Tuesday, 1 May 2018 ... weekly volunteers

Description:Present: Mike m, Mike p, John new, David w, David p, Neil, Callum, Ben, Keith, Pat, Terry, Alan, Ray, Jonathan, Paul, Bernard, Anda, Stuart, Ian, and Martin Activities: - work on berm in the corner of south heath, building up banks, and having gullies to drain of any leakages. Looking good - work beyond the paddy fields, creating an Irish causeway across a boggy patch. Also an Irish bridge across the straight ditch near the oak tree. Birch used for this cut in various places, opening up the area beyond, with brash used as habitat piles - some early bracken cut along the bird count route - the latch and various notices added to the kissing gate. It was too wet to put in the other posts. Adjusted the angle of the gate downwards. People still think it goes slightly upwards, while the spirit level shows that it is actually slightly downwards - looked the ponies and the tadpoles - mike p cleared some of the drainage channels from the bench to the beeches and created new ones. Stopped one of the ponds leaking down the path Observations: - two buzzards - showed some volunteers the dead patch and separately some early sundews - weather nice, but windy - there is a hanging dead branch on one of the pines behind the tool store. Nothing we can do, other than avoid windy lunches under it. - blue tit inhabiting the rustic bird nestbox - discussed wilding with Ben - amazing number of volunteers, getting to 20 for the first time Martin