Friends of Weir Wood Society

Category: Work Party

  • Work Party – April 2026

    In April we completed the Willow clearance we started in March in compartment C19 at the Lecomber seat viewpoint with all arisings suitably stacked ready for future disposal. The work was to improve the views from the viewpoint and habitat improvement to encourage more water edge marsh plants.  

    We then went on into the nearby compartment C18 to complete some further Willow and Bramble clearance from the water edge (See pic below) for further marsh plant habitat at the water edge, again with all cuttings suitably stacked ready for future disposal.

    Whilst still in C18 an area of Bracken and Bramble was also cleared where we have some Yellow Ant hills to help retain the hills, and hold back the encroaching bramble scrub and retain an open area for wildlife in this area.

    In compartment C4 of main study area we repaired the footbridge loose handrails over the stream and replaced the steps down to the bridge to make it safe for volunteers access and for our  members walk that we had in April. 

    On Pintail bank C1 we cleared the bramble and unwanted vegetation at the Wader scrape both on the island and around the edge to encourage waders to visit. A large Willow tree which had fallen and was growing horizontally along the water edge in front of the wader scrape area was suitably cut up and cleared with all arisings again stacked ready for future disposal. 

    At the West End our Tern rafts had maintenance carried out ready for the Terns arrival, guano build up was cleared and several bags of stone was added to freshen the stone nesting area as needed.  

    Any Canada Geese nests were removed to deter them from nesting. These nests would fail if left as any geese chicks would die as the young cannot get off the rafts to feed, which are specifically designed for Common Tern use.   

    In Whillet’s  C9 we removed several Willow trees growing next to the bridge into the back meadow C11 the trees were now leaning towards the bridge and causing access problems for the machinery we need to use for grass cutting and these were suitably felled and again all arisings were stacked ready for future disposal.

    At  meadow Pond, we found we had a leak at the pond near the overflow outlet. We dug out the bank to confirm the leak position and then carried out clay repairs to seal the leaking bankside. 

  • Work Party – March 2026

    All West End: March is our time for managing all the nest boxes and we have well over a 100 that need cleaning and maintenance, renewals etc and then monitoring. We also carry out Refugia tin surveys regularly.   

     Whillet’s Meadows: (C8 to C11) We had several bonfires to clear from previous work when we were managing Blackthorn & Willow overgrowth and fallen trees within the meadows. We also repaired the anti-slip wire mesh on the two access bridges for safety reasons. 

    Later month we cleared several unwanted and part fallen Willow trees now growing along the ground from the river line and these were cut and stacked ready for future disposal. We also cleared some access paths and started our breeding bird surveys (BBS).  

    We planted some native Snakeshead Fritillary bulbs and purchased materials and built a protective cage to protect them from grazing damage by Fallow Deer which are proving to be a problem to our plantlife within the meadows.  

     

    In C13: Opposite the Car Pak we built a Sand Martin bank of 11 nest holes to a recommended RSPB design. A video by the RSPB is available on our website showing the construction and giving other info.  

    More Work Party news is also included in our members Quarterly newsletter.

    Study Area: (C2 to C4) Further bonfires and some hazel coppicing was carried out in our Study area C2 to C4 where we also repaired a feed pipe leak at our pondlet. 

    We cut back some vegetation on C1 Pintail bank to allow better access for our grazing wildfowl and carried out some fence repairs.

    Legsheath lane: (C6) We cut and cleared fallen trees that were lying on the reserves boundary fence or infringing the road area.

    Hide car park: (C5) We dug out and cleared the Car Park drainage ditches to help reduce the car park flooding and mud problems. We also repaired a broken bench seat at one of the seating areas.     

    In C18 & C19 The North Bank public footpath – Lecomber seat view area – We cut and cleared internal access paths to allow us to do survey work & monitor these compartments. At the view area we started to clear Willow from the water edge to maintain open views from the public footpath seat view point and encourage more marsh habitat at the water edge.  Pics before and after at view point