Cold start, hot work

A really lovely, bright, cold, autumnal day.

What better way to use it than to have a workout on the Common? In no time at all the exertion involved had people removing the layers they had felt the need to wear at the outset. Loading a cart with wet cut vegetation can be warming work!

The cart has had a summer overhaul and new livery; it looks great, and with added handles it works better than ever.

I thought I'd try a video clip of the cart in action. You'll see our intrepid leader desperately trying to see where he is going in the bright glare from the sun, and suddenly issuing directions. Sadly, the camera was not running when John and Fiona fell over backwards as the were pulling the empty cart back from unloading - better luck next time.

And here's what Chairman John had to say:

"To all who helped this morning, thank you and congratulations for a job very well done.  The weather was picture perfect which should have helped  Duncan to make perfect pictures.  I'm looking forward to seeing them published on the blog.  I counted 16 of Southrepps best on site; a great demonstration of true community spirit and, with the news that Burns Night proceeds will be donated to SCT, clearly you are appreciated.

 

Next working party is Saturday 1st December and then there's a break till 6th January.  Do please try to make the next one and help finish the Area, ready to start the New Year on the other side of the Beck where the going is easier.

 

Thanks again

Regards

John"

Cutting season under way: message from the Chairman

Hello All

 

Altogether we mustered 9 of Southrepps' finest to open this season's batting, with remarkable and impressive result;  thank you everybody.  Sunday 18th November at 9:30am, should see us hurtling pell-mell towards the Beck leaving acres of mown grassland in our wake.   

 

Kind regards

John 

Reedlings and reedmace

This past summer has been commonly accepted as pretty poor, and I would go along with that. On the bird front on the common we didn't do too well, with one notable absentee being the sedge warbler. We had no records of it being there at all this year, but we did have at least two breeding pairs each of reed warbler and reed bunting.

However, yesterday, I did find another iconic reedbed bird, and one that more than makes up for the lack of sedge warblers in my view. They gave themselves away, as they tend to do, with their distinctive "pinging" call, and yes, sure enough, we had a small party of bearded tits, or more properly, reedlings. I did manage to get enough sight of them through the binoculars, but no chance of a photo I'm afraid.

They may have just been passing through, and I may have just been lucky to be there at the right time, as after 10 minutes or so they flew off. But perhaps they'll be back!

Today we had a small working party to look at options for dealing with the dramatic spread of reedmace (otherwise known as bullrushes incorrectly) across the Pit. Examination of the photos I take each month demonstrates the serious nature of their incursion, and the pond was in danger of being choked by them. In the event, we just went for it. Steph was a tower of strength in her borrowed waders, and working with Tim they pulled vast amount of plants up.

Rightly, Steph seemed pretty pleased with her morning's work.

Meanwhile, the chaps got all technical with bits of string, and worked out a way of hauling out clumps of reeds rather than pulling them up one at a time.

All in all a great morning's work, and no-one fell in! The picture below shows some of what was pulled up; all we need ot do now is to leave it by the edge of the pond for a while to allow any water creatures to find their way home, and then drag it all away.

Early autumn sunshine

A lovely day, with wall to wall warm sunshine and a bit of breeze. It's funny how often I can walk across the common with my camera and find nothing to photograph, and then on other days, like today, I'm snapping away like it's going out of fashion. Everything just seemed to demand having its picture taken, and a few plants will find themselves in the SCT website's gallery.

I've been trying to get a half-decent shot of a dragonfly in flight, and at Scouts' Pond today there was a pair of ruddy darters busy egg laying, so I took dozens of pictures. Sadly, once I downloaded them, only one even showed the insects well enough to identify them. They were zooming back and forth across the pond, with the male holding the female's neck with his clasper in the approved fashion, and every few seconds they would dip down so that she could deposit an egg in the water. There are lots of weeds showing through the surface of what is now quite a shallow body of water, and I believe the eggs are laid onto vegetation, rather than just being dropped in the water. The shallowness also shows how far the dreaded crassula has blanketed the bottom of the pond I'm afraid - a major job for a future working party.

Anyway, for what it's worth, here are the dragonflies; I'll have to use an even faster shutter speed next time I get the chance, in the hope of "freezing" those wings.

The reeded itself had a poor showing of cotton grass this year, but to my mind that is made up for by the excellent show of grass of parnassus. This does seem to be spreading; further evidence that our stewardship of the common is paying dividends.

And finally, in the field above Pit Common there was a lot of insect activity, with several dragonflies of indeterminate species (to me at least) bombing around the place having fights, and a couple of red admirals in the company of a comma. Here's the comma:

End of summer

Ah well, nearly the end of August and thus summer is almost done. Not a classic one by any stretch of the imagination, but the wet start certainly had an effect on the plant life on the common. I don't think many birds flourished, but there were large numbers of swallows around today, so at least they may have done well in the last couple of months. Let's hope they accounted for some of the biting insects that got me.

It was very quiet on the common this morning, as of course almost all birds have stopped singing now. Almost the only birds to be heard were the inevitable wood pigeons, but I did pick up the soft calls of some bullfinches.

On Scouts' Pond I discovered a moorhen with a small chick; surely the last brood of the year. Here is a picture of a fringed water lily, just opening at the water's edge.

Walking across the boardwalk I noticed several grass of parnassus flowers. This is one of our signature species, and it is good to see it seems to be doing well. Nice to see a bee on one of the flowers, and as I carried on across the boardwalk towards Warren Road it was encouraging to see large numbers of bees and hoverflies busy on the flowers.

Message from Chairman John (following Working Party 11th August)

Dear All

 

Thanks to all who helped this morning.  Your splendid effort achieved more than any Chairman is entitled to expect and will delight all who use and enjoy the Boardwalk.  Less noticeably (at least to the non-cognoscenti) but equally valuable is the effect of 4 years battle with the Himalayan Balsam which I think we now certainly have on the back foot. I say, "Bravo and Hurrah" to all of you.

 

Regards from John

Hot at last

Now we have finally had some hot weather the insect life on the common has sprung into life. There are more butterflies around at last; mainly ringlets and meadow browns, with the occasional comma. The grasshoppers are singing away like crazy. I've seen a couple of dragonflies at Scouts' Pond, one being a ruddy darter, but the most noticeable species there is the common blue damselfly, which this year is present in large numbers.

I rather like this sinister view, with the strong sunlight casting a shadow from the insect on the back of a leaf:

And after numerous attempts, I was finally pleased to get a reasonable shot of one in flight:

Further on along the boardwalk were a couple of juvenile reed buntings, evidence of at least one successful breeding. The rotten weather this year has probably had a bad effect on breeding success, but at least one brood of one of our signature species has survived.

Damsels, not dragons

On a quick spin across the common this afternoon I wondered if there might be any dragonflies about, especially at Scouts' Pond. The answer was a resounding NO, although there were large numbers of those common blue damselflies you find everywhere. There was a dragonfly in the garden later on though, so they must be about.

The birdsong is starting to fade away now; a few desultory chiffchaffs and a couple of half-hearted blackcaps, and one reed warbler still going strong, was about the extent of it.

Mole, out of hole

I found this quite sizeable, but dead, mole on the way into the recently cut School Meadow. Apart from a slight mark on its back there was no obvious sign of why it died, but I assume an owl or fox are the prime suspects.

A bit further on, at Scouts' Pond the flag irises are now in flower, and I'm quite pleased with this picture of a bee just leaving one of them. Nothing much else to report there at the moment; certainly no dragonflies yet.

On the common itself there were at least two reed buntings singing, and still one reed warbler. Took loads of pictures of a bunting near Warren Road, but none of them turned out particularly well.

I am however not too displeased with this whitethroat, which was in the field above Pit Common.

Three juvenile moorhens on the Pit, expressing some alarm about a cat that was prowling around. Let's hope the moggy went hungry!

Flowers etc

Good to see in this morning's sunshine that the ragged robin, orchids and cotton grass is coming into flower.

Still very few butterflies - there were a couple of white ones about, and some speckled woods in Warren Woods, but otherwise not much else.

On the birds front, good to hear the reed warbler still going strong, and I heard a whitethroat for the first time this year (on the common, that is). Lots of blackcaps (I counted 6) and several chiffchaffs, but sadly still no willow warbler. This species has gone into a steep decline, and I fear we won't be hearing its lazy summer song on the common this year. And no cuckoos either.

At least there are still at least two young moorhens on the Pit. And I'm seeing more house martins than I have done for a couple of years (one of the wildlife survey species don't forget).

Deer seem to be proliferating; I had a good view of a muntjac on School Common this morning, and took this

last week at Scouts' Pond. Other people are reporting more frequent sightings of Chinese water deer and Roe deer.

Moorhens up trees and on the water

Last Saturday was a day for moorhens. The first one I found was at Scouts' Pond: nothing very remarkable in that, except I only found it because I heard a lot of crashing around about 10 feet up a spindly alder tree. The crashing was caused by a moorhen climbing where I didn't realise moorhens climb. I got the impression it was feeding, rather than just hiding unsuccessfully. It was hiding enough however to prevent its picture from being taken.

No such shyness on the Pit, where one adult was looking after 5 young chicks. I suppose some at least will be flattened by passing traffic as happens every year, but let's hope some survive.

At last there are some more records coming in of swifts and swallows. No house martins on the common yet, but I did have one fly over my house today. No cuckoo for the common, but one was heard behind Warren Woods the other day. We're getting a smattering of butterfly records, including our first peacock of the year. If only it would warm up, we might get some more!

Reedbed birds at last, and some butterflies

I took advantage of the long weekend to get up early today and take in the dawn chorus. It was not bad (how could it be?), but it was cold, and the sky was overcast so light remained poor for photography. School Common was loud with wren, chiffchaff, blackcap, blackbird and of course, wood pigeons. Nonetheless I confess to feeling a little let down. However, on reaching the reedbed I realised that I could at last hear a reed warbler, and more faintly, a reed bunting.

Carrying on toward the Pit, I discovered a swallow sitting on the cables above Pit Street. In view of the light, this is hardly the best shot ever published of a swallow, but it's just nice to see them back in such a cold, wet spring.

Yesterday I took my usual tour of the common, taking my monthly record shots at 16 locations. It was fund to find the School's deer made from willow. Apparently it's still a work in progress, which the children are loving doing. I was very taken with it, and it made up for a) losing my pencil and b) being menaced by a Weimeraner, who seemed to be all bluster, thankfully.

I wasn't impressed to discover a pile of grass clippings that some kind soul had dumped in School Common. Let's hope it's a one-off.

The other good thing about Saturday was finding my first speckled wood butterfly of the year (one for the survey), and also at least one orange tip. No sign of any peacocks though, and only one report of a brimstone.

Wet, wet, wet!

After what seems like weeks of rain, lately very heavy and prolonged, the common is very wet again - which is actually as it should be. The reedbed has standing water, and so does the alder carr around Scouts' Pond. It's been so cold however that not much of any note is around. The first swallow was sighted on 26th April, five days after I had seen them at Ranworth. Today has been much better, and more swallows are in evidence. I also saw a couple of swifts in Norwich today, so let's hope they arrive here soon. Then all we'll need for the birds on the wildlife survey are house martins.

Butterflies have so far also been very few and far between, with only one brimstone qualifying for the survey. So keep your eyes peeled for speckled wood and peacocks.

We now have an email address for anyone to use to submit photographs taken on the common for possible publication on the website: it is sctimages@gmail.com. Please note that Photos will be credited, and will not be sold to third parties, but no payment will be made for any current or future use by Southrepps Commons Trust of images submitted to us. Please restrict the file size of any images you send to a maximum of 4 MB.

Blackcaps singing

It only matches my previous record, rather than beating it, but I heard my first blackcap of the year this morning, on Bramble Lane. At least six chiffchaffs, and the inevitable great tits, wrens, robins, chaffinches, etc., but no more migrants here yet.

Migrants arriving

With the last week's beautiful weather it is hardly surprising that the first spring migrants have started to arrive. There was apparently a major influx of chiffchaffs a few days ago, and they have certainly found their way to our little patch. The first couple were reported yesterday, and today I counted at least eight singing males.

The resident birds are also in full swing: lots of great tits, robins, blue tits, blackbirds, dunnocks and one song thrush were all in good voice.

Nothing yet for our wildlife survey, which is a shame since I found a couple of brimstones elsewhere a couple of weeks ago. I did see a comma on the newly cut common today, but that doesn't count for the survey. The butterflies on the survey are brimstone, peacock and speckled wood: let's hope some turn up soon!

Cutting season finished

Today was the last scheduled working party of the cutting season, and we finished the programmed work on time.

This is what the great swathe of the central area looks like at the moment; already the reeds are beginning to sprout on the area cut a few weeks ago. It doesn't often look like this, but the cutting regime calls for this to happen once every four years.

Here's what Chairman John had to say:

A bold, "Hurrah" I say and congratulations to all who helped bring the 2011-12 cutting season to impressive completion today.  We have acheived all that was asked of us and truly shown that a large public amenity can be successfully managed by voluntary effort alone, given the will and the right people.  You are all invited to  celebrate in style at Welland House on Sunday 29th. April, about which more later.

 

Regards and best wishes from John 

 

Younger members of the working party celebrated by climbing to the top of one of the piles of cut reeds:

The rest of us celebrated in a more restrained way, with a cup of tea and a chocolate chip cookie or two. We know how to party!

Froggy went a-courting

Now we've got some real spring weather, we've got some real spring love action going on in Scouts' Pond. There were dozens of frogs there yesterday, doing what the do, as the following shows:

By way of contrast, a solitary toad on the main boardwalk was enjoying the warmth of Sunday lunchtime:

Lots of birdsong, but no spring migrants yet.

Southrepps Wildlife survey 2012

Now is the time to launch the Southrepps Commons Trust's wildlife survey for 2012. This is the second year we have run it, and so we can compare data we're going to record sightings in the area for the same species as last year.

On the butterfly front, this means male brimstone (bright yellow), peacock and speckled wood. Last year our first sighting of a brimstone buttefly was on 12th March, so we're keen to see if we can beat that!

The birds we're looking out for are swallow; house martin and swift. Last year the first of these was a swallow, on 9th April.

And we're also on the look-out for hedgehogs. Sadly, most hedgehog records were of dead road accident victims, but please let us know about them just the same.

You can record your sightings online at http://www.southreppscommonstrust.org.uk/scttopfinal/wildlifesurvey.htm (where you can also view the results from the 2011 survey) or email them to birdsightings@tiscali.co.uk . We will also have some paper forms for use and deposit at the information point at the Lower Street entrance to the Common in due course.

Sparrowhawk, and working party 4th March

Driving down Bramble Lane on Saturday morning I realised there was a sparrowhawk in one of the fields, feeding on a wood pigeon. I pulled up and my companion and I had a wonderful view - initially at the expense of a chap in a van who was parked on the other side of the lane and had been watching the bird for 10 minutes already. Once the initial fascination was over I realised I was parked front of said van, and moved a bit further forward, worried that by doing so I might spook the hawk. No risk of that; it carried on plucking feathers and gobbling flesh without any concern, even though it was only 30 feet at most from the car. An ideal opportunity for a wonderful photo; except I had not brought my camera with me! Will I never learn?

The next day was the penultimate working party of the cutting season, but having guests meant I was not there. Instead, we were in Southwold, suffering from the vile weather that the working party will have mostly avoided. Here is Chairman John's message:

Hello All

 

Well, with typical bravado and brinkmanship we courted the weather demons yesterday and scored another major success.  Thanks everyone for turning out in defiance of all the predictions.  We have one more scheduled session, Saturday 17th March at 9:00am, when we shall finish the small bit in the middle and create, for the first time in 4 years, one great mowed expanse across the whole central part.  And I think all that deserves a celebration, the exact nature of which is under consideration already.

 

Kind regards from John

Birdsong kicking off

On a wonderful warm early Spring day the common was alive with birdsong, already well under way. Great tits, robins, song thrush and skylark were in fine voice. It took a little tracking down, but I found a blackbird skulking in a bush murmuring away to itself; perhaps getting itself in tune before giving it the full welly.

The were several dunnocks singing in the bright sunshine, and I managed to get some shots of one, the best of which is here.

Enjoying the warmth of the sun I took a seat on the Chadwick bench, and after a while I realised I could hear a reed bunting; this struck me as rather early. Looking across the reedbed I spotted the bird right away, typically perched at the top of a reed, gently swaying in the breeze. It was a long way off and difficult to get a good steady shot of it, but the picture does at least show it really was a reed bunting.

A little further on my walk, no longer on the common but near enough, I found this cluster of ladybirds warming themselves.

All in all, a lovely morning.

Fully loaded

Another working party today, with 10 volunteers putting in a solid shift. Once again we were lucky with the weather; the threatened rain holding off until the afternoon, by which time we were long gone.

As can be seen, a serious attempt was made to so load the cart that it would sink in the mud up to its axles. Since the dry reeds were light, it actually wasn't as over-loaded as it looks, as can be seen by the happy smiling faces of the doughty cart crew!

Off, then on

After a deceptively mild winter so far, the weather turned mean with a vengeance on the night of 4th February. The scheduled working party for the next day was called off, since it's hard to cut reeds when they're buried under snow. Such was the reasoning of our leader. However, nothing daunted, he re-convened the working party for the next Saturday, and although it remained pretty chilly and no mistake, the snow had thawed enough to make the work possible.

Your correspondent was not present this time, entertaining his visiting relatives instead. However, the evidence is there for all to see, with a lot more cut and mounds of reeds waiting to be removed by the BTCV stalwarts during the week - just in time for the next working party on the 18th.

Here's the Chairman's message:

Hello All

 

I am running out of ways to say thank you and congratulations on another successful morning's work.

This morning was another example of the splendid team work which is the hallmark of our group.  Well done.

 

Next Saturday, 18th. at 9:00am we resume where we left off today.  Hopefully, BTCV will have cleared all our heaps and a bit more besides. 

 

Thanks and regards

John

Rather damp working party

Yesterday's working party didn't start off too well, as despite all meteorological predictions, 16 intrepid volunteers were treated to a few heavy showers, interspersed with rain of varying degrees of nastiness. However, after a while it cleared up and the sun even struggled out. The brisk wind helped dry us out, if not the ground, which had got pretty squelchy. Nonetheless, we managed to cut the central area where the cotton grass and orchids grow so went away feeling damply pleased.The new tea and coffee making facilities are a big hit, and keenly sought out, as illustrated below:

Chairman John's message follows:

Hello All

Apparently we are still in drought but if the Director of the Met. Office would like to visit Southrepps Common soon, I wonder if he would still be so sure!  This morning's team deserves to feel especially proud of themselves; first for just getting out of bed and then for achieving such a fine result.  We are well on the way with this season's work now.  Thank you everyone, your next chance to romp in the hay (only joking) is Sunday 5th February at 9:30am.

Regards

John

First working party of 2012

And it turned out to be a very productive one. Twelve good people and true turned up in lovely bright weather - not too hot and not too cold. We were very productive, getting all of the part of area G south of the boardwalk cut. This has usually taken at least one and a half sessions, so our techniques in using the magnificent cart appear to be working well.

I intend to take more photos of working parties, but today this after the event picture will have to suffice.

Here's John's message:

A big thank you to all who helped to make such a fine start to the new year this morning .

Really, on such mornings it's a  pleasure and privilege to be out there and what we acheived speaks for itself of a fine team effort.  Next opportunity to join the team is on Saturday, 21st. January, same place starting at 9:00am.

 

Best wishes

John

New Year, new project

A glorious day to start my observations for 2012. Cool, yes, fresh, yes - but a beautiful clear blue sky and a bright sun. The sun lit a pair of male bullfinches magnificently at the edge of School Common.

I've started a new project for the year, to take record photos from 16 different vantage points around the common. The aim is to take pictures from exactly the same positions once a month, and I started today. We hope that this will provide a good record of how the common looks at each month of year, and the extent to which invasive species such as Alder are affecting the site. Here's an example: