OOps! I got my dates mixed up, the hedge plants arrive on 14/15th November so it would be the following weekend – 18/19th November that I would be planning to start planting. Sorry for the confusion. If anyone does want to get involved please either text or ring me on 07739421562 or email me at matthewson93@gmail.com.

I – have received notification that my hedging plants will be delivered this coming week. So my plan would be to try and plant them next weekend (weather permitting). If there is anyone out there that could spare some time to do a little planting that would be a big help, as we have several thousand plants to put in.

I have been trying to do a little preparation prior to planting and have been trying to clear where the hedging is going in.

Still a bit more to do (about 100 metres).

Our small area of willow plantation, next to the classroom, is getting a makeover. I have decided to try and improve the habitat and biodiversity in that area. The willow trees had not been managed previously and consequently had grown as mainly high spindly trees. This meant very little plant growth below and almost no bird nesting or activity in the area.

I have started to coppice the central area to increase the light in that area and hopefully the coppiced tress will grow back as much bushier and useful habitat. Time will tell.

Here are a few pictures of our progress.

I don’t suppose I need to mention its been a little damp recently, with storm Babet and the weather this week.

We have had a couple of trees down, a willow and a large Alder.

A number of paths are under water which I have not seen before and with more rain on the way I may need to use my canoe on the paths as well as the ponds!

We have had a new bird appear at Dunces Corner Pond two days out of the last three. Although a Cormorant is not not a rare bird it was the first time I have seen one on the reserve, perhaps it means we have a few fish now appearing in the pond.

Many thanks to the bird ringing crew that arrived on Sunday to help capture and ring our cygnets. There were twice as many bird ringers as cygnets but it takes two per cygnet to do the ringing properly.

We managed to ring 4 out of 5 cygnets, one was a little tinker and managed to escape our clutches. We will have to catch them later.

Over the next few months the cygnets will be moving out of the reserve and with the coloured rings it will be easier for these to be read. Hopefully we will get reports back as to where our cygnets end up. You will notice on the picture above there are rings on both legs, the metal ring has the ‘normal’ ringing number, the coloured ring is for easier recognition from distance.

The youngsters are growing quickly and are looking like proper swans.

I would ask that if you see one of these young swans with the coloured rings in the future please let me know or report it on the BTO website. This data is really useful for monitoring swans activity.

This last week I have seen a bit of wildlife that, although I’ve seen before, are not ones I see regularly. Some are more welcome than others.

One of these I hope I will not see again , I am hoping it was just passing through, this is an American Mink. It was spotted swimming on Woggle water pond and then later moved down to Dunces Corner Pond. My hope is that it has moved on as the sighting was on Saturday and I have not seen it since.

A more welcome sighting was a Water Shrew that appeared at the hide a Dunces Corner. It popped out the dry stone wall to have a feed on some bird seed I’d put out for our family of voles.

I also had a visit from a Willow Tit at the feeding station, I had not seen one for over a year. So lets hope they are coming back to the reserve. We also caught and ringed a Willow Tit up at Dunces Corner on Wednesday. It may be the same one but more likely there is more than one in the area (fingers crossed).

The last week has seen some warm days which has brought out our dragonflies.

We currently have 3 types flying at the moment :- Southern Hawker, Migrant Hawker and Common Darter

Here’s a few pictures:-

Its that time of year again when the hazels and acorns are available in large numbers. Our grey little friends are making the most of the opportunity. They are decimating the hazel especially. Only greys seen so far no sign of any reds yet, unfortunately.

I managed to capture a few photos of a male Southern Hawker Dragonfly paying very close attention to Charlie our male swan:-

One of the cygnets was also showing an interest in the strange creature in the sky:-

The rut has begun, our little Doe has been attracting the attention of the local amorous males:-

Well based on the evidence above I am hopeful that we will have some new youngsters next year!