Frilford Heath Golf Club, 24th January 2015

By Andrew -
This was our first visit of the year to Frilford Heath Golf Club - to continue the maintenance tasks at Boundary House Fen.  It was another frosty start, though thankfully no snowfall this week as we assembled in the Golf club car park - almost 20 strong.  An impressive turn-out.  Once all present and correct, we drove around to the groundsman's area just along the road and unpacked the tools and tea kit, ready for our trek across the fairways to the fen itself.

 It was approaching 10 o'clock before we were in a position to commence operations, with Alison Muldal from Natural England, along with Judy Webb outlining our jobs for the morning.  The reeds at the fen had once again been cut by the golf course staff and it was a matter of raking them up and transporting and piling up these cuttings along the edge of the site, away from the delicate wetland habitat.  At the same time, another group were tasked with removing some small trees and bushes along the opposite edge of the fen in an effort to halt their further encroachment.

 Despite the cold and rather crisp beginnings, the sunshine soon took the chill out of the air and by keeping busy we soon warmed up.  Good progress was evident with the raking fairly rapidly, with the cuttings deposited into builders' 'drag bags' for removal.  A much more efficient operation than pitchforking alone!

 As we worked, red kites circled overhead, a rather magnificent sight!  Not many other creatures were evident, as expected at this time of year however - just a few birds, and certainly too early in the year for amphibian activity around the ponds.  Judy did however spot some fairly locally rare plants to add to her species list.

 Given our late-ish start, tea break soon came along, providing the opportunity to take stock of our progress.  We were over halfway through our reed raking and stacking and thus additional members were re-assigned to the tree removal detail following refreshments.  A good push in the final hour ensured that we completed our mission here, ready to pack up and transport ourselves and the equipment back across the golf course.  As usual our rather messy appearance met with some bemusement among the golfers out for their Saturday round, but it did at least provide a good opportunity to spread the word about our conservations activities at this location!
-Andrew


And so it begins...

Raking underway

James in a thicket

Judy hard at work

A red kite circles overhead

Refreshments by the reed pile

Robert and Alison discuss the plan of action

Sally, raking
Tea-time

Dieuwke and Heidi with one of the drag bags

Robert and Barry sawing one of the fallen trees

Lizzie and Lesley

One of the ponds

Sphagnum moss

Action amongst the trees

A collection of rakes and pitchforks

Finishing-up



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