Well I spent most of the day repairing the damage done by my colony of rats. Some have taken a liking to Deer View Hide and have taken up residence in the walls!

One of the culprits caught looking guilty

Many thanks to all my willing volunteers, without who we would never have made the progress we have this year. Especial thanks to John, Rob, and Lynda who come along rain or shine to help me out, it is very much appreciated.

Thanks also to The Collingwood Foundation, for obtaining a grant from the Nineveh Charitable Trust, which has paid for the large pond dig.

Thanks to David Dungait and his family for their support and allowing me to play with his land!

Thanks also to Collingwood School and Media Arts College for their support and sending their students help and hopefully enjoy their regular visits too the reserve.

Big thanks to the various visitors to the reserve and the donations made.

Sadly we lost one of my volunteers this year, John Proudlock passed away in November. He lost a year long battle with pancreatic cancer which he fought bravely and with good humour. He was a thoroughly nice guy who will be sadly missed and my thoughts are with his wife Joan and the rest of the family.

I look forward to a ‘more normal’ summer 2021 I hope, probably not before unfortunately.

Last but not least thanks to my wife Libby for her help and tolerance!!

A very Merry Christmas and a happy new year to one and all.

A Little Grebe paid a visit to the new pond, hopefully a sign of things to come. I have never seen a Little Grebe on the reserve so maybe our large pond will increase our wildlife diversity as hoped.

The big dig started on Thursday. I have employed RBB contractors to dig our large pond.

Darren ‘the digger man’ arrived with his 15 tonne excavator to start the project.

So a good start but plenty more digging to do over the next week.

It’s amazing that a 15 ton excavator and 12 ton dumper truck are able to operate in such boggy conditions but they can!

Eventually the bog won and we had to say goodbye to the dumper, having sank and been dug out twice, we didn’t want to push our luck for a third time.

Quite a change!

All done in 4 days! Many thanks to Ross Blackburn owner of RBB Group who dug the pond, to Chris and especially Darren ( the digger man), and our dumper expert Tom.

There are lots of fungi out at the moment, unfortunately I’m no expert. So I thought I’d post my collection of pictures and if anyone can help me identify them I would be most grateful!

I had a go at designing my own individual hide.

Many thanks to Linda, one of my volunteers for making some cracking signage to use on site.

We have completed the renovation of the boardwalk down to Woggle Water Pond. It looks quite smart now.

The Moorhens seem to appreciate it !

Meet Sammy the wood pigeon.

Sammy was blown out of his nest when just a few days old. Normally I would leave nature to take its course but having left Sammy by his nest for 8 hours and no parents had come to see I made the decision to try and raise him myself.

Thanks to google Sammy was happy with crushed bird seed and water, which Libby and I fed him 3-4 times a day.

Well Sammy is now over 6 weeks old and seems fit and healthy. He follows me around the reserve and happily greets visitors when they come onto the reserve ( usually by landing on their heads! So be warned if you don’t like pigeons!!)

Due to the latest Covid guidance I have taken the difficult decision to close the reserve to visitors until the guidance changes.

Although I believe we would not be breaking the law, the government guidance is to avoid contact between different households even outside.