Labrador Bay, bonfires, hedge laying and more!

It’s Friday again so that means another blog post :-)

I thought I’d tell you about what we have been up to during the past week, to give you an idea of what we get up to day to day. A couple of weeks ago we spent a day working at Labrador Bay to improve access to the coast path by clearing vegetation from the paths and installing a new post for a kissing gate. This week we continued this work and are pleased to say that most of the work on our list has been completed, making it more enjoyable for you to visit the site and the Coast Path.

We have had quite a few bonfires this week on Exminster Marshes, to burn waste vegetation that we have been accumulating, ranging from vegetation that has been slubbed out of the ditches, to damp piles of brambles and vegetation from other parts of the reserve. It has been a struggle to get the fires going sometimes, it’s harder than you think!

On our regular Thursday work party, we were trimming a hedge at Matford Marsh to improve its shape for nesting birds.

Today has been the usual Friday stuff which includes checking the water levels (which have decreased since the downpour last week, but still pretty high), a quick litter pick of the reserve and car park, checking the predator fences and some other odd jobs. A new cattle corral is also being constructed by a local contractor near the car park at the end of Station Road. Most of the cattle have been moved off the reserves now but we still have some on the fields.

In bird news, more migratory ducks, geese and waders should be on the wetlands soon, and a lot of other wetland birds are out already. A lot of Starlings have also been seen recently.

And finally, just to let you know if you visit the reserve, the footpath to Turf is muddy and flooded in places, so don’t forget your wellies!