Inert prove me wrong again! They're back on the land mass, with John Stacy. 10th April 2021

I was very pleased to see Inert back on the land mass, along with at least four if not five John Stacy tipper lorries. A digger was working just north east of the copse, but well short of the north shore of Cormorant lake (south).

The land mass, and south vehicle track, have dried out sufficiently for lorries to safely manoeuvre on the site, and they do not have to reverse 100m onto the land mass, executing complicated U-turns on the south vehicle track.  I saw three of them, simultaneously, dropping their loads on the dump area where the digger was working.

Curiously, with so much acreage to work with, Inert have built a single track causeway, which the lorries have to drive over. I have no idea why the causeway/embanking was built, partly as I haven't gone on the site.  There was a large drainage ditch, dug here during the really wet spell. But all Inert need do is fill in a bit for lorries to drive over; not go to all the effort of building an embankment.

The bulldozer was on site, but I am not sure where it was working as it had trundled over to the  bailey bridge for some repairs from a John Stacey man.

It is good to see Inert back on the land mass. Long may it continue, as the quicker this infill is completed the quicker Manor farm can be a proper nature reserve. In the meantime, nothing will be breeding on the land mass as it is a waste land from its latest infill; no cover, no vegetation, no suitable pebbly surface to hide eggs from predators, etc. A pretty hostile place for birds.

What breeding birds there are, confine themselves to the east mud flats (which has lots of cover and pebbles), Cormorant lake (north) and the infill of what was Finch pond. Though even Cormorant lake (north) isn't a brilliant place for birds to breed. It's water levels fluctuate dramatically, and there are lots of foxes and badgers breeding in the north embankment and woods beyond, having easy access to any flats that might surface in the lake.

The birds also totally ignore all the heavy plant, lorries and assorted vehicles trundling about the site.  A couple of Shelduck were chilled out in a large puddle, just yards from the land mass vehicle track. They'll probably leave when the pond dries out; which it will probably do soon, as we've had such little rain of late. We've gone from one extreme of continuous rain for months on end, to the other extreme of virtually no rain for weeks, thus far.

All photos taken on Thursday 8th April, when I visited MGL on a rare, glorious sunny morning. Wide angle shots taken on my cheap mobile phone.