The last of our tasks is thankfully being done by a contractor with a digger. They are slubbing out the ditches here – scooping out mud and vegetation and spreading this across the fields. It looks like we’ll have this all finished before the marsh disappears completely underwater; there has been considerable rain in the last few weeks. The levels in the ditches here are rising, water features such as dips and hollows are beginning to fill up, and in places the grassland is starting to get rather marshy. So in some areas we can only pass using the all-terrain vehicle (quad bike). The bird life is changing too; with sightings of teal, and black- tailed godwit.
"Common Teal (Anas crecca) near Hodal, Haryana W IMG 6512" by J.M.Garg - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
If you look out across the fields now, for example by walking to the very end of the footpath through Powderham marshes, or visiting the viewing holes on the footpath to Turf near the Discovery Area, you’ll see that everything is much more opened up.
We’ve spent a bit of time improving surfaces for vehicles and pedestrians recently. In the car park for Exminster marshes, just over the railway bridge there were some quite uncomfortable dips. But after a day with some shovels and a compacter, the holes are now smoothed over. With our Thursday volunteer work party we have also refreshed the viewing platform at Matford Marsh, around ten minutes on bicycle from Exminster.
Perhaps the biggest and most exciting event was the official re-opening of the Bowling Green hide at Topsham, on the other side of the estuary, which you can get to in about half an hour by bicycle from Exminster (there are two bird-shaped cycle stands in front of the hide). From the outside the building looks much more welcoming, the original breezeblock structure now clad in wood and blended with an extension complete with full-height windows to provide more space for special activities.
The opening day was great fun, with guided walks, slate drawing, a cake sale, bug-hunting, a food stall and barbecue with soup, burgers and pies donated by regional producers. To top it off, children (and some adults) were entertained by a pair of story tellers who used the new balcony as a stage, performing to the audience in the garden.