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.
