Hello everyone!
I’ve been out of action this week and office bound with a foot injury. This period of captivity has made me appreciate all the more my role as a residential volunteer: the constant activity, the satisfactions of working with your hands, the tranquillity of eating lunch with the birds and breathing fresh air all day long. The tropical rains that passed over this week have, on the other hand, put me in mind of silver linings.
The ditches have now been slubbed out and the sluice boards replaced to hold in the autumn rain (the turn in the weather this week was well timed). We have also begun pumping water into the lagoon on Exminster Marsh to make the site as welcoming as possible for our winter guests. With the increasing water levels, we should see even more ducks, geese and waders return to the site; after a summer of long preparations, we can only hope they are pleased with the accommodations.
This morning we began our monthly winter surveys of the estuarine birds, with a coordinated survey of the all the Exe Reserves. The counts are conducted in the morning at high tide (best time to see the birds), which this week meant an early start. It was the first wader survey for us residential volunteers and proved something of a challenge. Surely avocets are the zebras of the birding world, keeping count of widgeon while they move about, feeding continually in the grass, is a problem for Heisenberg and spotting one ruff among hundreds of curlew and bar-tailed godwit is akin to a Where’s Wally search with the added challenge that Wally moves (a stripy red and white hat would have helped enormously). It was, nevertheless, a lovely way to spend an early Friday morning, and I was particularly pleased to see my first egyptian goose and pintail.
Out in the fields things are getting a might muddy, so we are working tirelessly to fix up as many of the gates before the vehicles can no longer cope with the soft ground - though it is not just the vehicles that are having trouble, a few wellies have been left behind this week.
It is not unusual for us to discover all manner of fascinating creatures when digging in gate posts; we are always intrigued to take a closer look (especially towards the end of a long day...). Insects and invertebrates appear most often, though we have also unearthed several newts. This week it was a worm that narrowly escaped the spade, only to be confronted with a well-meaning residential volunteer (who shall not be named). Rescuing the worm from the hole being dug, the volunteer attempted to throw the worm over the predator fence (installed to keep badgers and foxes out of the breeding area of our resident ducks and waders, especially the lapwing). Anyone who has had the inclination or opportunity to throw a worm will appreciate that they are not exactly aerodynamic – had they been intended for flight, they might have been given wings – and so the worm, inevitably, landed on a wire of the fence. The predator fence is electric, however, as is proven by the numerous birds that use it has a perch, it only delivers a shock to creatures touching the fence while their feet are on the ground (creatures such as residential volunteers). This well-meaning volunteer then decided to rescue the worm from the electric fence; however the moment they their fingers made contact with it, both the worm and the volunteer were electrocuted.
And on that shocking note, have a great weekend and Happy Halloween!
Laura