after a lovely day working on the Itchen at Bishopstoke on Saturday, we've had 30mm rain overnight and the river has risen 10cm at Durngate to 37.18m. wet underfoot. Couple of McD meals in the Glade otherwise half bag of litter. 4 runners, 1 regular and 2 had a chat. Everything else was normal, I dont recall seeing this before on Fenella's seat.
All livestock where they should be and looking good. The 9 in EM had split up with four at the south end and the other half in the north, with the ponies in-between.
Saw a deer fawn in the undergrowth - frozen still.
All quiet, no litter and no issues.
I managed to avoid most of the rain, met one person exiting the reserve otherwise very quiet apart from one very large brown rat and and this lesser woolly pheasant. (Admittedly the pheasant wasn't actually in the Reserve, I found him on the way back across the rugby club fields but I couldn't resist the picture!)
Met 2 contractors en route who were looking into repairs on the reedbed boardwalk. I now know it is 223m long! I marked with barrier tape a couple of loose boards. Strangely, I met no other people. Pond has had some work done and the Glade has been cut. Durngate level is 37.04 from 36.94 3 days ago. We've had over 20mm rain since yesterday.
A quiet, damp morning, with more runners than walkers. Two groups of three runners... its getting busier. Guelder Rose looking beautiful. Small amount of litter today, apart from around the entrance.
Ponies and cattle checked and all in the right place - most of them grazing. In EM the cattle were right at the bottom, and the ponies were keeping themselves to themselves at the far north end.
Cool, but one of those lovely September morning I like so much. Hardly any litter. 5 runners, 2 of who went round twice. Met a school run mum returning home and we walked round together, had a good chat with some positive feedback. Spotted the ponies in DNS/Rugby Club.
Met 3 members of staff checking signage round the site. While there some men ran past with "Run the Cities" tops on. Cant help but admire the sentiments. Friends to run 10k through all 55 English cities in 16 days in memory of father | The Independent
https://www.justgiving.com/page/run-the-cities
Water levels steady with next to no rain since last week.
A family with small children careering about unsupervised on bikes, a couple of walkers.
Swans on the bank.
Wonderful sunny morning which brought out the joggers. They were friendly, but it was one of those visits when groups of 3 of them doing multiple laps doesn't make observing wildlife easy...
What shall we do with the blue tray of artefacts at the Durngate entrance?
Lots of litter at the Durngate bench, mostly from drinking alcohol.
But a beautiful day.
A pleasant walk round, several groups of walkers. The swans and their signets grooming themselves totally oblivious to the couple of walkers watching on. No litter found.
The information board opposite the Rugby Club Field entrance has been repaired and is no longer leaning backwards and the graffiti removed. Unfortunately what looks like a new set of graffiti has appeared on the bridge opposite the board.
The reeds on the right hand side of the pond seem to have had a tunnel cleared through them, whether this is HWT work or something else I don't know.
A very impressive amount of work done yesterday! Quiet this morning just met three people enjoying the sunshine and almost no litter.
Hopefully new information boards will be coming soon and the damaged one on the noticeboard by the bridge that was wonky and is now beautifully upright once again!
Anne and Tim
Hi all,
We had our work party down for the day.
Boardwalk - Stringer and one board replaced
Glade - Started scything this and hope to cut the rest and stack to the margin on next weeks work party. This is part of the wildflower mead management. Cutting end of season when most seed has dropped and a variety of species have utilised the habitat. Then removing the material to reduce nutrient enrichment and thatch, thus allowing wildflowers to flourish the following year. Mimicking grazing in some respects.
SPM gate - Adjusted so functions more effectively
Wonky interpretation board - No longer wonky, tamped with aggregate, flint and chalk. Email or call me if wonky again please!
Pond Clearance - 2 people in water for the day cleared the reed regen as part of its routine management. We are also working on extending the cutting area this autumn so starting to clear the accessible sections and hope to include that in the routine management moving forward. This is to create open still water habitat, a feature which lacks locally. Megafauna (cows and water buffalo for example) would do a good job in keeping this area open but difficult to manage so volunteers are the next best thing!
Still to do -
- Few more boards want replacing
- Brushcut boardwalk margins
- Glade cutting and collecting
- Pond clearance
- Spray back the path in SPM in preparation for works
Please do contact me if you think anything else is needed to be done on site.
Thanks for your ongoing support and time,
Sam
3 runners, no litter. Was accompanied by an Australian man (born in UK) who was about to walk South Downs Way. Interesting conversations. Broken board near south of boardwalk. I taped it. Also a little later this heron at Durngate entrance. Water just dipped below 37m after rising over the weekend. About 40mm rain on Thursday/Friday. Not much recorded Saturday/Sunday
The heavens opened.
One family at the dipping stream. One walker. Two fast runners. If you are fixing the paths, maybe some chicanes or hairpin bends will slow them down.
Swan family on the bank
"No dogs" sign on the north walls gate has been graffitied.
Nice warm morning. Needless to say paths are a lot wetter than they were.
All cattle and ponies fine and where they're supposed to be.
Long time since I've been in Five hatches meadow. Forgotten how much devil's bit scabious grows there. Beautiful
A few people about, three runners.
Broken board at the southern end of the main boardwalk darkens.soil.twee
Graffiti on North Walls Bridge.
Kids' rugby back on in the park.
