end of month

 sunny and warm by the time I got round! 2 of my regular runners were back. A man complimented us on keeping the reserve clean and tidy. Said it was his route to work.

Next to no litter apart from a food tray in Barton carrier at Riverpark - which I managed to retrieve. Levels below 37.00m first time for ages! (but officially rising). Clearly visible on strand lines on main channel. As already observed, boardwalk is not improving. This is a new opening. No butterflies (too early in the day?) but plenty of birdsong, report of a deer and 2 swans south of magic mushroom showing signs of courting.

Sunday 30th March

 Quiet at first then lots of people turned up including one bargy runner doing laps.

Boardwalk is coming apart at twisty.unhelpful.weeps

And particularly bad (see pic) at rise.umbrella.scrub

Wrens winning this side.  Green Woodpecker on the western side.  Jay on the pond path. No curlews.

Saturday 29th March

Lovely to see the willows greening up. More superb bird sightings at the pond, and great birdsong, but no toads visible. I know they are there! Less litter than usual.

Friday 28th March

A few people enjoying the sun today with little litter and little disruption. 

Thursday 27th - maintenance

Further to Paul’s blog. A few folks around. Nursery school group on the platform learning about pond life. Photographer who’d only seen a pheasant. Some drinkers at the first bench inside the gate well into the Heineken and white wine; they tidied up when I first passed and I thanked them on the way back, so we’ll see tomorrow …

Someone has lost a Netherlands residence card. It was on the notice board ledge and I left it there for collection, hopefully.

Maintenance:  I think we’ll need to shore up the main boardwalk again near the top end before long; and the soggy board(s) on the bridge aren’t getting any better.

Stringers gone in couple of places

27thMarch Early AM

Very quiet in general with a few slightly irritating joggers who never seem to show any respect for anyone or anything. 

Sadly some drug paraphernalia on first  bench by river after Durgate. A reported and removed but unpleasant.  Couldn't see any discarded syringes but fear they may be around somewhere,  so be careful. 

On the positive side no other litter or problems.

Birds are starting to get excited and noisy! 

Wednesday 26th March

 A few people walking round including a photographer who had just taken a superb photo of a Cetti's warbler at the pond. Two cyclists disappearing off in the distance as we arrived. Several male and female brimstone butterflies near Durngate where great tits and chiffchaffs were dominating the bird calls. A small amount of litter mostly at the Durngate bench.

Anne and Tim

gloomy but ok

 We've had 5mm rain overnight, 1st for a couple of weeks, water levels fairly low. Swift's bridge has a plank I think might go sooner or later. Reed boardwalk has a bit that splashes in the water (the one I reported last week but it wasn't splashing then) I presume that means something has become detached. 4 runners - all male. Lots of bird song and an Egret in RCM

Back to last Thursday …

On re-listening to the Merlin recording from last Thursday I think it wasn’t a bittern - just a very similar sound in a conversation going on - but it was quite realistic! Excitement over …

Sunday 23rd March

 Busy again this week.  Had a  chat with Su and a chap from the fishing club.  Su thinks swans are nesting in the reed bed.

Spoke to a couple of runners including one young lad who nearly mowed us down and scolded me for interrupting him.

Six frogs in the pond.

Quite a few loose boards, a lady on a mobility scooter got stuck on one.

relax.providing.hobby

riverbed.congested.cares

rise.umbrella.scrub

Reed buntings busy at the pond.  Merlin also picked up a curlew!!!

Saturday 22nd March

My first blackcap singing, plus lots of chiff chaff and two Reed buntings prospecting at the pond. A couple of dead toads on the path,  so they're on the move, but none visible yet in the pond. Lovely Spring weather and a young roe doe who was very shy.

Friday 21st March

Lots of bird song on site this morning and 2 kingfishers at the Durngate entrance. Not many people on site and very little litter. I’ve cleaned and updated the chalk board again to.

Thursday - more on logs and maintenance

New memorial log by the pond now oiled. The memorial log in the glade also cleaned and oiled. 

On the Red Hole Stream bridge a second board is now very springy.

Thursday 20th

Lovely day, met my first runners, not usually any on a Thursday. Nice chat with a couple of visitors, no litter and no issues to report.

Log update

 Hi all,

Sorry been in a  rush all of last week! I should have mentioned the log has been placed there by me and will be dug in the ground with a memorial plaque on Tuesday! :)

Cheers,

Sam

Quiet routine

Not too bad today, the litter bag came from the route to the moors! However it marks the panel that rocked when I set foot on it. Immediately north of the passing place. Not many people, geese were noisy and a couple overflew, but I wasn't quick enough for a pic. I got a little egret  over by the Art School. The log by the pond looks like it should be there, for sitting on, it has a flat bottom to stabilise it and there are suspicious tyre tracks leading up there 😃. Plenty of bird song again but no sign of nests. No rail for over a week (well 0.1mm Friday) though levels are dropping slowly the paths are dry.

 

Sunday 16th March

Very busy with walkers.  Probably about 20 people in total including Su on her crutches, so I bravely stopped three fast runners to ask them to slow down and reminded them they do not have priority over other users.  All were polite.

Saturday 15th March

Quiet, cold and sunny.  A pair of swans are building a nest near the bottom of the long boardwalk. This large log is on the pond viewing platform - not sure of its status so I left it. Too heavy for me anyway!

Friday 14th March

No problems. Only a few runners and couple of walkers today. Ducks and Moorhens quite prevalent by the rugby grounds. 

Thursday 13th

All good, someone had set up a very small orienteering course is along the southern end paths and about 20 students were participating. Nothing else of note. 

Wednesday 12th March

 Very few people but lots of bird song from the usual small birds -  good to catch a glimpse of a Cetti's warbler in the reeds at the pond after it's call gave itself away. A couple of moorhens near the entrance bridge from the rugby ground and a couple of mallards near southern end of the boardwalk. No signs of any potential nesting. 

Fair amount of litter at the Durngate bench - all very small and took a while to collect including bottle tops pushed into the ground.

Anne and Tim 

warmer and dryer

 Fairly quiet. 3 walkers. No sign of nesting. No nests where there were none, no birds with construction material in their beaks. Bit more song though. Still a bit of water on the path by dipping stream. Surprisingly no litter. Last rain was 1mm on Friday but February's rain is still percolating through the substrate, so levels aren't yet dropping much

Sunday 9th March

Lots of walkers and a couple of female runners.

Had a long chat with Su (the legendary Pom Pom Su to parkrunners) who many of you will know.  She is often in the reserve and volunteers at both parkruns.  Su is disabled and uses crutches and has asked for a seat halfway up the pond path so that she can watch the birds.  If anyone deserves a bench, it's her!

There is a rugby tournament on in the park and they have taped off the whole area, including the space between the two pitches that people use to cross the field to the NW entrance.  

Saturday 8th March

Lovely sunny morning. Litter not bad. No toads visible yet in pond. Birdsong ramping up. Low level graffiti on Durngate board in chalk,

so I got most of it off.

 

 

Friday 7th March

Not too popular today probably due to the weather. Muntjac were present by the boardwalk and a sign was thrown into the river under the rec footbridge but has now been put back.

Thursday 6th March

Lovely day, counted 19 members of the public enjoying the reserve, no runners. The most people I've counted. Recovered a deflated helium balloon and disposed of it, otherwise no litter or issues to report. Nice egret in a tree. 

Tuesday 4 March

 I noted two men with fishing rods entering the Moor from Durngate. They left when told fishing wasn't allowed. 

Monday 3 March

This afternoon, I observed three teenagers jumping the fence into the Sanctuary area. They left when challenged, and the no access sign was pointed out. 

Chilly.

 Frozen water and grass, but lovely.

No litter. A few walkers, none of my regulars. Nice work on the vegetation

No rain since Wednesday (3 days' worth in the morning) but levels not down much at 37.20 and "steady"

Sunday 2nd March

Frosty.

Lots of walkers. Two runners: one polite, the other polite the second time I saw her.

Two people magnet fishing from red bridge.  I asked them to stop.

Saturday 1st March

Beautiful sunny morning. Not many visitors but multiple small groups of runners, 2s and 3s. Nuthatches singing. My first used condom of the year, near

the paddling stream - nice! Scarlet elf cups still out.