Time for our round-up from our volunteer work-parties on what's been happening around Dove Stone in May. Thanks to John for taking the time to put this together:
''We started by planting 300 trees in Lower Hollins plantation, above the larger of the two wildlife ponds that we created last year. We planted Oak, Cherry, Ash and Alder and as we worked a large frog hopped down the hill and into a nearby brash pile. When we finished planting the trees we came down the hill to the wall above the "Life for a Life" plantation and started the repair work by work pulling stone out from the wall until we got back to a stable structure on which to base the repairs. This wall is similar in construction to the one we recently repaired at Ashway Gap, the stone is rough and of very varied shape and size. This raw material is difficult to work with, but it is vitally important to use it as-is so that the repaired structure maintains the character of the surrounding walls. The weather was good to begin with but we had some prolonged heavy showers, but no wind, the reservoir was like a mirror.
On Friday 11th we again had a day of mixed activities. In the morning we were at Binn Green, near the car park, where some large trees from the United Utilities plantation had blown down across our recently erected fence. The trees had to be cut up to clear the damaged fence and the fence reinstated. After a break for lunch we went back to the wall we started on Wednesday and began to repair it, starting with the very large foundation stones. The following Wednesday was another day for stone wall repairs next to the track above the "life for a life" plantation. Two Dove Stone wardens were helped by eight volunteers, and with so many people we made excellent progress. The weather was much better than on recent volunteer days and the wildlife was out in force. We saw a Sparrowhawk fly over Lower Hollins plantation and get chased off by a very noisy Mistle thrush. A buzzard flew over the reservoir towards ... and as it did so it was pestered by a large corvid, probably a Raven. As we worked we could hear a Cuckoo calling from the plantation next to the sheep farm by the sailing club. Later in the afternoon a Peregrine flew over us towards the quarry.
On the next Friday work party four volunteers worked with two Dove Stone wardens to continue replacement oft he wooden steps near the main entrance to the site. It was hard work and the steep ground is a grassy slope which can get very slippy - which is why we need the steps! The work consists of digging a groove across the slope for the wooden riser to go in, then digging holes behind the riser for its support stakes. The holes are dug using a wrecking bar, when the holes are complete we knock the support stakes into the holes with a post driver, nail the stakes to the riser and saw off the surplus stake so that it is level with the riser. Additionally at the bottom of the slope where it is at its steepest we need to secure the risers by joining them together using side rails. It was all very physical, but the sawing was hardest as the saw was very flexible and kept sticking in the cut. Also we were sawing close to the ground on a steep slope so the end of the saw kept hitting the ground. It was a very sad occasion as it was volunteer Ian's last day, after over a year with us as a very regular volunteer he is reluctantly having to take up an offer he could not refuse.
The next Wednesday saw one of Dove Stone's wardens and eight volunteers continue work on the replacement of the wooden steps on the slope near the cattle grid at the main entrance. We parked at the sailing club car park and whilst there we heard a Cuckoo calling near the farm again. Even though it was still early in the day, the temperature was 19C when we left the car park, a sure sign that the day was going to be a hot one. We completed all but the last two steps at the top of the bank before finishing a little early as we were all getting uncomfortable with the temperature. The wardens completed the last two steps on the following day and the steps are now in use again.
Friday 25th. Seven volunteers and two RSPB Dove Stone wardens completed filling in the ruts in the track above the "Life for a Life" plantation. The weather was sunny but with more tolerable temperatures than Wednesday’s thanks to a relatively cool breeze. The Cuckoo was calling again from the woodland near the sheep farm above the sailing club. We fetched stone down to site from the pile next to Chew Reservoir using the Land Rover and large trailer, tipped the stone at the end of the track and then moved it in more manageable loads using a much smaller trailer towed by a quad bike. All the stone was loaded and unloaded by hand, and as the stone was very dusty the wind ensured that we all quickly got a dusty appearance. When we brought the last load down from Chew reservoir we were able to use the repaired track to get the Land Rover and large trailer complete with its load of stone directly to the last filling site. This shows how effective the repairs have been, as before the repairs we had struggled to get the Land Rover round the track. The repairs to the track are now complete.
Wednesday 30th. Today’s task was to create a 1.2 metre wide path at Binn Green leading from the corner of the carp park to the totem pole feeder. The path is intended to improve access generally, but will help people with restricted mobility to make use of the viewing area. Five volunteers arrived to help two Dove Stone wardens make a start by digging out a shallow trench to form the foundations and then putting in edging board at either side of the foundations. The foundations took a lot of time to dig out, as we had to ensure that the path was as straight as possible and that it would be level across its width. The ground was dry and very hard and, as usual at Dove Stone, it was also very stony. We put the edging boards in and pinned them in position using small square tree stakes rather than the large half-round posts that we pinned the steps with last week. At the end of the day we had completed most of the foundations and inserted 7m of edging board up each side. As we hadn't completed the path, we roped it off temporarily to prevent access. The weather was hot and sunny with cloudy intervals, fortunately the predicted rain waited until we packed up to go home ''.
Watch out for more news in June about habitat restoration work at Dove Stone. Plus an update on what's been happening with the Peregrines.