You lot really are spoilt. So many updates in a week.

I bumped into the Inert site manager, this morning. He was walking the boundary to survey fencing that had been 'knocked down'. I reckon vandalised. Anyway, I reported it to Finchampstead Parish Council when a long stretch of fencing, just south of Finch pond was flattened. It could only have been vandals.

Anyway, within 24 hours of reporting this, Inert were on the case, hence the survey. Hopefully the fencing will be repaired quickly, as there are Little Ringed Plovers and Lapwing nesting around Finch pond, and they need protection from dogs and unauthorised humans entering the site.

As I chatted to the site manager, I mentioned Manor lake and that original plans showed it as being one large, deep lake. He agreed with me, that's what Inert had planned for, until March last year when they received the 'final' plans for the area. Inert were instructed to

a) Fill in the current Manor lake, making it wetlands with deeper meres.
b) Not dig out Manor lake extension, but make it also wetlands with deeper meres.

What a waste of time, effort, expense and of an established eco-system. I feel this is eco-vandalism. It smacks of certain ornithological organisations meddling in the plans. Both myself and Inert want to get this restoration done, and this change of plans (involving between 100,000 and 200,000 tonnes of inert material) has extended completion date. Sheesh!

What the Inert site manager appears to have been told as a reason for filling in Manor lake is it will stop kids (well, teenagers) swimming in it. Balderdash. They will swim in lakes on Moor Green Lakes and Fleet Hill farm. They're not being filled in.  It's a wildlife organisation that has called for these ridiculous changes.

Plus, the bridle path is, as I suspected, being put closer to Manor lake and Finch pond than the footpath. Seriously. Firstly it stops walkers and bird watchers viewing the reserve and birds. Secondly it allows a few, privileged horse riders views of the reserve and, incidentally, to scare off water fowl, as the riders are so high up. Sheesh, the planners should be shot.

On a grey, overcast May day, I dragged myself down to the reserves. Admittedly, my main aim was to test drive my new Canon R7 mirrorless camera.  WOW! Is all I can say.

Anyway, Inert were beavering away on Manor farm, continuing their slow infill of Manor lake. They appear to be filling in the inlet. There was one digger, nibbling away at the mighty pump station mound - which Inert spent ages building. One bulldozer was shoveling stuff into Manor lake, with the assistance of two heavy earth movers.

I think that one heavy earth mover was getting stuff from the mighty pump station mound, whilst the other was trundling over the baily bridge to pick up stuff from a mighty embankment, built on Chandlers farm.  As I've often said, Inert love building mighty mounds and then knocking them down again.

Also, Inert like to test and hone the ability of their heavy earth mover drivers to reverse. Yep, that's what they were doing, reversing onto Manor lake infill. Now I walked on the infill last Friday. Even with all the rain we've had, I can tell you the ground was quite firm. Thus, with all that space available to them to manoeuvre (i.e. turn a semicircle), I am totally baffled as to why the lorries keep reversing long distances.

How long Inert dedicated to the infill of Manor lake is anyone's guess. They tend to flit all over the site, never actually completing a job. Well, that's not true. When they have a big push on, they work like billy-o, but mostly they flit around.

Oh, the pump was chugging away.

I photographed some Lapwing chicks. There were at least seven of them, among two families. There are more breeding pairs, but I didn't hang around to photograph them.

I hope Cemex get the downed fencing fixed. It's a large section of fence that's been pushed down, which allows dogs on to the site. 

Shots of Lapwing and her chicks below. The Lapwing called her chicks to her to be brooded.  There is always one that turns up late.