket pitch, thinning out the wood edge, widening the track and creating some dead wood. probably about 15 in all
- created a hop-over, from the large rusty iron thing and some dead logs , over the boundary fence at the top of the incline along the m1
- collected 2 builder's bags of tubes and moved to roller stand for future removal. put another lot in a trench.  the storm Katie had blown the tubes around a bit.
- set Stuart's bow saw
- wound all the electric fencing wire onto drums, awaiting collection.

observations:

- lady in mobility chair was a visitor, who seemed very pleased to have been given access
-woodlark, buzzards, ravens, chiffchaff, willow warblers, possible tree pipits, siskins, redpolls, adder
- lovely cakes from both Stuart and Bernard

martin

29th march 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Jonathan, Bernard, Mike p, Mike m, David a, Pat, Keith, Stuart and Martin

activities:

- pulling pine sapling in the area opposite the cricket pitch and the m1 northwards
- small amount of ring barking and birch cutting in ol2 near cricket pitch. objective is the create dead standing wood (of which there is very little) and to free up some of the nicer trees such as oak
- redid the end post of the second fence across the quarry on the boundary with Pippingford, and started the process of making an Irish bridge where a stream runs across the path. the mud comes from up stream and makes the beginnings of a pond.
- went round the boundary to see what storm damage there was.  almost none.  one large dead tree toppled opposite the cricket pitch.

observations:

- raven, woodlark, siskins, buzzards, woodcock
- a book returned to mike p.
- weather just about bearable but not very nice


martin

22nd march 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Keith, Bernard, Mike m, Mike p, Pat, David a, Stuart, Alan, and Martin

activities:

- pulled and loppered pine saplings near the crossroads
- did some repair work on the rutted parts of beeches avenue
- finished the single strand of barb along the pippingford boundary.  the barb got almost to the point where the road bends away from the boundary, before running out.
- some posts left over, and left out for some future work to strengthen the first bit of fencing there around the quarry.

observations:

- saw Ron and a friend Howard for coffee. Howard may join us for work party
- ravens, woodlark
- chilly wind


martin

15th march 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Jonathan, Alan, David a, Mike p, Mike m, Bernard, Keith, Pat, Ray, Neil and Martin

activities:

- pulling and lopping pine saplings above beeches avenue at the cross roads. arising just left in situ.  still lots there.

- collected in the plastic posts and electric fencing tape along the boundary with pippingford.  put up about 100 metres of chestnut posts and single strand barb as a more permanent fixture.

- Bernard took away a builder's bag full of plastic tubes from ol2 to be taken to recycling centre to be used for energy.  this will be repeated a number of times to get rid of the piles of such things on ol2.

observations:

- siskins, redpolls, woodlark, 3 ravens, fieldfare, redwings.
- sunny, but nasty cold wind
- left Barrow, post thumper and barb hidden along the pippingford perimeter

martin

8th march 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Pat, Neil, David a, Keith, Alan, Bernard, Mike m, and Martin

activities:

- collected some tree tubes in builder's bag and left near roller stand
- 3 bonfires in wood NE of sphagnum heath, where Jim had his training course
- mike m collected some logs and pony dung for his allotment


observations:

- ravens making a lot of noise.  buzzards?
- siskins, tree creeper, woodlark singing
- man with dog and no lead.  possibly deaf as did not hear calls
- Alan tripped and probably will have a bad bruise tomorrow
- spotted some more yellow dots on trees
- martin did hardly any work


martin

1st march 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Jonathan, Mike m, Mike p, Stuart, Neil, David a, Alan, Bernard, and Martin

activities:

- horrid weather.  rain and cold
- John did work on the drive
- fire wood sawing.  bringing in more logs.
- cleaning and oiling tools

observations:

- Stuart cooked an amazing cake on his return from foot surgery.
- Alan back from flu
- martin helped mike with his camera
- mike m took some wire and is borrowing fencing pliers, and logs to construct some raised beds


Martin

23rd February 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Jonathan, Pat, Mike m, Bernard, David a David p, Neil, Ron, Ray and Martin

activities:

- checking fencing from car park long way round to cricket pitch.  mended staples and notes posts which will need extra support.

- noted that guy from frank's establishment was repairing some posts across the cricket field

- had a bonfire of brash in the first part of the track in ol2, cut a few more birch there and cleared the stumps and processed some felled trees from last week

- mike m took 3 bags of pony poo, and some 4ft logs for allotment.

observations:

- frank requested no more trees along the road be felled.

- gorgeous sunshine even if a little cold

- woodlark, ravens, green woodpecker, goldfinches


martin

16th February 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

Jonathan, David a, Mike m, Mike p, Ray, Keith, Neil, Bernard and Martin

activities:

- looked the ponies, and feed them some nuts
- 2 bonfires of brash from last week's cutting and more new cutting
- cutting concentrated on the opening towards the road and the glade that Ray made.  We opened up a new front the other side of the open space where a mass of birch were over-whelming a number of young oak trees.  two new log piles created and multiple brash piles ready for bonfires

observations:

- woodlark, woodcock, ravens, and marsh tit
- Frank and one of his helpers came over to talk to us.  we discussed what work we were doing.  he perhaps was a bit nervous of any clear cutting, and wanted some cover left, which we are doing in this area with leaving the closely planted oak, pine and Rowan
- the helper was knowledgeable about the area and what we were trying to achieve.
- jack has replaced a condenser on the Iseki and refitted all the parts ready for a test

martin

Bird Count ... 25th January 2016

click below for January bird count spreadsheet

Notes

with Keith, Ron and mike m

- Robins singing everywhere
- lots of winter thrushes both on the fields at the end of ol1, or roosting on pippingford opposite west pond. very difficult to count.
- star bird was a merlin, a first for me on the reserve.  we thought we saw something above the cross road, but did not get a good view. but it came right past us coming back along the m1.  I rather assume that it was a young bird, but I am not an expert and it passed quite quickly.
- woodcock and marsh tit were nice items to see
- there were 5 woodlarks singing for territory when the sun was out in the morning
- we noted two patches of ground that need further investigation and identification for specific animals
- finches were rather few in number, with rather surprising species. no crossbills, redpolls, siskins, but Bulfinch, linnet and greenfinch.  at least there were some chaffinches this time.
- plenty of things missing including nuthatch, long tailed tit, reed bunting, jay
- weather not cold, as of late, but reasonably windy.  bright early, but dark at the end.
- plenty of small groups of deer

martin


click for spreadsheet

Bird Count ... 18th december 2015

click below for december bird count speadsheet

notes

- Keith, Ron and Martin
- where have all the birds gone to?
- no blue tits or great tits
- are they all in someone's garden eating Christmas peanuts
- one nice flock of long tailed tits
- no nuthatches or treecreepers
- 2 woodlarks singing was probably the most special sighting. I don't think they have left the reserve at all this year
- a woodcock really was next to my foot when it finally decided to fly.  lucky I did not get whitewashed. this was a couple of inches away
- one chaffinch, one Bulfinch and one redpoll was about the limit of the finches
- and no predators
- the ravens though did some wonderful courtship flight around us
- the flock of starlings on one of the fields at the end of ol1 was there again, together with fieldfares and a few redwings
- the stonechats have gone and there was no sign of the 2 Dartford that were seen recently
- perhaps fewer pheasants than recently
- weather dull and warm, but could have been much worse

Martin

click to see spreadsheet

Bird Count ... 26th November 2015

click the link below to see the November bird count spreadsheet

notes

- with mike m and Keith
- lots of blackbirds, including the strange pale cream one up at the car park
- two woodlarks singing away, fighting for territory, plus another elsewhere
- 2 woodcocks were nice
- weather not bad, with very little wind
- no birds of prey
- big flock of starlings on one of the stud fields
- 2 brambling, and most of the normal winter finches
- dunnocks and Goldcrest's seemed to be much more visible and got counted
- but blue tits were the other way round and invisible.
- just one stonechat seen

- ponies looked fine
- chainsaw training going on in the afternoon


martin


click to open spreadsheet

9th February 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Jonathan, Alan, Bernard, Keith, David a, Mike m, Mike p, Ray, and Martin

activities:

- looked the ponies and fed them third of a bag of nuts
- 2 bonfires of birch brash in ol2.  cut birch at the lower part of the main clearing.
- John cleared pine saplings on the m1

observations

- ravens, woodlark singing
- nice sunshine around lunch.  started cold

martin

2nd February 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Jonathan, Mike m, Mike p, David p, Bernard, Keith, Ray, and Martin

activities:

- ray looked the ponies and gave then some pony nuts
- rodded the drain along the road near the north stone pillar
- cut some more birch in ol2 and had bonfires of this brash and some of the previous brash piles
- John did some pine sapling work on the m1
- mike m collected some pony poo near the roller stand

observations:

- woodlark singing
- two ravens, buzzard

martin

26th January 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Jonathan, Keith, Alan, Neil, Ray, Bernard, Mike m, David p, and Martin

activities:

- felled 6 birch trees near the paddy fields on ol1 to form a berm to slow the water run off below the dam.  it will take a couple of years to consolidate.
- cut and logged birch in ol2 either side of the track to let in more light. brash piles formed on the m1 side
- looked the ponies

observations:

- raven
- very windy and so could not have bonfire
- but out of the wind not too bad up to lunch time. then weather horrid.

martin

19th January 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Neil, mike m, David b, Keith, and Martin

activities:

- small amount of cutting firewood in tool store
- bonfire of brash piles on ol2 at original site, and additional logging of birch, creating some rides to open up the area. a lot of four foot logs piled up for moving out.
- looked the ponies


observations:

- ravens appeared to be in residence
- redpolls outside the tool store
- 7 herring gulls
- cold but some sun


Martin

12th January 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, David a, David brown, Keith, Bernard, mike m, Neil, Alan and martin

activities:

- looked the ponies
- 2 gorse bonfires on boundary with foresters cottage, just below last week's fire, cutting and burning. some logs kept for firewood.
- John did some path clearing along the top where the forwarder had killed off the heather.
- did some drainage work around the stone pillars, where water has been flowing over the road, and probably down towards the tool store, making it very boggy. this included rerouting a flow of water coming down a ditch away from the path and towards the boundary with the cottages.  the two pipes leading to the trap on the north side of the road may need rodding at some future time

- observations:

- woodlands singing
- sunny weather for some of morning but still cold in a strong wind


martin

5th January 2016 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Jonathan, Alan, Keith, David a, David p, mike m, Neil, Barnard, and Martin

activities:

- looked the ponies
- cut gorse near heave gate with foresters cottage, and had bonfire.  some offcuts kept for firewood
- did some work there on leggy heather along the path and patches of birch saplings
- did small repairs to gully feeding stoney pond and to pipe at the heave gate

observations:

- dozen mistle thrushes
- woodlark singing
- meadow pipits
- fungus on the heather


Martin

29th December 2015 ... weekly volunteers

present:

Keith, David a, mike p, Bernard, Alan and martin

activities:

- brought nest box and birdfeeder back to tool store. nest box with Keith for mending, and feeder is in the shop
- inspected the barn owl nest box, which was unused. put some dry bracken in as nest material
- checked the eggs from the tawny owl nest box. a egg fragments still around and with Keith
- looked the ponies
- had bonfire of gorse previously cut in the gorse triangle. cut some more gorse in the area and pollarded 4 birch trees, and fed into fire.

observations:

- quite nice weather but with two patches of rain
- single crossbill flying back and forth over us. possibly nesting
- 2 ravens messing around in courtship flights
- woodcock seem near swamp
- woodlark calling
- 4 redwings, Bulfinch, 2 Buzzard, reed bunting, blue tit


martin

22nd December 2015 ... weekly volunteers

present:

David a, John, Keith, Ray, Bernard, Alan, mike p and martin.  Jonathan visited briefly to wish us happy Christmas.

activities:

- failed to look the ponies after 2 attempts
- pulled a rhododendron in cricket wood
- cut and split firewood in the tool store
- brought more logs into store to dry
- bit of gorse work along road before weather got too bad
- checked and cleared out the tawny nest box along the m1.  not being shared with squirrels as before, and the spare/addled eggs were all together. the were 11 of them.  now I am thinking about it I suppose it could have been a mandarin duck nest.  I need to check the books. [later:  convinced now that they are mandarin eggs]
- went off to the Hatch for a Xmas drink at lunch time
- drainage trench in front of store improved, to help reduce the mud

observations:

- horrid weather with very strong winds and horizontal rain
- John has taken a pair of clippers to mend
- work progresses on iseki


martin

15th December 2015 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Keith, mike m, mike p, Ray, Neil, Jonathan, Ron, and martin

activities:

- looked the ponies
- 2 gorse bonfires where we cut last week along the top
- bit of log cutting

observations:

- nasty weather of drizzle and rain in the morning and worse in the afternoon
- saw the strange pale blackbird again
- fieldfares, bullfinches, wrens
- jack got the flywheel off, and repaired the electrics of the iseki.  it did start and ran for a bit, but suffers from petrol starvation and stops. more work needed

martin

8th December 2015 ... weekly volunteers

present:

John, Jonathan, mike m, mike p, David a, Neil, Ray, Ron, Bernard and Martin

activities:

- cut firewood in tool store
- brought more wood into store to dry
- replaced some of the log pile coverings
- got Xmas tree into martin's car
- cut gorse along the top path
- pulled saplings from there down to the chalet owl box
- looked the ponies
- collected some mini Xmas saplings

observations:

- martin clonked himself on the car boot door
- jack progressing with attempt to get the flywheel off the iseki

Martin