Hello and a very warm welcome to this weeks blog from Greylake, West Sedgemoor and Swell Wood. I think we’ve been baking more than basking this week with the endless sunny skies and soaring temperatures. This was the moor on Friday afternoon, although you can’t really see the heat shimmer.

We were very happy this week to be able to open Swell Wood to visitors on Friday afternoon. We’ve been working hard strimming…

Hello from Greylake, West Sedgemoor and Swell Wood, where we have been basking in the late spring sunshine this week, well mostly anyway. I managed to get stuck down here without any of my summer clothes when lockdown was imposed, so I did some emergency online shopping last week for some lightweight work trousers and I have been very grateful for them so far. Hopefully you all have sensible clothes with you and are therefore…

Hello once again. I’m back with another update from Greylake, West Sedgemoor and Swell Wood.

As we move towards summer, the moor gets more and more glorious. The grass is getting longer, many fields are carpets of yellow and white flowers, there is a constant serenade of birdsong, with skylarks, sedge warblers, reed buntings and many others all adding to the tune. There are colourful dragonflies and butterflies…

Hi and welcome to this week’s update from Greylake, West Sedgemoor and Swell Wood.

I’m pleased to say I can give you a roundup of activity on the farm. On Monday and Tuesday we were working here quite a bit, so I got a chance to look out for those nests I’ve been following.

The swallow chicks have definitely hatched. I brought the memory card from the camera on Friday and it was packed with great videos…

A new month has arrived and this week has also seen a big change in the weather. The endless blue skies have disappeared, replaced with bubbling grey clouds and heavy rain showers. It might be good for the ground but it’s never much fun to work in. Still, the week has ended on a dry, if blustery note, so I can’t complain too much. I took some pictures on my Saturday walk and nothing says summer's on its way like happy…

Ok, so I may have struggled a bit with the 3 D's, and you might say that having both dragon and damsel flies is cheating, but hopefully you'll still enjoy the blog.

Yes, here we are again and it’s going to be quite a long one this week, I think. As spring really takes hold, there’s more and more going on out there for me to show you.

Whenever you go outside at the moment, spring assaults your senses…

Hello again. Another week we’ve all made it through. I hope everyone is well and still coping with lockdown. I’ve been feeling rather sheltered from it all in my little West Sedgemoor bubble. It’s only when I venture out to buy food that I really notice quite how different the world is, and when I remember that there is usually a lot more people in the office! I’m very much enjoying giving you my weekly update on the…

Hello and welcome to an Easter Sunday edition of my blog from Greylake, West Sedgemoor and Swell Wood. I’ve got my Easter egg tucked in the cupboard, ready for the weekend. I hope you’ve got some lockdown fun planned. You might not be able to do some of the usual things, but I’ve always found an Easter egg hunt in the garden, or even round the house, is lots of fun.

I have another lovely picture of West…

Welcome to another update from Greylake, West Sedgemoor and Swell Wood reserves.

I will begin with another photo overlooking West Sedgemoor, taken from a bit higher up the hill when I was out on my daily exercise last weekend. 

Following the new restrictions that were put in place last week we have been given special permission to  carry out some essential work and repairs which support the farming operation here at West…

Hi and welcome to a slightly different sort of blog from West Sedgemoor, Greylake and Swell Wood.

Usually our blogs have updated you on what's been going on on our reserves. This week, nothing has been going on at all. On Tuesday we went out and shut up shop until the government can lift restrictions on our movements. All the staff have been working from home. Luckily, West Sedgemoor is my home. The reserve is essentially…

Following the latest clear instructions from the Government for us all to remain at home apart from a limited number of allowed activities, we are closing our reserve to visitors until further notice.

This means we will close our car park, toilets, hides and the Mini Marshes to the public at Ham Wall and the car parks and hides at Swell Wood and Greylake. These measures are on top of the existing closure of our Welcome…

I'll start with an apology for the length of time without a blog from Greylake, West Sedgemoor and Swell Wood. At first it was just a busy time with work, and then coronavirus hit and everything went a bit mad.

My second apology is that I will be mentioning coronavirus, but I'll try to keep it to a minimum because I know everyone's hearing a lot about it at the moment.

Everything has been terribly quiet here…

Another week, another storm, another blog.

Fiona would usually be writing this week but she's away at another reserve, getting some different experience, so I'm here instead. Although the weather never seems to change these days, the signs that spring is here are clear in Swell Wood, where a visit can now be highly recommended. There are flowers out on the woodland floor, including primroses, violets, and some other yellow…

Welcome to another blog from Greylake, West Sedgemoor and Swell Wood. The main question on everyone's lips at the moment is: will the rain ever stop?

Although, being a wetland reserve, we quite like a decent bit of winter rain to keep our ducks and waders happy, even we are starting to pray for a few dry days. To illustrate how much rain has come down in the last week or so (if you needed reminding), here is a photo…

I’ve rather lost track of the weather this month.  Two storms in two successive weekends and I am sent into a confusion.  I counted the first storm as fairly significant but, by the time the second one came along, it seems I’d u...

Hello and welcome to a slightly late blog from Greylake, Swell Wood and West Sedgemoor. Last week was a bit hectic as Tom was away on a chainsaw course and another member of staff headed off for a new job at Insh Marshes in Scotland. I had a day off on Friday as well, so Fiona was left picking up the pieces, which didn't quite manage to include the blog. But as the remnants of Storm Ciara have us hiding in the office…

Hello and welcome back to another blog from the team here at Greylake, Swell Wood and West Sedgemoor.

Now sadly this is my last blog as I am on the move north to Shetland! But don’t panic as I’m sure that Kathryn and Fiona will carry on producing outstanding blogs!

The week has been very busy with lots of hedging and coppicing. We have completed one hedge so far and have started on the second hedge at Fivehead…

Hi All, 

As we did last year we will be closing the hide at Swell Wood to allow the herons some space to establish territories and build nests without disturbance. Hopefully like last year this will encourage many of the herons to set up close to the hide providing everyone who visits with a great spectacle. The hide will be closed from 1 February and should be open by 1 March at the latest. So keep an eye out for an update…

Well, this week has provided some of the best (only?) frost and ice of the winter so far here.  The sight, on Monday morning, of the white and steaming plains of West Sedgemoor beneath a pinkish sky – the oblique rays of sunrise slow to dissolve through the white fog – was a sight for sore eyes.  Sore from the glower that has been this winter so far.  There’s something very cleansing about frost.  The crystalline…

Welcome to another blog from Greylake, West Sedgemoor and Swell Wood and what a week we've had.

It started with a Webs count on Monday, usually one of our best jobs, but slogging through knee deep mud and water for six or seven miles in driving winds and rain, while trying to count flocks of birds spooked by the weather and marsh harriers, was perhaps not the easiest way to begin a week.

Ducks were conspicuously absent…

“Great Scott!” Hello from West Sedgemoor, Greylake and Swell Wood. I’m Tom and I am the final residential volunteer to check into the blog. Well after the last two outstanding blogs I have big shoes to fill (so wish me luck!). I am going to take you back to the future ‘Wait A Minute, Doc. Are You Telling Me You Built A Time Machine!’

It is the year 2025, (five years from now!). Swell Wood…

Well some of us are back at work now.  Not all.  There’s evidence that lots of people are still out enjoying Greylake and Swell Wood before the Christmas holiday is properly over.  And the new decade begins in earnest.  So let's begin with a December sunset I took at West Sedgemoor.

On our last day of work before Christmas, we had to venture out in the floods on a critical mission to Greylake.  The pond dipping…

The hide when new January 2007.

Due to structural issues the Lookout hide will be closed during Official Met Office wind weather warnings covering this area. Necessary repairs are planned for early 2020. It is anticipated that the hide will need to be closed for one day while the repairs are undertaken. This blog will be updated when dates are known. The treetop hide will remain open.

 

Sorry for any inconvenience.

 

The…

Hello from a slightly soggy RSPB Greylake, Swell Wood and West Sedgemoor reserves and welcome to my first blog post as a residential volunteer. I'm Kathryn and I'm just finishing my third week here. I'm sharing accommodation here with two others, Fiona and Tom, who will be checking into the blog soon. I've worked for the RSPB before so knew pretty much what to expect. I've received a warm welcome from all and I'm enjoying…

A warmish (weather wise) welcome from the West Sedgemoor, Greylake and Swell Wood reserves.

As we start the autumn season the tractors are in full use on a daily basis. September and October are probably our most busy times, ironically as it is the quietest time for birds, where we need to manage up a hundred fields across West Sedgemoor and Greylake. Fields are either topped or weed wiped, with some receiving both treatments…