On Tuesday we started cutting reeds to the east of the mere, and it was going really well until the mower head seized up at the end of the morning. We will finish cutting that section tomorrow as part of our weekly work party (always on Thursdays).
One bonus was flushing two jack snipe from the rushy parts of the reedbed. They are probably the same birds that we saw at the beginning of the month, but if you're tempted to twitch them be prepared to scan more than an acre of open ground where they could be hiding. We finished well before the time the hen harrier usually turns up, but it didn't! However, one of our team saw an adult male merlin from Reedbed Hide late in the afternoon.
Now I've heard that the mechanic won't be able to start repairing the mower until Friday, so we are going to have to cut reeds next week too, probably on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I'll post again next week to confirm it, because if the weather turns wet we will have to postpone.