An update from Sara Messenger of Bradley Stoke’s Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group. Swan ringing Although we have in previous years wanted to ring our cygnets, we never managed to find a time when both the birds were present or the ringer’s first baby wasn’t making an appearance (welcome to young Freddie). So we were rather excited that this year it
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An update from Sara Messenger of Bradley Stoke’s Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group. Workdays We were happy to welcome several new members on our last workday, including Dawn Richards who is the local community champion for Tesco stores. We were happy to see her, not just for her generous contribution to our now overflowing biscuit box, but also for her infectious
Continue reading![The Three Brooks swans on the lake with their cygnets. [Photo credit: Graham Bloomfield]](https://www.bradleystokejournal.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/three-brooks-cygnets-2017-graham-bloomfield-1.jpg)
An update from Sara Messenger of Bradley Stoke’s Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group. Otters on the reserve I’m not sure which of this month’s news I’m most excited about. At the beginning of the month, the cat was well and truly out of the bag when Jen Ladley managed to video a family of the reserve’s most ‘otterly’ cute visitors,
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An update from Sara Messenger of Bradley Stoke’s Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group. Monthly workday and the Big Spring Clean Our planned March workday, working on the marsh, hit a major snag. Although the work we do on the reserve has been agreed with South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) from a conservation perspective, there have been several legislative changes over the
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An update from Sara Messenger of Bradley Stoke’s Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group. Workdays Our recent workdays have mostly been filled with coppicing, which is cutting hazel tree trunks down to ground level, so that in the spring, many new straight new stems will grow again from the base. Although it may look harsh, the tree does not die but
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An update from Sara Messenger of Bradley Stoke’s Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group. Although sometimes the weather has been cold, there is nothing quite so warming as a winter walk through the reserve, watching the birds squabble over the last few berries and seeing the mole hill tremble as he heads further down underground away from the frost. Apart from
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An update from Sara Messenger of Bradley Stoke’s Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group. The weather may be mild again, but with bare trees and muddy paths, there is no mistaking that winter has finally arrived on the reserve. At least our resident bird population have somewhere warm and dry to call home, as we’ve started to replace our old wooden
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An update from Sara Messenger of Bradley Stoke’s Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group. As the days get colder and the nights draw in, the reserve is changing, replacing her verdant skirts with a more subdued autumnal attire, but the cooler days don’t mean there is any less fun to be had! Just substitute blackberry picking with kicking up leaves, and
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An update from Sara Messenger of Bradley Stoke’s Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group. August Workday Our task for our August workday was to scythe Bowsland Meadow. And while we may not have all been as glossy as a certain actor in a certain period drama, we at least know how to use a scythe properly! Sorry Aiden. Although you may
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An update from Sara Messenger of Bradley Stoke’s Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group. The wet weather has continued to cause issues on the reserve, although, ironically, it has yet to fill our ‘new’ pond in Bowsland Meadow and, at the other end of the reserve, much of the bottom of the lake is visible. When you can see a seagull
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