On a wetland reserve such as Saltholme so much depends on having the correct water levels in the various lakes, pools and tanks. As autumn comes the migrants will be passing through and winter visitors arriving. Waders need soft, moist soil to probe for their food. On the North side of the reserve there are, visible from Wildlife Watchpoint and Phil Stead hides, three interconnected tanks separted by bunds with sluices to control the water.
Recently a leak has occured between middle and bottom tank next to the sluice so we have had to pump water out of bottom tank to keep just enough mud exposed. But today we decided to tackle the problem by digging down to find the leak then putting in clay which we puddled into place to make a watertight seal.
To get your bearings, as this is not a view visitors will see, the Phil Stead hide is on the left, then the Transporter Bridge and our Visitor Centre, with bottom tank to the left. Ed, assistant warden, is filling our trench with clay and Andrew, volunteer, is puddling it. It will take another day to finish - sorry if we disturb the wildlife - but then we will regain control of the water levels without daily use of our pump.
For those who are not aware of our terminology 'tank' and 'bund' are originally Indian words to describe man-made bodies of water.
Peter