Hello everyone!
After a few weeks cosy in the office with a foot injury, I was finally able to get back into the field this week. I can attest that it takes two weeks to scrub out the ingrained dirt but only about a half hour to get it back.
Once again we were at the mercy of the Clyst Estuary mud, clearing the outflow of the pipe that comes from Bowling Green hide lagoon.
Work has continued on the Exminster predator fence, with several days of brushcutting to clear the thickness of reeds that were encroaching threateningly. Laborious as the job may be, it came with satisfying results; immediately after we saw the voltage of the fence return to where it should be.
Since my arrival the fields have made remarkable transformations: from rushes and grasses up to the chin, then as smooth as a football pitch, the site is now a labyrinth of puddles; the ditches have spilled into the fields and we have to pick our routes carefully, as the water can easily reach over wellingtons.
Photo by Jay Stephens
A far corner of Exminster Marsh floods completely over the winter and as it does, a section of the electric fence becomes submerged under several inches of water. To overcome this, the work party were out with wire and spanners yesterday, putting in a new fence-line that avoids this area.
It was a damp day, but it didn’t put a dampener on the spirits of our work party. Though the sandwiches might have been a little soggy, having lunch with a peregrine that was hunting over the reserve was a good reminder of the benefits of being out in all weathers. In addition to working on the fence, we spent the day in the discovery area, brushcutting around the pond dipping platform and bug hotels, tidying up the willow house and reweaving willow over our rabbit run, which may have to be renamed the vole hole, given the little mascot that joined us on our work (see below).
I volunteered with the RSPB because I thought it would be a good opportunity for me; I am interested in wildlife, I like working outdoors and I wanted to try something new. Volunteering has also led to me being better informed about issues impacting wildlife, nature and our defence and conservation of it.
Many of you might already have heard about the “fitness check” of the EU nature directives and, perhaps even added your voice to 520,000 others in the Defend Nature campaign which ran earlier this year. It was an unprecedented response, more than three times higher than any other Commission consultation, but there is now a second phase in the Defend Nature campaign and your phenomenal support is needed again.
It is imperative that we act now in calling for the UK Environment Minister, Rory Stewart, to add his voice to that of nine other European countries environmental minsters who have taken a stance in defence of the directives. You can read more about this phase of the campaign on the link below.
Ask Rory to Defend Nature:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/joinandhelp/campaignwithus/defendnature/
If this little guy isn’t worth saving, then I don’t know what is.
Photo by Phillip Catton
Have a great weekend!
Laura