Scrub Bashing!

Yes, it’s that time of year again. The SRG hordes are out every Saturday morning armed only with with loppers, saws, Thermos flasks and sundry other tools to to cut back the scrub which has grown up over the year at Stanford reservoir. We’ll be doing this, weather permitting until April. This promotes a dense undergrowth in spring at the reservoir. To explain why we do this throughout the cold and damp months, here is a quote from a letter kindly sent to us by one of our regular birdwatchers:

‘There was a late spring evening last year when I stood quietly at the back of Blower’s Lodge Bay. From this one spot, I could hear Grasshopper Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat and Garden Warbler, plus the usual ‘commoner’ species.

This diversity is a testament to the hard work the group puts into managing the habitat’.

What a kind thought! This is absolutely true, the warblers (and indeed many other birds) love the dense undergrowth generated following scrub bashing, where they feel secure to nest and bring up their young; so we feel our effort is very well spent. Please note that readers are very welcome to join us in this endeavour- contact details can be found on the SRG main web site (a link can be found on this page on the right).

Following a morning’s bashing, we had our annual shin-dig on the 21^st January at our spiritual home, the White Hart in South Kilworth, with SRG members and various partners. Here is the commemorative picture of the event- those of a sensitive nature may wish to turn away now…

Stanford RG annual gathering - 21st Jan 2017
Back - Peter N, Ed, Andy, Clare, Simon, Judy, Peter B, Peter R, Adam, Lynn
Front - Kate, David, Jo, Dawn, Denise, Mick

Regards

PETER