I spent an hour yesterday showing a guy from DEFRA around the site, he was doing a land mapping project. So eventually Clarks Bog will be immortalised in the Ordinance Survey Database!

The big winter project is underway, our largest pond will be a challenge but we have started. John and I have built a pallet roadway out where our island will be. The hide 3 area has been cleared by John and paths laid down to the pond side by Linda and Rob.

We have also been cutting a perimeter for the pond, so Thomas , Linda and myself have been in the thick of it cutting reed. As you can see from the pictures some of the reeds are well over 10 feet tall!

17 beavers were released into Clarks Bog last night which was a hectic start to the evening.

No it wasn’t the furry variety, it was 4th Morpeth Beaver scouts, who came for a visit and to do some work. The beavers are aged between 6-8 years old, so it proved impossible to keep the decibel level low, so not much wildlife sighted! I gave them a quick tour and then they helped to put down some replacement woodchip on one of our paths.

They seemed to have fun and there were no fatalities (always a plus!)

Thanks to my good lady for planting up my feeding ramp and looking after my flowerbed.

Having announced the arrival of our first red squirrel seen on site I had a couple of unwanted guests yesterday:-

I’m happy to announce the arrival of my first red squirrel to be seen on the reserve. I saw it today, being chased by a very irate wren, by the Deer View Hide.

Our vole population is now being more active around the bird tables and log piles at the moment, here’s a few I caught on camera:-

I thought I would post a few of my feathered friends pics taken over the last couple of months:-

Many thanks to Janet Fairclough, RSPB Conservation Advisor, for her visit to the reserve on Wednesday.

I had asked Janet to visit the reserve to review our plans, for the largest pond, to be located in the reed bed. She was happy with the proposed plan we have, which was a relief!

We had a good chat and she gave me some useful advice, which we hope to put into practice. She kindly loaned me a book on reed bed management, which gives me some interesting reading.

One of my Roe Deer has taken a liking to jumping onto one of my little islands on the small pond. I have eventually caught the culprit on film, see below:-