Dog poo and making nest boxes

One of the mysteries I have yet to solve is, what happens to dog poo? This morning we continued with tree work along the trail. One of the team stepped in some dog poo which had not been cleared up. Apparently it is a hazard of the job, "you are never more than 10 feet from some dog poo".  Dog owners are exhorted to clear up after their animals, and most do, but there are always some who don't. But even worse are those who put the poo in a plastic bag and leave it at the side of the trail.  Apparently there is a dispute between the Countryside Service and the Borough Council about whose responsibility it is to clear it up.  There was an agreement that the Countryside Service would make and maintain the bins, on the understanding that the Borough Council would empty them.  But the Borough Council reneged on their part of the deal. So the Countryside Service took away the bins. The public now leave the plastic bags in a heap in the spot where the bin used to be. So whilst neither of the parties claim to remove these hazards, the plastic bags do in fact disappear. I can only conclude that the responsible dog walkers take them away and dispose of them. Dog poo is an emotive issue, there was even a lunch-time slot on Radio 2 recently which gave an airing to some very irate people.

There were less pairs of hands doing tree work today, so as well as acting as lookout for approaching people, I had an opportunity to be more hands on with the tree clearing and the construction of a brush pile. I had the company of another volunteer who was with us for the first time, so I was pleased to be able to pass on a little of the knowledge that I have gained in the last couple of months. The rain descended in the latter part of the morning, a constant, heavy drizzle that made us all a bit wet.

Our supervisor decided we should spend the afternoon constructing nest boxes, whilst he finished off some paperwork in the office. We drove to the riverside site where the Service has a large shed for storing equipment, tools, timber etc.  The rest of the team had been there in the morning, so we joined them.  A number of finished next boxes lay in a pile on the floor. There were four of us employed on this work. First, pieces of timber are cut to the right shape to make the back, the walls floor and roof of the box. Boxes are of two types. They have either a hole drilled in the front, or they have an open front for larger birds. The holes are drilled to precise sizes with a gimlet, different size holes are suitable for different species:

• 25mm or larger for Blue, Coal and Marsh Tit;
• 28mm or larger for Great Tit and Tree Sparrow;
• 32mm for House Sparrow.

The pieces are nailed together, then the roof piece, which is covered with roofing felt to keep out the water, is attached to the back timber with a piece of rubber strip. This acts as a hinge so that you can lift the lid and peer in.  The British Trust for Ornithology tells you how to construct a nest box on http://www.bto.org/nnbw/make.htm.

It seems easy to do, but again I was trying to employ skills which have never been developed. Why is it so hard to hit a nail so that it goes in straight? My first attempt at box assembly fell to bits after I had attached the second wall. But many bent nails and repeated attempts later, I had finished. My very first next box! A proud moment indeed.

All together, I was told that there were 48 nest boxes deployed along the riverside site. This seemed a lot, but I gather that not all of them are in use all of the time. They last a few years before they have to be renovated or replaced.  One of the lads apparently disturbed a hibernating woodmouse whilst taking down one box. He hurriedly put the box back with some branches carefully positioned  to assist an easy re-entry for the poor woodmouse, who had scampered off into the bushes in fright.

Work in the Bluebell Wood

Another year begins and this is my first time back since early December, though I have called in and chatted with the team in the meantime. I came in at the weekend to confirm my day for this week. There was an interesting discussion going on about two empty canisters of nitrous oxide which one of the team had found in one of the town parks. I wonder what the residents get up to! The dentist has identified one of the canisters as being his property and is coming to collect both the canisters.

I was introduced to another volunteer today. He is like me, retired and needing to do something useful with his time.  Apparently he only comes for a few months in the winter, because in the summer he has a job with the Caravan Club, wardening at a Caravan site in Scotland. The background of the other volunteers is also interesting. One of the regulars is a youngish unemployed man with a family, who has to leave at 3.00 to pick up his children. Then there was another young man who came for a few weeks whilst he was going through a selection process to join the fire service. I am the only female.

It was more tree work on the agenda today.  We spent the morning along the trail, where a couple of trees were felled and we sawed and cleared away the brush.  This was near a heather patch, which apparently is one of only two along the trail. Felling the trees allows more light in and encourages the heather, and at the same time allowing an open vista briefly over the hills. "Some people can't get up the hills any more, so it is nice if they can see heather at low level", I was told. I wonder how many people walking along the trail even think about this?

In the afternoon we were in the Bluebell wood. This is a special site which is a real picture in the spring. The intention has been to create different kinds of habitat in a smallish area, so there is an area of wetland and a wild bit where everything is just left au naturel, as well as the area where the bluebells grow. Our task was to cut down numerous ash seedlings and clear away brambles. The ground was beautifully soft underfoot, being covered with numerous layers of leaf litter. I had a wicked thought that I could creep in in the middle of the night and lift some of it for my garden, but immediately scrubbed it from my thoughts, the team would be horrified with such disrespect!  Some of the bluebells are already beginning to poke through the leaf litter.

Some of the seedlings were quite big, about 5 cm diameter, requiring a hand saw to get them down. The process is to make the cut about 20cm above the ground, then to level the stump to the ground with a second cut, in order to prevent obstacles that people might trip over. I found it immensely difficult to wield the saw in a horizontal motion, and spent about 20 minutes getting increasingly frustrated with one stump. In the end I had to ask for help. The chaps make it look so easy and cut through a stump like this in 30 ses. I wonder whether saw technique is something that can be learnt. The saw always seems to get stuck when I reach a certain point. My father always used to show me things like this when I was young. Clearly saw technique is not something he got round to! I will persevere.