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 at the office. Fiona left yesterday after the residential volunteering programme was mostly suspended. I'm allowed to stay because one of my parents is in a vulnerable group so I can't go and stay with them. Almost everyone else is working from home or wasn't working today. So I'm holding down the fort and keeping things ticking over on site.
The main news at the moment is that our reserves are currently still open (Monday 23rd March at 4.06 pm). I'm being that specific because things are changing so very quickly. Boris Johnson has suggested tougher measures may be implemented as people are not following social distancing guidelines. We would urge you to follow these rules when visiting our reserves to keep everyone safe and protect NHS services. However, in these difficult times, a visit to a beautiful outdoor space may help you get through these difficult times.
I went for a walk yesterday and observed a pair of cranes here at West Sedgemoor doing a changeover at their nest, where they must already be incubating eggs. Indeed we are aware of several pairs that are currently on nests. The curlew have returned from their wintering grounds and will soon begin to nest both here and at Greylake.
At Swell Wood, the birdsong is exploding as our woodland birds are pairing up and early nesters like blackbirds and robins will probably be on eggs or chicks. The heronry is a hive of activity, with birds coming and going constantly. If you do go out to see them, please keep your distance from other people and wait if necessary to go into the hide.
Until the rules change, we will continue to do what work we can here. This includes some habitat management and survey work. Topping the fields in the tractors will begin soon (avoiding any nesting birds of course), we're going to be finishing clearing up from our hedging work this week and doing some fencing in preparation for the cattle coming out of sheds in the next few weeks.
The improvement in the weather is a welcome change. At least when we do get outside, it's pleasant to be there.
Everyone please take care and stay well. I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from our camera traps. A pair of crows have been collecting large amounts of moss in front of one, and this bird seems to have noticed the camera. Also, a handsome stag in the morning mistiness.