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I’ve been thinking of doing a blog for some time and can’t think of a better place to write one than on WAB.
So now for the introduction.
I am a volunteer at a local nature reserve called at Foxglove Covert at Catterick Garrison. (www.foxglovecovert.org.uk)
This is a Local Nature Reserve covering 94 acres. There is a wide variety of habitats and is, perhaps, the single most important aspect of the reserve. The reserve contains various woodlands, heath-land, flower-rich grassland, streams, ponds, and a lake with a hide. There is also smaller hides around the reserve.
Apart from going to foxglove most weekends, I now have permission to put some nest boxes up on some land that belongs to the company I work for.
I managed to get four boxes up today and will keep everyone informed on there progress as and when there is something to report. This land is a mixture of meadow land, a small wooded area and a river bank. It does have a right of way going through it and the meadow is not used for anything other than doggy walking so the grass is fairly long and tufted. I am hoping that in time I will get permission to do other things on this land to attract more wildlife. I have some pictures on the camera and as soon as I get them edited I will post some on here.
Over the coming months I will be writing about the progress of the boxes and also reporting on my experiences at Foxglove.
So now for the introduction.
I am a volunteer at a local nature reserve called at Foxglove Covert at Catterick Garrison. (www.foxglovecovert.org.uk)
This is a Local Nature Reserve covering 94 acres. There is a wide variety of habitats and is, perhaps, the single most important aspect of the reserve. The reserve contains various woodlands, heath-land, flower-rich grassland, streams, ponds, and a lake with a hide. There is also smaller hides around the reserve.
Apart from going to foxglove most weekends, I now have permission to put some nest boxes up on some land that belongs to the company I work for.
I managed to get four boxes up today and will keep everyone informed on there progress as and when there is something to report. This land is a mixture of meadow land, a small wooded area and a river bank. It does have a right of way going through it and the meadow is not used for anything other than doggy walking so the grass is fairly long and tufted. I am hoping that in time I will get permission to do other things on this land to attract more wildlife. I have some pictures on the camera and as soon as I get them edited I will post some on here.
Over the coming months I will be writing about the progress of the boxes and also reporting on my experiences at Foxglove.
A great weekend
Posted 05-04-2009 at 08:02 PM by Dalesman
This weekend hasn’t been a bad weekend at all!
Firstly I went to Foxglove Covert on Friday and what a change there has been since my last visit. Part of the footpath at the lake has been closed off due to Greylag geese nesting on the waters edge. It was nice to just to sit at one side of the lake for quarter of an hour or so and watch these birds going about there busyness. Some on the water and others just preening themselves. While watching I was aware of the toads mating in the water. One couple, only 10 feet away from me just didn’t seem to mind me being there at all.
After the lake I made a visit to the new wet meadow but could only get as far as the gate as there are various species nesting on there now. The only birds I noticed there were a couple of mistle thrushes between the ponds and the woodland.
Moving on along Risedale beck, it was pretty quiet apart from the appearance of at least three Peacock butterflies. On the way back to the car I made a detour to the beehives to find that there is only one hive there at the moment and that was, “if I may say” buzzing with life. On closer inspection, there must have been at least 40-50 waiting to get into the hive at any one time. Back at the activity centre the indoor hive was just as busy. After a couple of hours it was time to leave. Got back home, put a seat outside the front door, cracked a can of lager and watched the birds coming and going on the tree feeders. Them goldfinches are marvellous to watch on the niger seed feeder. Man, are they hungry little blighters? They never stop eating.
Yesterday was spent in the garden and I was kept company most of the time by a couple of very tame blackbirds. The occasional sparrow or robin would swoop in, pick up a quick seed and swoop out again.
Other that yesterday was rather quiet.
Today got off to a cracking start as me and my son Sam went for our first scuba diving session of the year at Ellerton lake near Scorton.
We couldn’t have had a better day for it as the water was very calm and the sun was doing it’s best for this time of year. After kitting up and doing our pre-dive checksit was time to hit the water. So it was down the steps, fins on, mask on and a bit of a struggle to get my second glove on, here we go.
We descended only a couple of meters to start with and then the intension was to swim out to one of the wrecks but as we hit the bottom I came strait back to the surface with a flooded mask. After a small adjustment we were off, heading for one of the platforms and then turning left to head for one of the boats that had been sunk in there some years ago.
There was new plant growth on the bottom and a few mini beasts running around but no sign of any fish. On the return swim we were following one of the guide lines back to the shore when we met some divers coming the other way. I made a move to the right to let them come through with the intension of turning in behind them and picking up the line and re-joining Sam but the sediment on the bottom had been kicked up that much that the visibility was near to zero, the line was missed and Sam was nowhere to be seen. I found some clear water and swam around for a couple of minutes to see if Sam would turn up but gave hope and made for the surface hoping he would be there waiting for me.
On the surface he was nowhere to be seen but he re-emerged about three minutes later. Then it was a surface swim back to the shore and the dive was complete. We had enough air for another dive but decided against it on the grounds of us both being a little cold. In fact, it took me almost 2 hours to get my feet warmed up again.
Firstly I went to Foxglove Covert on Friday and what a change there has been since my last visit. Part of the footpath at the lake has been closed off due to Greylag geese nesting on the waters edge. It was nice to just to sit at one side of the lake for quarter of an hour or so and watch these birds going about there busyness. Some on the water and others just preening themselves. While watching I was aware of the toads mating in the water. One couple, only 10 feet away from me just didn’t seem to mind me being there at all.
After the lake I made a visit to the new wet meadow but could only get as far as the gate as there are various species nesting on there now. The only birds I noticed there were a couple of mistle thrushes between the ponds and the woodland.
Moving on along Risedale beck, it was pretty quiet apart from the appearance of at least three Peacock butterflies. On the way back to the car I made a detour to the beehives to find that there is only one hive there at the moment and that was, “if I may say” buzzing with life. On closer inspection, there must have been at least 40-50 waiting to get into the hive at any one time. Back at the activity centre the indoor hive was just as busy. After a couple of hours it was time to leave. Got back home, put a seat outside the front door, cracked a can of lager and watched the birds coming and going on the tree feeders. Them goldfinches are marvellous to watch on the niger seed feeder. Man, are they hungry little blighters? They never stop eating.
Yesterday was spent in the garden and I was kept company most of the time by a couple of very tame blackbirds. The occasional sparrow or robin would swoop in, pick up a quick seed and swoop out again.
Other that yesterday was rather quiet.
Today got off to a cracking start as me and my son Sam went for our first scuba diving session of the year at Ellerton lake near Scorton.
We couldn’t have had a better day for it as the water was very calm and the sun was doing it’s best for this time of year. After kitting up and doing our pre-dive checksit was time to hit the water. So it was down the steps, fins on, mask on and a bit of a struggle to get my second glove on, here we go.
We descended only a couple of meters to start with and then the intension was to swim out to one of the wrecks but as we hit the bottom I came strait back to the surface with a flooded mask. After a small adjustment we were off, heading for one of the platforms and then turning left to head for one of the boats that had been sunk in there some years ago.
There was new plant growth on the bottom and a few mini beasts running around but no sign of any fish. On the return swim we were following one of the guide lines back to the shore when we met some divers coming the other way. I made a move to the right to let them come through with the intension of turning in behind them and picking up the line and re-joining Sam but the sediment on the bottom had been kicked up that much that the visibility was near to zero, the line was missed and Sam was nowhere to be seen. I found some clear water and swam around for a couple of minutes to see if Sam would turn up but gave hope and made for the surface hoping he would be there waiting for me.
On the surface he was nowhere to be seen but he re-emerged about three minutes later. Then it was a surface swim back to the shore and the dive was complete. We had enough air for another dive but decided against it on the grounds of us both being a little cold. In fact, it took me almost 2 hours to get my feet warmed up again.
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Recent Blog Entries by Dalesman
- A great weekend (05-04-2009)
- My land (06-03-2009)
- Bird feeders (15-02-2009)
- Update (09-02-2009)
