Friday 29 March 2013

Gorse in flower

Common gorse flowers a little in late autumn and through the winter, coming into flower most strongly in spring. Gorse is almost always in flower, hence the old country phrase: "When gorse is out of blossom, kissing's out of fashion". Gorse flowers have a distinctive coconut scent, which can be smelt quite strongly in warm weather.

Thursday 28 March 2013

Weather Forecast

Fleet Pond Easter Trail Weather Forecast 6'C and Sunny :D yey perfect!

Bring wellies to the Fleet Pond Easter Trail


Some of the paths are a little bit muddy so wellies or walking boots are advisable.  A couple of patches might not be passable by wheelchair.

Sorry

Louise - Fleet Pond Countryside Ranger

Parking for the Easter Trail

The access track to Fleet Pond has dried out enough to re-open the road but the pot holes have gotten really bad the road is scheduled to be resurfaced over the next few weeks please drive slowly and carefully if you decide to park in the Fleet Pond Main Car Park. Alternatively for the Easter trail on Sunday 31st march and Monday 1st April you can park in the Fleet train station car park, the picnic area will be sign posted from there.

Monday 25 March 2013

Fleet pond access track flooded

Unfortunately we have had to close the access track to fleet pond main car park off cove road. The road has flooded. We are looking into getting the drainage pipe into the railway unclogged as soon as possible. The access track is scheduled to be resurfaced in the next few weeks with new pipes put in so hopefully this won't happen again. Sorry for any inconvenience caused for more information please call the countryside rangers on 01252 623443 or email countryside@hart.gov.uk

Tractor driving course

Apprentice Ranger Izzy, Ranger Rachel and Fleet Pond Ranger Lou are on a tractor driving course this week it's really important learning how to use the front end loader which is great for moving gravel, woodchip and other heavy things. The tractor also has a PTO on the back which enables us to use the mower and the salt spinner.

Thursday 21 March 2013

Dredging at Sandy Bay, Fleet Pond

Dredging work to deepen Sandy Bay has provided an opportunity to widen the open beach area for visitors to enjoy. Dredged sand will be spread over the areas that have been cleared of bramble by volunteers, to give a wider beach which will have a slight gradient to allow rainfall to run off into Fleet Pond.

Once the silt has been smoothed off and settled the objective is to provide more seating and a smoother access track from the boardwalk to the seats for mobility aids (e.g. wheelchairs) and child carriers.

Some of the extracted silt will be used to repair the erosion in the main access track beside the boardwalk.
We apologise for the inconvenience caused by the need to close the beach area while the work is being done.

Funds for these works have been provided by Fleet Pond Society’s Clearwater Campaign.

For more information contact
Hart Countryside Service 01252 623443
or countryside@hart.gov.uk
Fleet Pond Society 01252 616183
Or chairman@fleetpondsociety.co.uk

Footpath resurfacing

JDB Contractors are doing a great job resurfacing the footpath along Fugelmere road. The edgeboards have been cut by JDB on their mobile saw mill using Oak timber felled on Sandy in Church Crookham. Another good example of recycling and great to use local timber :D

Unfortunately we have had to close the footpath for health and safety but it will be open soon

Tuesday 19 March 2013

Cattle fencing at Hazeley Heath

Today we've been putting up the cattle fencing at Hazeley Heath with Izzy the RSPB Project Officer for Hazeley Heath North. The cattle are coming in April for year 4 of the grazing trial.

Friday 15 March 2013

Fleet Pond tern rafts find a new home!


The two floating tern rafts at Fleet Pond have been restored and installed at Moor Green Lakes, recycling at its best!

Blackwater Valley Countryside (BVC) were commissioned by the Chairman of the Moor Green Lakes Group (MGLG) to assist the group with the restoration of the two rafts. The rafts provide several benefits for nesting terns over the existing Moor Green Islands namely; mink-proof fence, suitable small gravel, and mobile so easier to maintain by volunteers. At Fleet Pond the rafts have a proven history of being used by terns for nesting and preventing predation of chicks by terrestrial and aquatic predators.  The tern rafts were no longer needed at Fleet Pond as they now have had permanent islands built.


The restoration work was carried out by BVC rangers & volunteers, Merrist Wood students and volunteers from MGLG. A special thank you to Tony Elston and Chris Bean for leading the restoration of the rafts.

This was a great example of recycling tern rafts which were no longer need at Fleet Pond and installing them at Moor Green Lakes where they will provide a substantial increase in suitable breeding sites for terns. The approximate £400 of materials spent on both rafts represents a clear saving of around 75% of the cost of purchasing them new. The rafts were large and heavy which meant that loading and transporting them was a major undertaking. Also Towing out first finished raft the restoration took a surprising amount of time, with lots of fiddly work by volunteers at Ash Lock. This resulted in the tern raft restoration becoming a major project for Moor Green Lakes, with a large input of volunteer and staff time. Thanks to the efforts of all our volunteers we now have two great additions to the reserve.

 
Stuart Croft, Blackwater Valley Countryside Ranger. 5/3/2013.
Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership. www.blackwater-valley.org.uk Tel: 01252 331353

Clearing Holly at Fleet Pond

Jdb are clearing holly at Fleet Pond near the gelvert stream. This is for the new stream diversion. The new channel will take 1/3rd of the flow in high rain fall events (when we get lots of sediment in the stream) and it will meander through the woodland and join the ditch which runs through Coldstream marsh. This diversion slows the water down and hopefully allows the sediment to all settle out before it enters the pond.

Thursday 14 March 2013

Glade creation in Phoenix Green

The Hartley Wintney Conservation Volunteers have been working hard in Phoenix Green Common to create a sunny glade in this lovely woodland. They have cleared an area of mostly sycamore saplings either side of the path. This new glade will create a light, sunny and warm area to encourage a diverse array of beautiful wildlife such as the Speckled Wood butterfly and birds such as Woodpeckers and Treecreepers. It is important within a woodland ecosystem to have some open space to create these sunny pockets.

                                                                          Before
                                                                         
                                                                            After
                                                                         
The Hartley Wintney Conservation Volunteers are run by the Hart Countryside team every second Tuesday of the month. If you would like to get involved please email countryside@hart.gov.uk.

Tuesday 12 March 2013

Cutting pines on the wet heath

Today the silwood park conservation group are out on the wet Heath at fleet pond cutting the pine saplings which are shading out the heathland plants. The wet Heath is a great habitat and lots of exciting species can be seen here including Adders, Ling and Bell Heather, Bog Asphodel and Bog Myrtle

Fleet Pond Easter Trail

Sunday 31st March (Easter Sunday) and Monday 1st April (Easter Monday) join us for an Easter trail around Fleet Pond. Drop in anytime between 10am and 2pm at the Fleet Pond picnic area and pick up a trail leaflet. Follow the trail around the pond answering clues and taking part in activities, and at the end receive an Easter egg. £3 per tail pack (includes Easter egg) For more information please phone the Hart Countryside Ranger team on 01252 623443 or email countryside@hart.gov.uk

Monday 11 March 2013

Snipe at fleet pond

Common snipe at fleet pond. Much longer bill than jack snipe. When flushed they make a sharp call and fly in zigzags to confuse predators. In courtship they fly in circles and vibrate their tail feathers to produce a drumming sound this is called winnowing. The sound is similar to a goat and in some languages they are called flying goats.

Jack snipe are much smaller and when flushed fly without calling. They have a distinctive feeding technique bobbing up and down which is really funny.



The dredgers return

The dredging machinery has arrived back at the pond. They will be finishing the goose fencing on the remaining islands, dredge the area near sandy bay using the sand to fill in the holes in sandy bay and along the track next to the board walk. A sediment curtain will also be put in which will hopefully stop any silt coming in from the gelvert stream spread into the rest of the lake

Friday 1 March 2013

Scrub removal on Odiham Common

Hi Its been a busy few weeks on Odiham Common whilst the rain holds off. This week contractors have been using a forestry flail to cut patches of blackthorn scrub on the southern meadows. 

These areas have been flattened by snow falls in recent years and spread out into the meadows. Part of the Higher level stewardship agreement with Natural England is to increase the meadow areas which this work will do. Any debris left on the ground will be cleared with an excavator in the next couple of weeks to allow grasses and flowers in the seed bank underneath to germinate over time. Whilst it may look a bit of a mess just now it will look great by the end of summer.

With the help of students from Lords Wandsworth College on Friday afternoons the Ranger team and apprentices have been busy at the north end of the common cutting an area of coppice. This is a really important habitat in the woodland. This area was last cut nearly ten years ago.

Watch out spring is well and truly on the way. Enjoy the great outdoors.