After a manic week and a bit of family events, life returns to the medium slow lane. I didn't pay my normal Tuesday visit to Manor farm as it was very cloudy and then poured with rain. The mild, exceedingly wet weather persists. Wednesday, however, was bright, clear and cloudless. Wonderful for photographing birds...only they were somewhat sparse on the ground. The Blackwater was bank full in places, possibly flooding in others - most notably sections of Fleet Hill farm (unless the banks have been shored up) - with plenty of standing water over the restoration. I reckon conditions on the recently restored areas will be lethally soft. As you would expect, not much, if anything, has happened since the start of my short hiatus. The idea to to let the ground settle down and consolidate. Having one deluge after another 'may' assist this process slightly, as huge rain drops beat on the ground. Manor farm was as I left it, two weeks ago. Chandlers farm was eerily quiet - and I doubt it had anything to do with it being a tea break. Not a piece of heavy plant in sight or clank of machinery to be heard. Only the spider armed boulder crushers upper was to be seen, lurking silently on a hill of spoil Water levels in Manor lake were not very high, despite all the rain and named storms of late. I feel there is a crucial sluice gate missing, one that was on the original plans, namely along the straight channel leading to the culvert under the Longwater road. A sluice gate is needed here to control the flow of water out of Manor farm in a westward direction. I suspect that MGLG members have set about building a fence of brash and branches to stop access to the north bridlepath. It should stop all but the most determined of walkers, but there were a couple of points in the fence where very easy access is possible with minimal effort. The fence needs more branches. Unfortunately, this effort is very much like barricading the front door of a castle, whilst leaving a back door wide open. Along the eastern side of the south bridlepath, large sections of fencing have collapsed, allowing walkers, dogs and horses to simply step onto said path. The two sluice gates have not yet been fitted. Strange that, considering Inert were rearing to get on with the west sluice gate way back in June. One worry with this break in work is that if it is left too long and work doesn't recommence until next year, then we are in danger of yet more postponements as construction stretches into the breeding season. Though I do ask whether efforts will be made to provide plenty of pebbly ground for Little Ringed Plovers to breed? Needless to say, updates will be sporadic over the next few months. Comments are closed.
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AuthorA polite notice first: All photographs on this blog are owned by me and subject to copyright. Archives
November 2025
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