Tuesday 20th January 2026
Just three volunteers turned up for our first work party of the year, to be met by Supervisor Eddie, who was levelling a couple of the bigger mounds along the East side of Plotlands Way. Though the ground was wet and boggy the rain held off, which allowed us to do a litter-pick and clear the area in front of the storage container. Eddie then got to work shovelling away the mud that had spread on to the start of the West Walk. We also tried to check the eight reptile mats which were placed around the Reserve in March 2024, but despite using What3Words, an excellent tool, we were only able to locate one of them. It's possible that a couple are buried beneath piles of grass cuttings, another has been swallowed up by advancing blackthorn scrub, and the remainder removed by council workers when they were cutting the meadow areas.
The mains leak south of the cleared scrubland has been fixed but some groundwater remains and the area looks messy with vehicle tracks clearly visible. The water company spread some top soil over the area which helps a little, and hopefully by the end of Spring it will be back to normal, and the bird's-foot-trefoil and yellow rattle which flourish there won't have been affected. The fencing is still up preventing access to the Eastern end of the Reserve. The creation of a temporary path has been delayed by bad weather, but work should begin on that within the next week or so. A permanent replacement for the boardwalk now looks unlikely to happen until April at the earliest (the start of the next financial year).
Willow and Meadow Ponds have a decent amount of water in them, but Puckles and Fox are little more than big puddles, though they should all slowly fill if the unsettled weather continues as forecast. The recent cold spell has prevented any early spring flowers from blossoming, but there are plenty of fungi in the woodland areas, including the colourful hairy curtain crust (also known as false turkey-tail).
Tuesday 17th February 2026
The afternoon started sunny and rain free, but it was quite chilly and began clouding over later in the afternoon. We had five volunteers this month and restricted ourselves to a litter-pick and clearing away any overhanging foliage along the paths. Supervisor Eddie issued us some official large purple 'Street Cleansing' bin bags to use for collected rubbish, and these will be left outside the main gate to be collected by the Council. There is now a new Risk Assessment document to be agreed by volunteers working with Basildon Council, which is a long read, but contains some sensible advice.
The heavy rains this month have delayed work on the construction of temporary paths to replace the boardwalks, so the Eastern part of the Reserve is still off-limits. Patches of groundwater can be seen throughout the woodland areas and meadows, and even the temporary ponds are now full, as are all the main ponds except Fox Pond, which is the opposite of what has sometimes happened in previous years when it's been the only pond to retain its water. However the woodland paths are still walkable and are relatively mud free.
Despite the lack of foliage, birds are still more often heard than seen. We've had very few sightings of winter migrants in the Reserve this year but there are goldfinches, jays, long-tailed tits and great spotted woodpeckers to look out for. The prolonged cold weather has delayed the spring flowers. Daffodil leaves can be seen but no buds yet. Very few plants are blossoming other than the occasional patch of white dead nettle, which is perhaps the hardiest of our native annuals. What we do have in abundance are patches of lovely bright green feather and hypnum mosses. These both thrive in the shade and can sometimes be found growing together, covering fallen branches and tree trunks.
Tuesday 17th March 2026
Five volunteers turned up this month, to be met by a couple of workers from Countryside Services who were there to clear up an abandoned camp behind Puckles Pond (which we helped with) after which they removed an overhanging tree along the west woodland walk. The usual litter-pick took place, and we all checked out the new paths that have been put down replacing the boardwalks. The consensus was that a good job had been done, and though it still looks 'raw' with all the fresh mud and gravel along the sides, the paths are high enough above the currently waterlogged ground to keep one's feet dry. Unfortunately the spur leading to Meadow Pond wasn't done, which will make the pond difficult to get to when there's heavy rain, but this might be remedied in the future if the funding becomes available. Sadly we've probably lost our little patch of primroses and bluebells by the start of the old boardwalk, as the mound where the lived has been flattened to allow vehicles easy access into East Meadow.
The ponds remain full, with the exception of Fox, which seems to get shallower while the rest get deeper, though that was the only one where there was any suggestion of newt activity - no sightings, but some suggestive ripples. Having so many ponds, the lack of common frog spawn each year is surprising. (The spawn of our edible frogs is much less visible and appears in May or even June, later in the year than that of the common frog. Birds to look out for this month are chiffchaffs and blackcaps (both early summer migrants). There are a few mallards and moorhens on the bigger ponds, but no nesting behaviour so far.
With the blackthorn and wild cherry beginning to blossom, the Reserve is starting to look much prettier. Patches of violets are appearing along the verges and the daffs are now in flower. Periwinkles, stitchwort and celandines should all be out in the coming weeks. In the shadier areas the large bright green arrow-shaped leaves of cuckoo pink are easily spotted, sometime covered in splendid black splotches. Whereas once it was mainly found along the High Ridge, it can now be found throughout the Reserve.
Tuesday 21st April 2026
For most of the afternoon we had bright sunshine, but the wind blowing from the north-east was a bit chilly. We managed to get plenty done, despite being down to four volunteers, with Supervisor Eddie on hand from Countryside Services. As well as the usual litter-picking and cutting back of side-growth, the remains of an abandoned camp in one of the woodland areas were removed. The new paths are holding up well and the deep tracks caused by the heavy equipment used to lay them down are slowly being covered with grass and spring flowers.
Most of the ponds look healthy, apart from Fox Pond which continues to shrink, though there've been very few sightings of frogs and newts so far this year. In the hedgerows and shrubbery the white blossom of the blackthorn has been replaced by that of the hawthorn, and cow parsley has taken over from greater stitchwort and garlic mustard as the dominant flower along the sides of the woodland paths (though we seem to have an abundance of chickweed this year). Perhaps the prettiest sight is our solitary lilac tree (on the left of the path leading towards Fox Pond), which is now in full bloom. It's lovely to see the butterflies back again. The commonest ones to be seen at this time in the Reserve are orange tips, though only the males have the characteristic splash of orange on their white forewings - the females can be distinguished from small whites by the underside of their wings, which are heavily mottled.
Tuesday 19th May 2026
We only had four volunteers this month, on a day which started out damp and cloudy but brightened up as the afternoon went on. The usual litter-pick and cutting back of side-growth took place and a butterfly count was done (though very few were seen as it was still quite humid). Supervisor Eddie brought along a chain saw, which he used to cut down some saplings to block access to an area in the north east of the Reserve where 'camps' are occasionally found. It will be interesting to see how successful this is!
All the ponds have plenty of water in them with the exception of Fox, which is little more than a large puddle. Meadow Pond is again the best place for watching damselflies, though disappointingly we haven't seen any newts there this year so far. The late Spring flowers are now beginning to blossom, including at least three species of vetch by the brick bridge, and a large patch of yellow rattle along the start of the Western woodland path. The nightingale was again heard, but the sighting of the day was probably a cucumber green spider, possibly the first to be recorded in the Reserve.
Tuesday 16th June 2026
Four volunteers turned up on a warm and sunny afternoon, with just enough breeze to keep it from being too hot. Two of the Countryside Services team were already on site, and they got on with their strimming while we did the usual litter-pick. In addition we took down a large overhanging branch along the High Ridge and secured the anti-slip wire netting on what remains of the Puckles Pond dipping platform.
Fox Pond is now completely dry, but the remaining ponds still have plenty of water in them, at least for the present. Meadow Pond, though no longer so accessible since the boardwalk was removed, is filled with typha (great reedmace) but otherwise looks healthy, with false fox-sedge and bittersweet growing round the edge and sea club-rush flowering in the meadow area nearby. There are plenty of butterflies to be seen, mainly small whites and meadow browns, but red admirals, commas and marbled whites have all been sighted. Summer flowers to look out for this month are mallow, nipplewort and common poppies (along Plotlands Way), scented and scentless mayweed (there's a fine display in the central area of the Reserve), the tiny scarlet pimpernel, and goat's rue (which will dominate the Eastern part of the Reserve for the next month).
Tuesday 21st July 2026
It was mild and cloudy for most of the afternoon, brightening up later on. Eddie and assistant Tiff from Countryside Services set to work strimming the sides of the paths and we five volunteers got on with the usual litter-pick and cutting back of sidegrowth along the woodland paths, as well as managing to fit in a butterfly count (which is done weekly from April to September). The two tents that a couple of rough sleepers had erected in the cleared scrubland were still there. The Council have been notified and will presumably be taking action. The potential danger of having people camping in the Reserve became apparent shortly after we started work when the smouldering remains of a fire were discovered in the woodland area near Puckles Pond. With everything being so dry because of the hot weather and lack of rain, we hurriedly phoned the emergency services. It wasn't long before three firemen turned up in a big fire engine and set off carrying buckets of water to extinguish the embers. As if that wasn't enough excitement we were also treated to the sight of a kestrel mobbing a lazily circling buzzard high up in the sky for several minutes, the first time either of them have been recorded in the Reserve this year.
The ponds continue to struggle. Rosebay, Prewer's and Fox are now completely dry, the northern part of Willow is shrinking by the day, and Puckles Pond has been reduced to a big puddle. It's hard to tell the state of Meadow Pond because it is covered in typha (great reedmace), though it's likely that too contains very little water. While the obvious cause is the recent spell of very hot weather, it is also the result of no longer digging out our ponds regularly. The area surrounding Fox Pond was cleared of saplings and opened up to the sunlight a couple of years ago, but the pond itself is still too shallow to retain its water throughout the year. We hope to have the national wildlife conservation charity FrogLife visit all our ponds in the next few months and make suggestions on how they can be improved for the benefit of our remaining reptiles and amphibians.
The early summer flowers are disappearing - the hogweed and hemlock has been replaced by wild carrot and upright hedge parsley, the vetch and goat's-rue by willowherb and red bartsia (which seems to be abundant this year), and the yellow rattle by knapweed. Bittersweet and water mint can be found around the edges of Meadow Pond, and the yellow fleabane along the far side of East Meadow is attracting lots of butterflies including painted ladies, small whites, gatekeepers and common blues. Our large patch of Canadian goldenrod near Prewer's has again provided its annual splash of colour. Dragonflies can be seen patrolling the meadow areas but they are hard to identify in flight - it's likely they are emperors or hawkers. We still have no recorded sightings of lizards or snakes this year, which is worrying!
Tuesday 18th August 2026
The afternoon was mild and cloudy - a welcome relief after all the hot weather lately. Five volunteers turned up, plus supervisor Eddie. We did the usual litter-pick and cutting back of side-growth along the paths, but because of the lack of rain the brambles and briars have been less of a problem this summer. Surprisingly there was still a little water in Willow Pond, but the others are all dry. We're looking forward to FrogLife offering us advice on how to renew out ponds later this year. Apparently they will also take on the responsibility for overseeing the necessary work, which we would be very grateful for.
Most of the summer flowers are beginning to fade, but there is enough knapweed and fleabane for the larger than usual number of butterflies to feed on, mainly small whites and holly blues, together with a few common blues and green-veined whites which are more likely to be found on the far side of the Reserve. One of the plants that doesn't seem to be badly affected by the heat and drought is ragwort, whose bright yellow flowers can be seen high above the grass in the meadow areas. This is an important food plant for many insects including several that are 'nationally scarce'. However it is more commonly associated with the distinctively coloured caterpillars of the cinnabar moth, last recorded in the Reserve in 2020.
Tuesday 15th September 2026
It was another mild cloudy afternoon, with the sun occasionally shining through later on. We were down to three volunteers this month (one new!), though we had brief visits from a couple of members of the Committee, but unfortunately they weren't able to stay. The usual litter-pick was done, and also some clearing of the shrub and undergrowth around the edge of Puckles Pond. Meanwhile Supervisor Eddie was taking down the branches of the large willow tree in the centre of Meadow pond, and his two assistants were doing the same to a willow tree in the south east corner of the Reserve. This was part of the work needed in preparation for upgrading most of the existing ponds and creating a new one (still to be named). The digging out of the ponds is being coordinated by Froglife, who visited the Reserve the previous day to do an assessment, and will be funded by Natural England.
Despite the occasional shower of rain this month, all the ponds remain dry with the exception of Willow Pond, which is still full following the mains water leak in late August. The grassy area north of the start of the West Woodland Walk, where there was a mains leak last December, now has weld and wild hen growing in it, both of which are useful caterpillar food plants. (This may be because dormant seeds became active when the ground was disturbed, and/or the seeds may have been in the topsoil that was brought in to cover the depression caused by the contractors' vehicles.)
We've had fewer damselflies than usual this year but there have been plenty of dragonflies, some of which are still in flight, including ruddy darters. Although the long hot summer has left the meadows brown rather then green, there are enough flowers left to attract a few late butterflies - speckled wood, red admiral, common blue and the less often seen clouded yellow (our first records of it since 2007).
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