There was almost 12 hours of rain, sometimes torrential, yesterday. All was very moist, today.
Another unusual weather phenomenon appeared today, it got warm! Yes, it actually felt warm after so many months of feeling cold.  By the time I visited Manor farm at 16:30, it was positively boiling! Haven't felt this toastie in months.

What did my site visit reveal? It simply confirmed that Inert have been continuing their restoration (aka infill) of Manor lake, just very, very slowly. Our faithful pump was off - not surprising, seeing as it is a bank holiday weekend - but I reckon Manor lake will fill with water quickly due to the torrential rain.

Clambering around the infill area, I could see that no nesting birds were on it. Hardly surprising, seeing as Inert have been trundling on it. All birds have sensibly chosen to nest on the Manor lake extension, the main and higher reed beds, and restored areas around Finch pond.

Inert have flattened the whole area of infill I last reported eight weeks ago. Back then I saw a distinct track along the banking to East fen, which had some nasty ruts. This is now nice, flat and graded.

A funny little 'inlet' has been partially filled in, taking the whole west half of Manor lake further southeastwards.

I'm not sure why progress is so slow. I doubt if it's due to a lack of inert material - there's so much of the stuff lying around. On Chandlers farm, for instance, I saw a mighty long mound of the earth, recently created by Inert, running north south through neat where the old works were.

Restoration is all progressing depressingly slowly.

I'm not too sure what happened to the ordering of my photos. Microsoft windows 11 appears to have had a mishap. Oh well, I'm too tired to reorder the photos.

Headline says it all, really. Our Saturday stomp revealed our faithful pump off, with water levels rising. My stomp today, Tuesday, revealed the pump chugging away, with water levels falling.

Inert are still plugging away at the northern edge of Manor lake. I really must make the effort to get on and record their restoration. Viewing the north bank of Manor lake from the south footpath indicates further stuff pushed into said lake, with a reasonable amount of levelling.

I actually saw the 'famous' Tawny owl, today. It appears to be well known, occupying a nest box on the peninsular. Said nest box is just about visible from the south footpath. I knew the nest box was there, but didn't realise a) it was for owls, and b) it had a Tawny owl occupant this year, and has Barn owl in previous years. I was told about its existence last week, but not precisely where it was. It took a little hunting to find. Easy enough when you know where to look.

Of course, I forgot my monopod the one time I see the thing. Took a lot of doing to hold my camera steady with my long lens cranked out to 600mm.

Oh, there was also a nice Kestrel hunting just about the south (aka Blackwater) footpath, and a Red Kite glided over after being mobbed by a Carrion crow.

My old lady and me went for a long walk on Saturday. This walk took in, as last week, Manor farm restoration. I should have taken the opportunity to hop on the site and record what Inert had done, but decided to crack on with our walk.

The pump was off, there were signs that Inert have tinkered with the site, and the steel plates across the north of the Bailey bridge have been removed. I can only assume this was done due to the plates moving. Bit of a shame, really, as it was very nice to walk across the plates, rather than having to negotiate deep ruts, soggy mud or mud raised up the sides of the vehicle track.  I guess it is necessary for safety reasons.  I can see some jobs worth numpty 'tripping' on the steel plates ('causes they weren't paying attention) and then suing Cemex for not putting up signs warning them of the dirty great big steel plates.

My other half and I walked along the Blackwater valley footpath on Sunday 16th April. I looked across at the banking between Manor lake and East fen, and thought that there was a darker patch of land that shouldn't be there. Have Inert been back on site?

The same is true of last Tuesday during my normal mid week stomp. There were signs that Inert have returned to Manor lake, albeit low key.

My suspicions were confirmed on today's mid-week stomp. A MGLG member, who I bump into quite often on my stomp, confirmed that Inert were working on the infill. He saw them yesterday.

Further confirmation was gleaned from the steel plates put across the footpath at the north end of the Bailey bridge. Not only had they moved, but they were now heavily encrusted in mud.

The MGLG member also said that MGLG had no objections to Inert continuing the restoration of Manor Lake at this moment in time - hooray, someone at MGLG has their head screwed on properly! Sensitive species - like Little Ringed Plover - would nest further west of the infill i.e. on the Manor Lake extension. Other species would either not nest on the banking or will not be bothered by the heavy plant trundling to and fro.

This is great news as, although Inert do not appear to be working full blast on the infill, at least they are able to keep restoration ticking along. I will attempt an on site stomp to photograph what Inert have accomplished over the past few weeks.

I've often remarked on how perplexing I find the restoration process. Tuesday morning was no exception. Last week the pump was off. I assumed this was because Inert would not be returning to restoration until about the last week of June or first week of July.

Imagine my surprise to find the pump chugging away, and the north gate of the Bailey bridge wide open. Are Inert about to return to filling in Manor lake?

I'm not sure, and will not say so until I see bulldozers, diggers and heavy earth movers trundling around. I did bump into Inert's site manager some time ago, and he said he had to turn the pump back on as water levels in Manor lake and the main reed beds (the bit called East fen by MGLG) were too high. May be this is why the pump was back on. Waste of diesel if not.

However...you saw that coming...with Manor farm now plumbed into Fleet Hill farm, I don't understand why Inert don't simply dig a drainage ditch between Manor lake (east) and Manor lake (west) to drain the area. Cheaper than burning diesel.

I don't forseee many problems with Inert continuing restoration whilst the breeding season is in full swing. I witnessed and commented on the fact that birds and mammals are totally unfazed or worried about vehicles trundling around their nests. It's only when humans appear that they get into a flap.

Of far more danger to the ground nesting birds are the dogs and their owners, and other interlopers who are sometimes seen on the site. A lot of fencing along the south footpath has fallen over, allowing easy access to the site, and some of the home owners on the north edge of the site seem to consider this area their own park - frequently seen taking their dogs for exercise along the northern flanks of Manor Farm. Their dogs are not on leads!

Anyway, wildlife has taken to Manor farm with a vengeance. There are now at least six pairs of nesting Lapwing. One I have seen has a nest on the 'scrapes' in Finch pond south. Can't see Finch pond north as I stick to footpaths during the breeding season.  Little Ringed Plovers are back, as well as Skylarks, and a whole load of geese.

Biggest problem for the Lapwing and plovers is maintaining their breeding places i.e. pebbly, rubble ground. The rate at which vegetation is taking hold is phenomenal. I fear these areas of 'post industrial wasteland' will be gone soon, as there is so much focus on wetlands, reed beds and marsh.