Warnham LNR - Update

Warnham LNR - Sunrise

Finally I have managed to get round to writing a blog post! With all the latest goings on at the Reserve it has been pretty hectic trying to repair some of the damage which was caused by the sluice gates being opened but hopefully the Reserve is starting to head in the right direction again and the matters of restocking the fish etc will all be in hand soon.

Warnham LNR Dam Wall Project

So now for some good news...the sheet piling part of the Warnham Millpond Dam Project is now complete and we can return to some sort of peace and quiet on the Reserve. After nearly 11 weeks of piling every day from huge diggers and various other plant the contractors from BAM Nuttall have now told us the the piling is complete and has gone well. The next steps in the project are to cap the metal work in either timber or concrete and to build the curved retaining wall alonside the Mill. Hopefully the works will carry on in good time and before we know it the millpond will be back to its old self.

Hornet's Nest

With all the recent wet weather it is no surprise that some of the tree's have rotted out. It was sad though to see such an old warrior of a tree fall over in Walnut Tree Plantation. The particular tree was left as standing deadwood and always looked like it was a miracle that it was still upright but it was always full of surprises...it even left one in it's final resting position! When it fell over and was laid out on the ground you could see a HUGE Hornet's nest inside! Luckily the Hornet's had all moved on and the Badger's had had their fill but it was an incredible sight to see and must have been at least 3ft in size.

The final piece of news is again frustrating but sadly we have been having some vandalism at night at the Reserve. Firstly we found some drug paraphernalia which we informed the police about and they recommended locking the hides of a night. So we have done so since however we then came in to do the morning rounds to find the following. It is such a shame that a nature reserve funded mainly by donations and volunteers is the target of such abuse. As a result the Heron Hide is still closed until we can get a locksmith to give us a quote to repair the damage.

Heron Hide - Vandalised

Woodpecker Hide Screens - Damaged beyond repair