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Wednesday 18th January 2006 Five volunteers turned up to be met by Ranger Gary and the necessary tools. Work continued clearing the vegetation along the sides of the path at the western end of the Reserve leading towards the bottom of the Spanish Steps (the ones nearest the A127 footbridge). Despite the undergrowth being wet, by the time we'd finished quite a lot of cutting back had been done, providing a pleasant view along the path. Wednesday 15th February 2006 Only a couple of volunteers turned up this month - we were outnumbered by people from Countryside Services! Work continued cutting back the side growth along the milk-crate path. The Reserve was quite busy. It's good to see children being taken to see the ponds, though despite recent rain, they're still very low. The only one that looks at all healthy is the seasonal ditch beneath the willows (on the right just before getting to the lupins area). Unfortunately there was a problem with a bull mastiff and her puppy running loose on the far side of the Reserve. They were quite intimidating. (We've had trouble before with large guard dogs from the property bordering on the East being allowed to roam unaccompanied.) If anyone is threatened or attacked by unaccompanied dogs on the Reserve, then please let Ranger Mark Williams know as soon as possible - tel 07795 752767. Countryside Services view this seriously, but need first hand reports in order to be able to take action. Thursday 16th March 2006 Again there was a low turnout, probably not helped by having to change the day to Thursday at short notice because no ranger was available on the Wednesday. It was mostly a tidying up and clearing away session coordinated by Ranger Gary. Wednesday 19 April 2006 There was an excellent turnout this month of eight volunteers. Again Ranger Mark was busy elsewhere, so Ranger Gary organised the activities. The bench by Prewer's Pond (at the West end of the Reserve) has now been replaced and an area of scrub and saplings was cleared by the Spanish Steps in preparation for the new easy access route leading down from the Ridge. We also managed to put up another nesting box, so depite having a slow start, it ended up being a successful day. Wednesday 17th May 2006 There were six of us this month plus ranger Mark. For the second work party running we had a newcomer to the group, which is encouraging. (Any new volunteers for June?) There were various activities going on in different parts of the Reserve - the new bench got a coat of dark wood stain (which helped cover the graffiti), three more nesting boxes were put up (two suitable for robins and one for blue tits), a start was made clearing back the new growth along either side of the path on the High Ridge, and the rubbish was cleared out of Puckles Pond. (If only people wouldn't throw their bottle and cans and wrappers in the water!) Wednesday 21st June 2006 There were five volunteers this month, and together with Rangers Mark and Gary we had another productive afternoon. Three of us were busy painting, giving the pond-dipping platform and some of the benches their first coat of woodstain, whilst the others were strimming and cutting back the side growth along the path leading to Fox Pond. The most exciting moment of the day was watching an emperor dragonfly using its ovipositor to lay eggs, depositing them in slits made in the water weed just below the surface. Wednesday 19th July 2006 It was perhaps somewhat foolhardy to have a work party at the hottest time of the day on the hottest July day since records began, but neverthless three doughty souls turned up. A second coat of woodstain was given to the pond-dipping platform, though the pond itself is now dry, the first time this has happened since before the Society was formed. Hopefully the pond will reappear in the Autumn and will be deep enough for the newts to breed in by next spring, but this is by no means certain. The remaining benches were also treated, which should help preserve the wood. If we were all wilting in the heat, it certainly didn't worry the butterflies. They were everywhere, probably the highest number that have been sen in the Reserve for many years. Wednesday 16th August 2006 It started out a bit cloudy, but then the sun came out and by the end it was quite hot, with plenty of butterflies and dragonflies about. Five volunteers turned up, and yet again another newcomer, the third this summer! Three of us together with Ranger Mark continued strimming and cutting back vegetation along the sides of the paths, while the remaining two went with Ranger Gary to do some remedial work on Noak Steps, filling in the gaps so that people using them are less likely to trip up. We also spread some gravel on the milk-crate path, but there's a lot more work needs to be done on it, especially on the part that leads towards the Spanish Steps. Wednesday 20th September 2006 Another very hot afternoon. This month we only had three volunteers. Ranger Gary was already riding up and down the milkcrate path on the mower, and our job was to rake up the grass, which Ranger Mark loaded onto the truck for removal. The reason for getting rid of the mown grass rather than just leaving it on the ground is partly to prevent it being a fire hazard, and partly to encourage species diversity by changing the nutrient level of the soil which allows different plants to flourish. After the raking there was still some time over for more cutting back of the vegatation along the sides of the path. It's now possible to get the rangers' small truck to the Western end of the Reserve. This should make it a lot easier to work on the milkcrate path. Previously it meant using wheel-barrows to transport the grit used to fill in the gaps and cracks. The wildlife highlight of the afternoon was seeing a small copper butterfly which obliging settled for long periods while Mark attempted to take its photo. Wednesday 18th October 2006 This month we had four volunteers, and three people from BDC Countryside Services. It drizzled for the first hour but then cleared up a bit. Again we were working on the paths, cutting back the vegetation (which has flourished during the recent warm wet weather) and strimming the weeds. Fungi were everywhere, probably the most that have been seen in the Reserve for a long time. They were all colours, shapes and sizes! There are a couple of local fungus forays coming up, and the timing seems excellent - Mill Meadows on the 5th November at 10:30am, and Norsey Wood on the 11th November at 10:30am. There's been enough rain in the last couple of weeks to collect in what used to be Willow Pond. It's still barely more than a large puddle but it looks better than the dried mud. However the reedmace is now so thick, it's probably more that can be cleared during a standard work party session (unless we have a far bigger turnout of volunteers). Thanks go to Ranger Mark for the wildlife highlight, a slime mould he'd found. It wasn't the most attractive sight, but is more interesting than it looks. Usually it's unnoticeable, but on reaching the fruiting stage it can develop into an organism that can reach more than a foot in diameter, consisting of a single cell containing millions of nuclei. Under the right conditions a slime mould moves in an amoeboid way, reaching a speed of up to 2cms a minute. About five years ago, scientists at the the Bio-Mimetic Control Research Centre in Nagoya claimed that that they'd conducted an experiment which showed that a slime mould was able to learn the shortest route thru a maze. Wednesday 15th November 2006 The sky was very grey, but the rain held off. Despite the lateness of the season the unexpected mildness brought out the occasional butterfly and bumblebee. There were lots of people this month, three from Basildon Countryside Services and nine volunteers, including yet another new face, our busiest work party of the year! A start was made on a new area of coppicing near Puckles Pond. The smaller spindly trees were cut down to open up the canopy, allowing light to penetrate which will hopefully encourage the growth of new plant species, especially woodland flowers. Meanwhile other members of the party were doing some much needed repair work on the Spanish Steps. Earlier in the day Ranger Gary had replaced a missing step, and we continued levelling and filling in the gaps. The areas round the benches on the West side of the Reserve were tided up, cans and cartons removed, and some of the surrounding new growth cleared. The only upsetting thing was the amount of dog mess along the sides of the paths. If dog mess was worth its weight in gold, Noak Bridge Nature Reserve would be the Klondike of South East Essex. There's no work party in December, but now that the work parties don't consist solely of members of the Committee, there's no reason for them to be cancelled just because Committee members can't attend. So perhaps that's something to be raised at the Society's next Committee meeting. |