Snow already!

After last year's excess of snow I thought we might be let off lightly this year; I certainly don't approve of the unseasonably early fall of snow last night. However, dressing myself up in my very warmest outdoor gear, I took myself and the dog (who keeps her warmest outdoor gear on all the time, just in case) around School Common and the boardwalk.Not much to see by way of wildlife: a party of long tailed tits by Scouts' pond gave good value, and I heard a bullfinch but couldn't track it down. I fear the bearded reedlings must have moved on; perhaps our reed beds weren't extensive enough for them.

 However, the snow made everything picturesque, and the newly cut areas are looking good.

Bearded reedlings/tits

Great news. A pair of bearded reedlings/tits were seen at 8.00 am Monday 8th Nov, near the patch which was cut on Saturday . Showing well and calling regularly.  Let's hope they stay on!

Working Party 6th November

The first working party of the cutting season, and our Secretary had promised "Tomorrow morning will be dry and bright, albeit wet underfoot." The bit he got right was the wetness underfoot, but in fact there was also a great deal of wetness above foot too. It was drizzling a lot; when it wasn't drizzling, it was belting down. The nine volunteers looked like drowned rats, but in the true spirit of British stoicism we laboured on. We didn't even let the rain stop us eating our biscuits; that's true pluck.

This working party was the first time John Houlgate's magnificent cart was used in earnest. My advice to John is to keep on building carts and other labour-saving devices, and leave the weather forecasting to the charming young women at BBC Norfolk. The cart was a great success, meaning we were able to move the cut reed much more easily to our dumping sites. There had been fears it would sink in the mud, but by and large it coped well, and we learned a few tricks we hope will make it easier still in future working parties.

Despite the rain, I think it's fair to say we all went away well satisfied with our work, and it bodes well for the rest of the season.

November 3rd and 4th

A pair of Kingfishers are regularly spotted around The Pit, could they be nesting in the bank.?


The Commons continues to attract large numbers of visitors of the human variety. Following Duncans recent post, I met and talked to a group of sixty hikers on the Warren boardwalk . They were very comlimentary about the work being done to protect this important local nature reserve and enjoyed their visit. Many had copies of the new leaflet to hand.

Saw a female Kestrel taking a bath in one of the puddles at the Warren, got quite close before she
noticed me and flew away.

Fungi and walks

Lots of fungi on show in the woods now. Not much in the way of exciting birds though. There has been a big influx of waxwings in the country in the last week, including some seen in Norwich. As anyone seen any in Southrepps?

Today saw about 40 people of assorted ages on a sponsored walk across the boardwalk and beyond. Brilliant! It's lovely to see the common being used as a natural place for such events, and I hope they all enjoyed themselves.

A Year in the life of The Pit

Looking at The Pit today it is hard to believe that is just over a year ago that extensive work to secure its long term future was completed. The Pit had become so badly silted up that it could retain very little water. This in conjunction with a very prolonged dry spell threatened its existence and the habitats of frogs, toads, fish and other wildlife.

A small group of volunteers went into action, rescuing and moving hundreds of fish into temporary accommodation ( paddling pools).Then over a two week period with the substantial help and resources of Carl Bird , hundreds of tonnes of silt was carefully removed. Once the original clay membrane was exposed, the depth of The Pit had been increased from a few centimetres to well over a metre. The surrounding areas were re-graded and the Fire Brigade came to our assistance to partially refill The Pit. Fish were returned to their original haunts with minimal loss. Children got their paddling pools back.

Now, the landscape surrounding The Pit has fully recovered .Silt which was pushed back into woods has settled and starkness has been replaced by wildflowers, shrubs and grass. It has never looked better. A drain running down Pit Street into The Pit has been found and excavated and this together with overflows from drain gullies ensures most rainwater runs directly into The Pit and not down the road .This will reduce and may eradicate the drains blowing out at the bottom of Pit Street during torrential downpours in the future.

During this year, numerous male frogs were once again seen gathering at The Pit and croaking loudly to attract females. There was a noticeable increase in frog spawn, tadpoles and froglets in the water. Fish have flourished and spawned well in early summer increasing their number. This is probably just as well given that each day at dawn and dusk a grey heron visits The Pit for breakfast and supper.

Moorhens have returned, flourished and successfully reared two sets of chicks. A pair of mallards adopted one of the Lilly pads and although they started to collect in preparation for a nest they departed after a few weeks and didn’t return.

Muntjac and roe deer are regularly seen drinking from The Pit and most recently, a pair of kingfishers has been seen taking fish, a very welcome return.

It has been a great year; The Pit has been saved and made good for another twenty years. The surrounding landscape continues to recover encouraging a variety of plants and wildlife.

Roger Neal
October 16th 2010

Working Party 9th October

A group of a dozen volunteers turned up this morining in pleasant weather to carry out a varied working party. Most of us were concentrating on controlling the alder and willow which is doing its best to dominate the mixed grassland between the Beck and Warren Road. This area is rich in grassland species, some of which are quite rare, so it is important that we do what we can to preserve the habitat. It's daunting work however, when you see how many alder and willow saplings have grown up in the two years since we last attacked it.

Another group worked wonders on the protecting the supports for the bridge over the Beck, which was being undermined by the stream washing the mud away from it. A couple of years ago revetments were built, and these needed to be renewed. The end result looks like it will be effective for another while, and it also looks suitably natural. It is important that the bank of the stream is not damaged around the bridge, and we would therefore ask that dogs and children are discouraged from going into the water there.

Whilst we were working, a casual glance at the sky revealed a Buzzard passing overhead, which is always a thrill. A little later, as I was walking back across the boardwalk, a skein of 50 or so Pink footed geese flew over, sounding like a pack of excited puppies. Yet another sign of autumn!