Tuesday 17 December 2019

A Wet Winter

Well, after several dry winters the tide has finally turned, or at least the weather has. It's been a fairly wet couple of months up till now and finally, over the last week or so, it has been noticeable that many of the ditches on the reserve are close to normal winter levels. We still haven't got large wet splashes of water across the grazing marsh, the type that attract the wading birds and wildfowl in large numbers, but I have a feeling that that is about to change.
As I write this we're just coming to the end of 14 hours of continuous unbroken rain, water is pouring down the roads and out of every drive and garden around here, it is bloody wet!
When it does eventually stop I'll go down to the reserve and see what a difference this last lengthy session has made but it'll be over the next week that changes will really start to show. The reserve is lower than the arable farmland alongside it and therefore all that rainfall on the farmland will gradually drain into our boundary ditches. They in turn will then over-top and spread out into the grazing marsh and quickly produce the conditions we have been missing for the last 4-5 years.
That all sounds perfect, my moans about dry winters will be at end, but it then creates a new moan, daily walking round in part flooded and very muddy conditions is bloody hard and tiring work, especially when you have arthritic joints as I do, but you won't see me stop.

Apart from that, wildfowl and wader numbers on the grazing marsh part of the reserve have continued to be low so far, except for the geese. They have remained fairly constant over the last few weeks. Yesterday, when our team carried out this month's Wetland Bird Survey (WEBS) on the reserve, part of my count produced 220 Greylag Geese, 41 White-fronted Geese and 1 Tundra Bean Goose on the reserve and 600 Brent Geese feeding on the winter corn alongside the reserve. There were also 5 Pink-footed Geese for a few weeks but they appear have transferred to nearby Harty marshes for the moment. Apart from the Greylag Geese, the other geese species are truly wild geese that winter in the UK from the far north of Europe. The Greylags are semi-feral, here all year round,  breed throughout much of the South in large numbers and despite regular attention from the local wildfowlers and duck shooters, never seem to diminish in numbers.

Lastly, joy of joys, this Sunday sees the Shortest Day - nothing will change much in day lengths for another month, but it'll kind of feel like it is and that's good enough. So, hopefully my next blog posting will contain photos of a part flooded reserve and perhaps news of an increase in bird numbers.

14 comments:

  1. I totally get your 'joy of joys' comment Derek! I cannot wait to see the back of the shortest day and look forward to lengthening days. Even though I know it's mostly in the mind, I don't care. When I know the days are getting longer (even though imperceptible) it cheers me up...

    I envy you your wild geese.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Gavin. I've just popped down the reserve and the flooding is quite intense, what a difference in less than 24 hrs.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You paint an improving picture of the Reserve Derek and I am pleased to hear it. Here everywhere is very wet underfoot and this week it is very cold too, although set to become a bit warmer tomorrow for a couple of days. We had quite a lot of snow at the week end but it is almost gone now.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm sure the wildfowl will enjoy it as well Pat but it's gonna make getting round on foot difficult as the water levels increase.

    ReplyDelete
  5. We must be of similar ages Derek. The weather reduces my effort with my photography but I shan't give up, I'll just wait for the days to get longer. Happy Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm 72 Mike, happy New Year to you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The winter solstice is always welcome but the rain here has been virtually non stop and the ground is totally saturated. Enjoy the festivities.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hello I want to share my amazing experience with the greatest spell caster called Prophet Abulele my husband was cheating on me and when I found out we had a fight which lead to him requesting for a divorce I cried and fell sick when I was searching about love quotes online I saw people talking about him and his great work whose case was similar to mine they left his contact info I contacted him and he told me not to worry that after 24hrs he will cancel the divorce and be back to me after i did everything he asked me to do to my greatest surprise the next day evening it was my husband he knelt down begging me to accept him back, thank you once again Prophet Abulele you are indeed a blessing to me. If you are out there looking for his help you can reach him for easy communication on Whatsapp +2349022406159 or email him via his email prophetabulelehealingtemple@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. EFFECTIVE LOVE SPELL TO GET EX HUSBAND/BOYFRIEND OR EX WIFE/GIRLFRIEND AND CURE HERPES AND INFERTILITY THAT WORKS WITHIN 24 HOURS.

     Contact Dr. Odunga at odungaspelltemple@gmail.com OR Whats App/CALL +2348167159012

    I got my ex husband back to me and also got fertile and gave birth to twin girls after 12 years of marriage.
    When I came online last year, I saw a testimony about Doctor ODUNGA and how he has been helping people with marriage issues and I decided to contact him. We spoke on email at odungaspelltemple@gmail.com and later he gave me his WhatsApp number which is +2348167159012. He assured me he would help me get my ex husband back after 3 years of no contact. Doctor Odunga is the best spell caster I must say. My husband called me after 24 hours of contact. The third day, I received natural herbs for fertility and after using it, I became fertile and conceived. I and my husband reconnected, had sex and I was pregnant. Presently I am happy to say I am the mother of twin girls and this is ALL THANKS TO DOCTOR ODUNGA. I came online to say this If you need help, I believe you are saved with this man.  

    Contact his email at odungaspelltemple@gmail.com

     OR Whats App/Call +2348167159012 and you too will give a testimony too to help others

    ReplyDelete
  10. A GREAT SPELL CASTER (DR. EMU) THAT HELP ME BRING BACK MY EX GIRLFRIEND.
    Am so happy to testify about a great spell caster that helped me when all hope was lost for me to unite with my ex-girlfriend that I love so much. I had a girlfriend that love me so much but something terrible happen to our relationship one afternoon when her friend that was always trying to get to me was trying to force me to make love to her just because she was been jealous of her friend that i was dating and on the scene my girlfriend just walk in and she thought we had something special doing together, i tried to explain things to her that her friend always do this whenever she is not with me and i always refuse her but i never told her because i did not want the both of them to be enemies to each other but she never believed me. She broke up with me and I tried times without numbers to make her believe me but she never believed me until one day i heard about the DR. EMU and I emailed him and he replied to me so kindly and helped me get back my lovely relationship that was already gone for two months.
    Email him at: Emutemple@gmail.com  
    Call or Whats-app him: +2347012841542

    ReplyDelete
  11. My life is back!!! After 1 years of Broken marriage, my husband left me with two kids . I felt like my life was about to end I almost committed suicide, I was emotionally down for a very long time. Thanks to a spell caster called Dr Mark, which I met online. On one faithful day, as I was browsing through the internet,I came across a lot of testimonies about this particular spell caster. Some people testified that he brought their Ex lover back, some testified that he restores womb,cure cancer,and other sickness, some testified that he can cast a spell to stop divorce and so on. I also came across one particular testimony,it was about a woman called Alandre,she testified about how he brought back her Ex lover in less than 2 days, and at the end of her testimony she dropped Dr Mark e-mail address. blessedlovetemple@gmail.com After reading all these,I decided to give it a try. I contacted him via email and explained my problem to him. In just 48 hours, my husband came back to me. We solved our issues, and we are even happier than before. Dr Mark is really a gifted man and I will not stop publishing him because he is a wonderful man... If you have a problem and you are looking for a real and genuine spell caster to solve all your problems for you. Try blessedlovetemple@gmail.com anytime, he might be the answer to your problems

    ReplyDelete
  12. BUY CDC COVID-19 REGISTERED VACCINATION RECORD CARD AT +1 (901) 878-9747

    BUY CDC COVID-19 VACCINATION RECORD CARD
    BUY CANADIAN DIGITAL COVID-19 CERTIFICATE
    without taking the vaccine BUY CDC COVID-19 REGISTERED VACCINATION RECORD CARD AT WhatsApp: +1 (901) 878-9747
    Buy Bulk COVID Self-Tests for At-Home Use EU Digital COVID passport EU Digital COVID passport Buy covid-19 test kits at home at lower prices home covid-19 testing kits Buy FDA-authorized home collection kits for rapid covid-19 home test at $100 buy DxTerity COVID-19 Saliva At-Home Collection Kit at$100 Buy Everlywell COVID-19 Test Home Collection Kit at $105 Buy Pixel by Labcorp COVID-19 PCR Test Home Collection Kit at $120 Buy BinaxNOW COVID-19 Antigen Self Test at $50 BUY CANADIAN DIGITAL COVID-19 CERTIFICATE without taking the vaccine Buy Covid-19 Vaccine Certificate without Vaccine WhatsApp: Purchase COVID vaccine passports in Australia, Buy coronavirus vaccine passport in UK
    Purchase COVID vaccine passports in Australia, Buy coronavirus vaccine passport in UK
    com BUY CANADIAN DIGITAL COVID-19 CERTIFICATE
    buy CDC COVID-19 VAX CARD buy eu digital covid-19certificate italy without taking the vaccine buy eu digital covid-19certificate spain without taking the vaccine buy eu digital covid-19certificate polan without taking the vaccine buy eu digital covid-19certificate germany without taking the vaccine buy digital covid-19 certificate Australia without taking the vaccine WhatsApp: +1 (901) 878-9747
    BUY EU Digital Covid Certificate without taking the toxic vaccine The green pass will be required for anyone aged 12 and over and, at the moment, Italy’s digital health certificate is only available to BUY CANADIAN DIGITAL COVID-19 CERTIFICATE people who were vaccinated, tested or recovered in Italy. BUY EU Digital Covid Certificate Buy covid-19 vaccine record card online, for now, the best way to show that you have been inoculated against the corona virus is a simple white card #Buy covid-19 vaccination card online#
    BUY COVID19 VACCINATION RECORD CARD near me without taking the vaccine BUY COVID19 VACCINATION RECORD CARD BUY COVID19 VACCINATION RECORD CARD BUY CDC COVID-19 CACCINATION RECORD CARD covid19 vaccination card near me BUY CANADIAN DIGITAL COVID-19 CERTIFICATE: backhand_index_pointing_right: CDC COVID Card for USA without taking the vaccine BUY CANADIAN DIGITAL COVID-19 CERTIFICATE without taking the vaccine :backhand_index_pointing_right: NHS COVID Pass for UK without taking the vaccine :backhand_index_pointing_right: Canada COVID Pass without taking the vaccine :backhand_index_pointing_right: Australia Digital COVID Certificate without taking the vaccine :backhand_index_pointing_right: EU Digital COVID Certificate :backhand_index_pointing_right: COVID Card for Ireland Covid19 vaccination records scanned approved BUY CANADIAN DIGITAL COVID-19 CERTIFICATE #BUY COVID19 VACCINATION RECORD CARD# BUY COVID19 VACCINATION RECORD CARD BUY COVID19 VACCINATION RECORD CARD BUY COVID19 VACCINATION RECORD CARD

    ReplyDelete