“...if all goes according to plan...” – cast your mind back to those words in my blog last Wednesday and my concerns about tempting fate. The good news is that in terms of the boardwalk construction, the remaining frames were attached and connection with the footpath made which is excellent news. The decking board team made great progress and volunteers Janet and Karen kept pace with getting the non-slip wire mesh down. Katherine and volunteer Nigel were on brushcutting and bundling duty, cutting scallops into the reed edge opposite the hide for more opportunities to view wildlife. The reeds were bundled and will be used to create some temporary screening between the hide and one of our grazing marshes. A great day of work yet again from the boardwalk team.
The bad news is that my right thumb had a bit of an accident during the whole procedure and got slightly crushed. I’m now sat here with my arm in a sling, awaiting an operation to have the bone at the end of my thumb wired back together. I can still type with my left hand though! Work will continue at the hide tomorrow with the rest of the gang, it's so nearly there! Here is a photo of the boardwalk just about reaching the path last Thursday:
Photo credit: Dave Rogers - almost there!
I was able to man the office yesterday one-handed, while staff from all over Cambridgeshire and the fens came to help us with a task. Even David and Suzanne were out working hard in the reedbed (not that I’m too jealous or anything...!) We roped everyone into more reed cutting and bundling. With such a big group, we got a good deal! Not only did we get many more reed bundles to make the temporary screening but a large section of reedbed that was scheduled to be cut was cleared. It’s great that we were able to take advantage of a clear dry day to bring the work forward, they even managed to get a couple of fires going to burn up the reed that wasn’t suitable for the bundles. Reed cutting is very weather dependent and we were unable to do any last winter so big thanks to our neighbouring reserves for helping us get started this year.
Photo credit: Dave Rogers - many hands make light work
While they were working away, the team spotted a pair of cranes flying north off the reserve, over the river then back again a bit later on. Coot were also seen, which might sound like nothing special but we haven’t seen coot here for a while! Off-duty volunteer John came for a walk and reported a huge number of gulls up on the washland – he estimated there must have been approximately one thousand! That must have been quite a sight. I can report a lot of action on the feeders outside the visitor centre, with many of the usual suspects: greenfinch, lesser redpoll, reed buntings, chaffinch, blue and great tits plus our fantastic blackbird out the front who keeps us entertained by jumping up at the suet block. The water rail was showing well out on the banks of the visitor centre pool and small fish were jumping out of the water. It felt quite spring-like! Don't forget to keep an eye on the birds that you can see out of your own windows at home - the Big Garden Birdwatch draws ever nearer. If this is news to you, why not see how you can join in the simple survey - nearly 600,000 people took part last year, don't miss out!