Notification: I must point out that I have special permission to be on the Eversley quarry site of Fleet hill farm, Manor farm and the Hampshire part. These are not open areas for general access. Public rights of way are being incorporated into the sites to enable people to enjoy the new reserves.

Please bear this in mind. Although I refer them in my blog as reserves, they are still, technically, part of an operating quarry. So please keep to the existing public rights of way, and wait for the new ones to be adopted. Also it is will be even more important to stick to the public rights of way when they do become reserves so as not to disturb the wildlife.

Update: Apparently Cemex and RSPB have been working together to restore 1000 hectares of ex-gravel works to prime habitat. The aim was to achieve this by 2020. They actually managed the 1000th hectare in 2017.

Eversley was the first hectare to be restored under this partnership; actually the Moor Green lakes and surrounding area e.g. Horseshoe lake. This youtube video features scenes from Manor farm which regular readers will be familiar with.  Here is an explanation on the RSPB's website, and here is one on the Cemex website about them being runner up in the MPA Quarries from Nature awards due to their work on the Eversley quarry restoration.

27th Jan 2018 - we get a mention in The Telegraph: 50 disused quarries turned into wildlife habitats to help Britain's endangered wildlife. "Eversley Quarry in Hampshire was the first to be completed following three years of work by wildlife and conservation experts."  Ahhh, they missed phase 2, the subject of this blog.

This blog is about a proposed nature reserve on the Cemex gravel extraction works between Finchampstead and Eversley. There are three parts to the reserve.

1. Moor Green Lakes.  This reserve already exists.  It was restored by Cemex some years ago.
2. Manor Farm.
3. Fleet Hill Farm.

Initially, this blog concentrates on the restoration efforts Cemex engaged in prior to handing over the reserve to a conservation group for day to day management.  Once this happens, I would then hope to chart the efforts required to turn the raw restoration into a fully operational nature reserve.

That being said, there is already a wealth of wildlife inhabiting the site, mostly as Cemex have ceased extracting gravel, and appears to be a mecca for bird watchers.  We often encounter them as we walk around the footpath, humping their tripods, spotting scopes, cameras and binoculars or perhaps exchanging notes with each other on what they have spotted that day.

Although I live about three miles away from the proposed new reserve, I only learnt about it recently. I started to photograph the efforts Cemex are expanding in clearing the gravel works and, as is the nature of such endeavours, realised I had a photo journal before I knew it.

Extent of entire reserve

The plan below shows the extent of the reserve.  It stretches for 2.2 miles along the Blackwater river.

Moor Green Farm is already a nature reserve, namely Moor Green Lakes nature reserve. For more details see here Moor Green Lakes Group or here RSPB entry. Perhaps you could join us on one of our work parties to aid in the conservation of this reserve.

Fleet Hill farm is supposed to be ready as a reserve by end of summer 2017. Apart from a few sub-phases, this appears to have been achieved.

Approximately 18 months later, Manor Farm will be incorporated into the reserve. A target date in a planning application I read suggested that restoration of Manor farm should be completed by 31st December 2018. Personally, as of 7th October 2018, I can't see this happening unless the scale of infill is altered drastically or a lot more resources are thrown at the restoration effort.

You may notice, dear reader, quite a few differences between the various plans and google earth images of the reserve displayed below. I am not sure why.  I suspect that some of the differences are due to extraction of gravel. This is certainly true of the Fleet Hill farm portion of the reserve. Note: I have since discovered that the plans for the restoration were fairly fluid and subject to numerous alterations.

Update: I am keeping my speculations for historical reasons. Part of the 'fun' of keeping this blog is working out what Cemex and Inert are up to.  Well, the later posts show that they are infilling Finch pond. They may also modify Cormorant and Manor farm lakes to look more like the plan.

Plan of proposed Manor Farm part of reserve and image from Google Earth

NOTE: I've finally got around to updating the google earth image with the expanded reference points. Hopefully, this will allow you to navigate my text a little better.

The plan below is the Manor Farm extension. Below that is a Google Earth image as of March 2017. Note the difference between the it and the plan.  Particularly Finch Lake, which is now huge, and what I have been calling Cormorant Lake which is supposed to be joined to the bigger lake to its right.  The Pump Station area, currently on dry land, would be in the middle of a lake, according to the Cemex plan.

As described above we start our walk at the Moor Green Lake car park, located in the top right hand corner of the map. The details shown in this map are the proposed public right of ways, and possibly some further landscaping. As an example, currently there is a sizable lake at the point I call the Pump Station.  This lake is not shown in the map.

There are large areas of this new reserve I have not photographed as we have tended to keep to the current public footpaths.

We cross the Longwater road at the culvert/entrance to the reserve  to get enter Fleet Hill farm immediately opposite.

Plan of proposed Fleet Hill farm part of the reserve and image from Google Earth.

This is the Fleet Hill farm extension showing proposed structure and public right of ways. Below that is a Google Earth as of Sept 2017.

Stone Crusher lake is a small manky green lake. The plans below suggest that it will be filled in.

Swan lake is also a small manky green lake, which according to the plan will get bigger.

There is a large part of this extension that I have not really photographed as we have tended to stick to the footpaths. Most all the restoration had been completed by the time I started photographing the works.

Update 7th October 2018. I suspect that apart from a few small pieces of work (e.g. completion of bridle path) Fleet Hill farm is pretty much restored. One of the planning applications I read said that tree planting will occur in the year after restoration has been completed. As this happened earlier on in 2018, this would suggest that, apart from a few sub-phases, restoration is complete.

This post shows how the Fleet Hill Farm and Manor Farm parts of the Cemex Eversley gravel works has changed over the years since 1999.  Credit has to go to the Google corporation for their Google Earth initiative and also for developing Googe Earth Pro.  This free application allowed me to explore a history of the images Google have taken of our planet since 1999, and to also save images.

I would recommend you download Google Earth Pro.  It allows to you to zoom in to see an incredible amount of detail.

As well as showing the evolution of the area, the images also demonstrate the evolution of the techniques Google used to photograph the landscape.  If you look closely you will notice that Google had problems stitching some parts of the images together.  They also either went through a number companies to do the fly over and photography or simply garnered images from different GIS companies over the years.

The images below have been reduced considerably in size from the Google Earth images. It would take ages for this blog to load across the network if I left them at full resolution.

Note. I've used Google Earth as was readily available and convenient to use.  There are other GIS sources available, which may provide even higher resolution images or greater quality.  You pays your money and takes your choice.

Several times in this blog I mention the complex geology of the area.  I found a map, courtesy of my old College, that goes part way to showing this complexity. Greater detail can be found here Eocene sands and iron map a natty title that sort of rolls of the tongue.

I've taken the liberty of inserting a much reduced image in this blog. The vertical red line marks the Longwater road. If you zoom in you may just make out the words "Cemex works" to the left of it. This is actually on the Fleethill farm part of the works. To the immediate right of the red line is Manor farm. Count two large lakes to the right and you reach Moor Green lakes.

Quite a landmark are our works.

This is now pinned to the top of the posts.

I have largely ignored Chandlers farm over the years. Partly as most of the restoration will be (and has been) given over to sports facilities, and partly as it is still an operational quarry. I believe there are some 50,000 tonnes of stuff still to be extracted once the site buildings are demolished.

A small area of the site (the north west corner) is to be given over to a nature reserve, and I'm sure I read in one planning document that there was to be a community growing area. Another name for these could be allotments, perhaps. We need more allotments, especially considering the waiting list, and the need to do something to save this planet.

I present to you, courtesy of Google Earth Pro (a free app well worth getting hold of) the changing face of Chandlers farm - the original Eversley Quarry.  Manor farm and Fleet Hill farm are subsequent extensions to this quarry.

I'm deeply suspicious of both the imagery and the dates attached to them.  The earlier ones exhibit particular problems, typical of a fledgling service. Imagery has come from various sources, with varying degrees of quality, and they have been stitched together with varying degrees of accuracy.

I'd certainly take the imagery dates with a large pinch of salt. The year 'might' be correct, but the date is not always correct e.g. images dated 31st December or 1st January show deciduous trees in full leaf!!!

Consider the 'settlement ponds' in the top right hand corner of the site.  These three rectangular ponds are, I believe, where water (pumped out of the various ponds and lakes) are passed through to allow sediment to settle out, before the water is put into the Blackwater.  The photos for 1999/2000 show these ponds. The ponds are missing from the photos dated 2003, only to reappear in 2004.

I hadn't appreciated how much restoration had already taken place on Chandlers farm. Note the football pitches - rather poshly flood lit at night. I thought they had been there before the quarry. But no. They were one of the first parts of the quarry to be restored.

You will also notice the stop-start nature of the restoration. Not readily apparent from the large gaps in the imagery data, but quite normal as I have reported in this blog.

Still, it looks as if Hampshire county council is putting pressure on Cemex to get Chandlers farm completed, judging by the all out effort put in this year. Alternatively, it might be Inert flitting around the various sites, as we have seen over the past couple of years.

However, at least this is being done. Hopefully, the surrounding communities will benefit greatly, and hopefully a small fragment of this planet will be saved for wildlife and future generations.

Enough ramblings, on with the show.

I haven't visited Fleet Hill farm in months. Not entirely sure why. Concentrating too hard on Manor farm.

Although Fleet Hill farm is a lovely reserve, I do find it somewhat flat and featureless. Manor farm is in danger of following suit when the north embankments are bulldozed flat, but there will be a remnant of higher ground to overlook the reserve. This does give such a refreshing perspective.

I took a peek into a random selection of the tubes containing the saplings that were planted last year.  A large number had perished in the extreme heat we had. Many were replaced earlier on this year or was it late last year.  I am glad to say that many of the tubes I looked into contained a small if very much live sapling, whilst some were shooting up well above the anti deer tubes, looking like small trees.

Cemex had a whole load of reeds planted in various lakes and ponds throughout the reserve. I'm not sure why, as I notice most of the lakes have considerable growths of bull rushes. Perhaps the reeds were of a different variety.  I didn't take a peek into the enclosures to see how they are doing - though they were taking last time I saw them.  The problem with all these rushes, which I surmised and birders have mentioned, is that you can't see anything. This is exacerbated by Fleet Hill farm being so flat.

I might be mistaken, but I did notice that whoever rents some of the fields on this reserve for grazing has removed an electric fence they had erected across the bridle path Inert created a couple of years back on the south east side of the reserve. I don't remember it being removed the last time I visited this area. It was an anomaly which a number of people mentioned.

Unfortunately, some of the closed off fields, and access to them, hug the Blackwater. Future plans call for a bridle path to run along the Blackwater, before turning north near Fleet Hill farm proper to join up with an existing footpath (and new bridle path) running along the north edge of the reserve. I assume that this will be built when Manor farm and Chandlers farm are fully restored, and are in a position to be handed over to whomever will maintain the resulting reserve.

My main reason for visiting Fleet Hill farm was to photograph dragonflies. I remember from last year that the area was buzzing with them. I wasn't to be disappointed. The main dragonflies visible were Black-tailed skimmers. Which is a rather odd name, seeing as the males are virtually all blue, whilst the females are yellow and black.  There were other dragonflies and plethora of damselflies and demoiselles which, sadly, I could not identify. Distinguishing between the various demoiselles is tricky.

I did spot a Green Sandpiper, which a birder had informed me she had seen some weeks ago. I never knew such a bird existed let alone what it looked like.  There were a flock of five Little white egrets, and the Grey Herons were lurking over here as well. Far too distant for me to get a decent shot of was a Stone Catcher.

On with the slide show, starting with scenic shots of Fleet Hill farm. You'll notice it all tends to look alike. What I have done, which sort of half works, is to give each photo a number and then a place on a map with arrow pointing in the direction of shot. In hindsight I should not have put a 'P' in front of each number. The map got a bit cluttered due to me taking multiple shots from one location. First the map, then the slide show.

I may well visit the reserve again in the near future, to photograph some of the lakes I missed this time round. I did spend two hours or so wandering around the place.  Now on to some wildlife, starting with a Green Sandpiper, which landed not more than 20 feet in front of me on the north bank of the Blackwater. It spotted me when I took a photo of it, gave an almighty squawk before flying off to the other side of an adjoining lake.

The Black-tailed Skimmers were all over Fleet Hill farm, not just around the ponds.  Another good place to spot them is Manor farm. They seem to like the north and east embankments a lot. I guess because they were quite clear of vegetation for the longest time. You'll notice that the skimmers do like the gravel bridle path.

They did sport various forms of damage to their wings. This didn't seem to affect their flying abilities. There are a couple of Hobbies around the reserves. They specialise in catching dragonflies.

Finally, some odds and sods.  Insect life was quite bountiful on Fleet Hill farm. Quite a few landed on me, and a couple (the Horseflies) tried to take a chunk or two out of me. It is quite alarming that the only place you encounter large numbers of insects is on a reserve. More alarming is that the species that were very common in my youth (e.g. Small Tortoise shell) are quite rare even on the reserves.

There were loads of Gatekeeper butterflies, other small brown ones I could not identify, and a huge number of crickets and grasshoppers.

Inert appear to have made a small foray on to Manor farm sometime over the past week. The gate to Manor farm near the Bailey bridge was wide open, and there were a few vehicle tracks. Nothing major, hints of one or two vehicles doing one or two small trips.  There were signs that stuff was added to the barrier across the Longwater road entrance. Otherwise, I couldn't see anything obvious from where I was on the footpath.

Our pump was quite silent, resulting in raised water levels in Cormorant lake.

Chandlers farm get even more lumpy as yet more stuff is trucked in. There are quite a few large heaps dotted about the place, with the old boulder sorter outers chugging away on occasion.

On the wildlife front. This year's brood are very much in evidence, especially the various geese. They seem to have had a very successful year. Egyptian geese are beginning to congregate. Swallows and swifts were more in evidence now that the weather has turned favourable. With luck they will manage one if not two broods during July and August.

We begin our slide show with a gallery of two; seeing as Inert have not yet returned to Manor farm.

Now the wildlife slide show. My usual early Wednesday morning stomp first brings me to a five bar gate, near the MGLG car park, which is the north west entrance to Colebrook lake. I always pause at the gate, hoping to get some decent wildlife shots. Normally quite speculative, as the birds tend to be a long way from the gate.

I pointed my lens at some interesting floaty birds who were almost across the lake, getting near to Plover island. They turned out to be Great Crested Grebe, and they seemed to be doing a courtship ritual. I stayed focused on them.  This was a fortunate decision. I noticed they had dived under the water and came up with vegetation in their beaks. I had a strong hint that something spectacular was going to happen. It did, and I photographed them doing this; the first time I have ever witnessed this.

The whole display is over and done with in about 20 to 30 seconds. Hardly surprising considering the effort it takes to tread water like that. Most of the images are heavily cropped, as the birds were about 100m away. They came out quite well considering my lens is at its worst at 600mm. I feel very, very, very lucky to not only have witnessed this display but to have also managed to photograph it; especially as I normally storm around the reserve at speed roughly once a week.

Moving on to more mundane photos. There were a lot of crickets and grasshoppers around. You could hear them, but not really see them. I didn't have time to hunt them out to photograph them. Similarly, dragonfly are in abundance, but difficult to photograph as they move so fast. Butterflies were also more in evidence.

Needless to say, with a post title like that it is still quiet on Manor farm. Even our periodic pump paused puffing - though water levels were lower than of late.

Chandlers farm getting lumpy again is in keeping with how this restoration lark appears to go. Loads of spoil are dumped in heaps, dotted about a site. They are then bulldozed into lakes and ponds, to make something reasonably flat. Then, either more spoil is dumped into dirty great big heaps or huge areas of flat infill are gouged out and pushed into a lake or pond.

No one appears to know what is going on or when the restoration is to be completed. Even less is know about après completion.

We'll kick off our small slide show with some panoramic views of Chandlers farm from the south end of the bailey bridge.

Now onto wild life shots. There was a lot of it about, as they say, particularly on Cormorant lake.  Favourite areas being the scrap, attached gravel bars, plus the mud flats and land mass (aka previous infill) on the north shores of Cormorant lake south.  I'm not sure about Cormorant lake north, as I have been keeping off Manor farm due to the breeding season.

In addition to the birds, there were a plethora of insects, particularly dragonflies and various damselflies. Butterflies were strangely light in the air (as it were), unlike previous weeks when I spied numerous Red Admiral.

Given the large number of nettles with Peacock butterfly caterpillars on them, I hope so see quite a few of these colourful insects in a month's time. Not many photos this week, even though there was plenty to see.

A highlight for me was photographing a barn owl peeking out of its nest box on the north shore of Colebrook lake. I normally point my camera at the box in the hope of spotting something, which I did last week but it was too grainy and indistinct to call an owl. This week, however, the owl did not disappoint.

Bear in mind the nest box was well over 100m away.

With a blog post title like that, it can mean only one thing. Yep, no work on Manor farm.

A quick storm around early Thursday morning (too cloudy on Wednesday) revealed our periodic pump puffing away this week. Though only one of the out flow channels had water coming from it. I swear I arrive at the Bailey bridge round about break time.  It all tends to go quiet.

Talking of quiet, there wasn't the usual banging and crashing around the works building that usual accompanies my stomp around the footpath.  Needless to say, Chandlers farm looks ever flatter.

On the wildlife front.  There were all the usual suspects lurking around, with the scrape in Cormorant lake populated with hosts of, well, Cormorants (hence its name), along with the usual gaggle of Tufted duck, gulls and terns, Canada geese (who have had a particularly spectacular breeding season) and some Greylag geese.  These latter birds, on the east shore of Cormorant lake, got spooked by something and all headed for the safety of the water.

It was a bit early for insects to be out in force. There were, however, a fair number of Red Admiral butterfly around. Most were engaged in sunning themselves, trying to warm up.

As usual, well when I can remember, I pointed my camera at the owl box opposite Colebrook hide. I did manage to get a photo of an owl in the box. However, to 'see' the owl, I had to heavily process the image in FastStone. Even then, you can just discern a shape of what appears to be an owl.  I've deleted the photos, electing to wait until I get a sharper photo.

Finally, the 'hidden' side of Blackwater Valley Countryside Trust and the Moor Green lakes Group - remember them, the conservation group who maintain (with much gratefully received support from Cemex) the various reserves along the Blackwater.  I noticed that just south the footbridge near Colebrook hide, a new section of fencing had been put in.

I call it the hidden side, as the work parties are the more visible side to members and volunteers, as they join in to maintain parts of the reserve. This aspect gets good publicity on various media pages. But it is the on going, day to day stuff that tends not to be 'visible' or reported.

On to the small slide show. I like these short updates. They only take about 45 minutes or an hour; I do have to sort, process and shrink images, before up loading them and giving them captions.  A normal update tends to take two to four hours.

Yes folks, I have been subjecting you to photos of the restoration efforts on the Eversley quarry for two years now.  Actually, it was the 18th June 2017 when I first took a photo of the conveyor on Manor farm and Fleet hill farm.  Back then I thought the restoration was nearing its end.  Two years on and...we're still going strong.  Perhaps, just perhaps the latest schedule will be adhered to: Manor farm completed at the end of this year, Chandlers farm building razed as well, with hand over at the end of June 2020.

Will Inert/Cemex complete Manor farm this year? Well, as I have said on numerous occasions, it will be touch and go. Manor farm is still out of bounds. Our faithful pump was off when I wandered round on Thursday and Friday; though it had reduced water levels considerably.  This means that there will only be roughly five months for Inert to complete the infill of Cormorant lakes north and south, and to merge it with Manor lake. Completing footpaths and bridlepaths, along with any fencing (which desperately needs fixing) can be done in parallel with the infill, and sub-contracted to other companies.

It looks as if your intrepid recorded will have numerous early Saturday morning stomps for at least another year.

I know it may come as a shock to many readers, but I got my first mobile (smart) phone this last Wednesday.  Yep, I have been doggedly doing without a mobile phone. All the more remarkable seeing as I have worked in hi-tech industries for decades; well able to program computers from assembler/board level all the way up to using sophisticated data analysis platforms.  I still have the phone turned off more times than on.

One reason for buying a smart phone was the thought I could dispense with carrying two cameras around with me. A DSLR for wildlife photos and a bridge camera for wide angle shots. Well, it was a qualified success.

With its 27mm equivalent lens, the smart phone took quite good scenic photos. All went to pot, however, when I 'zoomed' in. Said mobile has a maximum zoom of 8x.  Only it turns out it is digital zoom. There is no optical zoom. The results are pretty poor.

The good news is that the smart phone has a very good macro facility. I was most impressed. Unfortunately this facility does require docile subjects as you have to get right up close and personal with them; like within 5cm.  That being said, you get stunning results when you can do so.

Thus, I carry three cameras around with me. My DSLR/Sigma lens combo (for long range wildlife), a Lumix bridge camera (for wide angle shots) and the smart phone (for macro). How barmy is that?

These first set of photos are of Chandlers farm as seen from the Bailey bridge. This whole area is definitely getting flatter, and you may notice that the banking along the south side of the site has been eaten into.

I notice mud on the Bailey bridge. This indicates vehicle traffic has occurred over the week. I'm not sure what has taken place on Manor farm or where, as I have been staying off it due to the breeding season.

Moving swiftly on to some bug shots. Insects are in crisis. This only came home to me when some of us of a certain age will remember the bug splats we got on our windscreens and bonnets when travelling in spring and summer months. Some younger people will never have experienced this. There simply aren't the numbers of bugs any more.

Reserves like Manor farm, Fleet hill farm and Moor Green lakes are even more critical.

Anyway, here are some bugs spotted around Manor farm and Moor Green lakes. Some taken with my smart phone, others with my DSLR.

Now the birdie shots.  All but one were on Colebrook lake, near the hide.

Yes, dear reader, this is not a usual weekend posting. I shall be somewhat busy over the coming weekends, taking sprog on various university open days and such like. It's easier to get the weekly posting completed ahead of time.

Firstly, have you completed Gardenwatch? You still have a few weeks to do so.  Last time I looked, some 205,000 missions had been completed. This translate to roughly 1 in a hundred households. However, seeing as the mission total includes all three missions, and that the true figure of households taking part is probably the first mission, which clocked up 114,000 entries, then roughly 1 in 200 or so households took part.  Bit of a shame, really, that most viewers of Springwatch didn't take part.

Rainfall has been almost relentless this past week. Great for reservoirs and my garden. Not so brilliant for some wildlife. However, those birds that fledged early appear to be thriving.

I was lucky in that a small break in the rain coincided with the time of my Wednesday stomp. Even then I went earlier than usual. Which is just as well, as the rains started not long after I returned.

With all this waffling, you can surmise (quite correctly) that nothing has happened on Manor farm. Inert are still going all out on restoring Chandlers farm. I did notice, as I approached the Bailey bridge, a man in a hi-vis walking north towards the pump - the outflow into the Blackwater was silent, indicating the pump was off. Just as I reached the Bailey bridge, I heard the pump burst into life.  Very temperamental, is out pump.

Just as well somebody was despatched to switch the thing on. Water levels had risen dramatically. The Blackwater was up by about two feet, with the various lakes on Manor farm and Moor Green lakes up by six inches to a couple of feet or more.  In hind sight, I should have popped over to Fleet Hill farm, as this is prone to flooding, with the Blackwater bursting its banks.

Anyway, with nowt going on at Manor farm, I get this Saturday morning off (which is just as well, as I we shall be on the M4 heading to Bristol) and the wildlife fest continues.

However, firstly some photos of activity on Chandlers farm and the raised water levels in Cormorant lake (south).

Something special. I posted some photos, some weeks back, of a Little Ringed Plover which was lurking around Moor Green lakes. They are seen quite frequently around the area. This Wednesday I was lucky to see it again, this time lurking on the flooded gravel bar I have christened Cormorant spit. I was even more lucky to capture it in flight.  Last I saw, it seemed to be heading over to Moor Green lakes.

Lapwings were not to be seen, this Wednesday. A little odd, considering last week's large numbers. These three Oyster Catchers, normally on Moor Green Lakes, put in an appearance. Probably because they have been seen of by the Lapwing nesting on Plover Island.

A post title like that means only one thing: Inert are still concentrating on Chandlers farm. Further more, it was actually a little more 'lumpy' on Wednesday morning. Lots of lorry sized spoil heaps, dumped in the middle of the western side.

On the other hand, our stalwart pump is still chugging away, with a considerable flow of water from the two out flows; which should be a touch greater today due to the torrential rain we had all yesterday and through to the early morning of today.  It's been a long time since we've had such sustained rainfall or so heavy. It was hammering down at 2:00 am.  Pretty much like what has been happening during this week's SpringWatch.

The result of all this pumping is that water levels in Cormorant lake (south) have dropped considerably, revealing more of the scrape and its gravel bar - what I used to call Cormorant spit. I notice that the birds seem to prefer this long thinnish structure over the scrape. Designers of the reserve take note.

There were lots of Lapwing about. One of my photos has twelve of them on the scrape and spit. This points to them having a successful year, breeding wise. We should see flocks of a hundred or more come autumn/winter. Overall I saw more bird life on Cormorant lake than I have done in many months. This could simply be a fluke or might be due to the re-emergence of Cormorant spit.

I did start my stomp with a sighting of a Hobby.  There are some breeding pairs around the reserves, and I have seen them a couple of times. The one I saw was circling quite high above the footpath halfway between the MGLG car park and Colebrook hide.

With no restoration activity on Manor farm, we kick off with photos of the birds on Cormorant spit and scrape, plus three Lapwing on Manor lake (north).

We have an insect crisis of titanic proportions. The one statistic that stands out for me is this; when you drive in the countryside or trunk road (e.g. Motorway) you no longer have bugs splattered all over the car's bonnet or windscreen.  This is a pretty frightening thought. No bugs = no food = no wildlife; and possibly no us. A lot of plants are pollinated by bugs.

I do my tiny bit to help, with my chemical free garden. Even so, I notice a dearth of hoverflies, butterflies and ladybirds; amongst others.  Reserves like Moor Green Lakes, and proto reserves like Fleet Hill farm and Manor farm, help in a small way; if anything to simply provide wildlife corridors.

With that morbid thought, here are some photos of various more noticeable insects I photographed from various parts of the footpath running from MGLG car park to and along the Blackwater.

It seems to me that the Canada geese have had a really good breeding year.  Here is a large creche, feeding on the north bank of Colebrook lake (north).

Finally, for this weekend's update, the Hobby. Difficult to track with my camera/lens combo as it was quite high up and moving very fast.  Strangely, the birds on Colebrook lake (north) didn't seem overly concerned about this raptor flying over their lake. Maybe they didn't see it as it didn't hang around long.

Normally I see Hobbys flying close to the ground. Their favourite prey is dragonfly. No captions as such, simply the photo of the bird (either zoomed in near 300mm or 600mm) and then the heavily post processed cropped image. The latter is so you can see the bird rather than its silhouette.