Well this week has been a busy and eventful one, with some of our workforce over at lab bay to control the ragwort on four days. Whilst we were there we had a chance to admire the abundance of flowers which have really begun bursting into colour now with early purple orchids the stars of the show.
My day on Monday was spent with Tom as we did some work over at Bowling Green. We replaced a solar panel used to charge the battery for the pump there in the morning and were sloshing about in waders all afternoon wrestling some boards out of a dropboard sluice. The sluice is part of the regulated tidal exchange at Goosemoor and the idea behind removing the sluice boards is to allow water to come in and out of the estuary more freely for a period of time in the hope that the silt will be washed away. We need to stop the silt building up and drying the area out in order to maintain good habitat for waders.
I have found it pleasant to welcome back the classic call of the onomatopoeically named chiffchaff in the past week or so. The birds tend to go quiet whilst they are busy incubating and fledging their first brood but as I have been working around the reserve their repetitive and incessant calling card has returned with gusto. The chiffchaff is not the only bird to have more than one brood though, others include the blackbird who can raise 2-3 broods over the spring and summer months with some pairs even attempting a fourth!
A Calling Chiff Chaff, Photo Credit: Andreas Trepte
The work party focus this Thursday was on fixing gates on the Exminster Marshes. What with all the boisterous cattle rubbing themselves on fences and gateposts at this time of year keeping up with the important infrastructures repairs is an ongoing battle. We are grateful to the hard working volunteers for digging holes and hammering nails helping us keep on top of it, although the cattle are always one step ahead!
Ryan Woodcock