Basalt and Brimstone

Incredibly, it’s been so sunny this week that at various times I’ve actually been too hot!

Spring seems to be revving up. I spotted my first brimstone of the year this week fluttering along the hedgerows, and the odd bumblebee bouncing from flower to flower. There seems to be more birdsong too floating down from the trees, and our volunteer James spotted a sand martin flying overhead, returning from its wintering grounds.

I did a bittern survey Monday morning at 5am, listening out for the booming calls of the males in the darkness before dawn. I heard two, and site manager Harry heard another at Greylake.

We’ve finished cutting and laying the second hedge at West Sedgemoor (hooray!) and since the breeding season is upon us our focus will start to shift now from habitat management to surveys and reserve infrastructure.

Speaking of, last Wednesday we were at Greylake adding basalt to some of the paths. Just before Christmas we had scraped and removed all the encroaching vegetation, and now we’re adding stone to fill in any potholes and smooth it out. It took a lot of stone (and energy!) wheeling the basalt up the path from the trailer (see below), and we finished up by compacting it with a wacker plate. We didn’t quite bring enough stone with us, so there’s still a little more to do which we can hopefully finish up next week.

 RSPB Staff

That’s all for now.

Luke