Bullrush clearance at the Pit

Today was the day allotted to thinning out the bullrushes at the Pit, to prevent them from choking the pond. Despite a dreadful weather forecast, five hardy souls turned out, and were rewarded with two hours free of rain, during which time the job was accomplished.

As can be seen, it was even enjoyable!

Here's what the Pit looked like from the road before we started

And this is how we left it

Working party 6th October 2013 - thanks for the turnout of volunteers

Hello All

What an encouraging start to the season we had this morning thanks to all of you.  With several apologies in the bag, I was expecting to have to make the best of a small turn-out but the opposite happened and we achieved a lot.  All in all a great start thank you everyone.  Reacting to popular demand, all working parties (except special ones) will be on Sundays starting from 10:00am to 12 noon, with a coffee break which is growing more and more elaborate – wet wipes today, what next?

Regards from John

First working party of the season - 6 October

Hi Folks

 

Please don’t say you’ve forgotten that as the long hot days of summer gradually morph into mists and mellow fruitfulness, so the bold green reminders start arriving. The much anticipated start of the new cutting season commences on Sunday week, 6th October, at 10:00am, in the Central Area.  The Central Area is easier, or rather less hard, and more pleasant to work on so I thought we could make a start there this year.  We are also starting earlier in the month than before because last season was a struggle. But, acknowledging a clear preference for Sundays, all working parties have been scheduled for Sundays this season, and they will all start at 10:00am, out of consideration for our comfort.

 

A lot has gone on behind the scenes since we last met. We almost became saddled with additional work for which Natural England wanted us to pay contractors, whilst Grizzly is only back in the nick of time from major repairs.  So we were rather taken to the brink, only to be marched back down again, like the Grand Old Duke of York.  On the plus side, water voles are actively colonising The Beck, their presence having been scientifically verified.  We’ve passed inspection with flying colours so any shortcomings which seem so apparent to me must be quite insignificant really.  And that’s all down to every one of you who helped in any way last year.

 

I do hope you can see your way clear to joining the team again as without you none of this is possible.

 

Kind regards

John

Good for butterflies and bees

There may not be many birds showing off at the moment, but there are plenty of bees and butterflies enjoying  the flowers on the common at the moment. This seems to be a particularly good year for peacocks, so after a couple of years of not having many opportunities to photograph one, I finally found an obliging specimen in good condition this morning.

Balsam bashing

Very successful working party this morning, to pull Himalayam Balsam plants out before it sets seed. It has pretty flowers, but is massively invasive and if left unchecked would choke the Beck to the detriment of all the native vegetation and the animals dependent on it.

Here's our chairman choking some plants in retaliation.

And here's what he has to say on the matter:

"Dear All

Saturday morning’s exertions were recorded for posterity and here (below) is one of the best.

Thanks again for helping with this annual task which counts among SCT’s success stories.  It must be so  because this year we had to penetrate so much further just to find any Himalayan Balsam to pull out.  I really think we got it all for which not just the community of Southrepps should be grateful but the whole of the Rivers Ant and Bure watershed including all the Northern Broads right the way to the sea.  So now you can feel justly proud of your achievement on Saturday morning – thank you.

Regards

John"

The plant grows along the sides of the Beck and anywhere damp enough nearby to support it, so a certain amount of exploring the deep dark recesses of the site is needed. Here are some intrepid volunteers on their return from the interior.

Urgent trim, and good spots

The call to arms came last evening, that we needed to convene a working party urgently. The recent excellent growing conditions had caused the vegetation lining the side of the boardwalk to grow intemperately, and people were finding it impassable in places. So 10 intrepid volunteers gathered in the growing heat and cut, slashed, raked and swept what felt like several tons of reed and assorted plants. It was nice to discover the boardwalk underneath it all! Anyway, it looks great again now, until it all grows again.

What it did illustrate once again was that we need more volunteers. If many hands make light work, the reverse is true and we all got pretty hot.

I was excited to find a decent sized lizard basking in the sun on the boardwalk: haven't had a good view of one for a couple of years. And then, going back this evening, I found this nice female common darter dragonfly, enjoying the early evening sun.

Great moth, and Crafty Creatures at the FAYRE

One of our Twitter followers found an egg-laying Garden Tiger Moth on the Common a day or two ago. This is a rarity these days, and a great find on our little patch. It's a great moth to look at too: See http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/species/garden-tiger

It was the Southrepps Fayre today, and despite a dire weather forecast it all went well, with no rain. Southrepps Commons Trust had a big presence, with Dr Tim and his able assistants making dragonflies from reeds cut from the Common. We had hoped to recruit more volunteers, so with luck some of the people who took away our details will decide to join in over the next cutting season.