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Sunday, 2 November 2008
Day 11 of BTCV Placement - Doresholme Park
Day 11 BTCV Placement - Today we were in Doresholme Park again to continue with our removal of the trees from the pond. This was an exceptionally tough day because I was really feeling the pain and exhaustion from the beginning of the week. I was feeling weak and tired in the morning and felt bad for not doing my usual turn. After lunch I felt much better, I think it was because I had went straight to bed the night before without dinner. We got the day completed and checked out the next site we would be moving on to on Monday which is around the park with some Highland Cows!! Quite looking forward to it now!!
Day 10 BTCV Placement - Loch Winnoch
Day 10 BTCV Placement - Today we were back to Loch Winnoch to continue with the work of removing vegetation from the meadow. Today was really tough as I was so tired from the previous days in Loch Lomond plus it was cold and rained for a large portion of the day..it was absolutely terrible by the time we finished, soaked through and tired..straight to bed when I got home but still loving it =)
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Day 9 of BTCV Placement - Loch Lomond
Day 9 BTCV Placement - Today was our second day in a row at Loch Lomond with the guys from SNH. We were on a new site today removing floating grass from the pond at the edge of the meadow. It was really tough work as some areas weren't breaking apart and were coming out as islands and not as chunks!! By the end of the day I had 2 large blisters on the palm of my right hand just under the fingers..pretty painful!! The rain stayed off today although it did get rather chilly at lunch hour because we were all sitting still and the breeze picked up, dropping the temperature even more. This was our last day in Loch Lomond for the time being which made me rather sad because it's such a beautiful place and the guys from SNH are excellent to work with, I hope we're back there sooner rather than later.
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Monday, 27 October 2008
Day 8 of BTCV Placement - Loch Lomond
Today we were again inLoch Lomond to help the SNH guys with some work on the wetlands. The areas we'd been working on were now flooded with about 4 foot of water and the places we were working in last week weren't even recognisable.
To start we had to park and set off on foot about 2 or 3 miles from our original position. Once ready we set off on a 20/25 minute walk to get to the only accessible part we were working on last week. Today we had to use the steel chromes to remove the floating grass from the pond. To start with it was rather easy but as we began to move onto the deeper and essentially more tangled parts it took maybe 2 or 3 of us to remove just one clump.
Once the grass was loose and dragged up the embankment we had to leave it to drain for a while, it was so absorbed with water that it weighed a tonne!! The blisters at the end of the day show the effort that had to be put in!! ha ha.
After lunch we moved onto another area. We walked to this plot through a beautiful woodland and some of the boggiest ground i've ever had to negotiate. The most interesting part was walking over the soft and spongy ground which I soon realised to be spagnum. This was very interesting as the Langlands Moss area I'm doing just now is being worked to promote spagnum to grow, but I've only seen it growing under the surface of the water in the reservoir. It was certainly an experience to see what it's like when fully formed.
To start we had to park and set off on foot about 2 or 3 miles from our original position. Once ready we set off on a 20/25 minute walk to get to the only accessible part we were working on last week. Today we had to use the steel chromes to remove the floating grass from the pond. To start with it was rather easy but as we began to move onto the deeper and essentially more tangled parts it took maybe 2 or 3 of us to remove just one clump.
Once the grass was loose and dragged up the embankment we had to leave it to drain for a while, it was so absorbed with water that it weighed a tonne!! The blisters at the end of the day show the effort that had to be put in!! ha ha.
After lunch we moved onto another area. We walked to this plot through a beautiful woodland and some of the boggiest ground i've ever had to negotiate. The most interesting part was walking over the soft and spongy ground which I soon realised to be spagnum. This was very interesting as the Langlands Moss area I'm doing just now is being worked to promote spagnum to grow, but I've only seen it growing under the surface of the water in the reservoir. It was certainly an experience to see what it's like when fully formed.
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Thursday, 23 October 2008
Day 7 of BTCV Placement - Easterhouse, Glasgow Fort
Today we were in Easterhouse at the Glasgow Fort planting wild flowers in the service yard behind the complex. We were still pretty tired from our 2 days at Loch Lomond clearing willow trees, but this was the last day before the weekend and were intent on getting it done at all costs.
The day started out miserable with the rain fair coming down, we made our way to the Glasgow Fort only to realise we'd forgotten the gloves..so it looked like the cold weather was going to be made better by having to plant with our bare hands. Luckily though, we opened the first aid box and made good use of the rubber gloves in there =D ha ha.
After making our way to the service yard with a game plan of doing the work as swiftly as possible, we couldn't find the plants!! We looked right up and down the grass and fencing but none to be found, so we went back to the van. Only to decide on having a second look where we actually found them =P
The rain was pretty constant all day and we had 300 plants to work through. With 6 of us, we made light work of the plants and managed to finish pretty early..which was more than welcome as we were all soaked through. Not a good day to be kneeling on the soggy grass and not moving much, it certainly was a cold experience.
That's us now finished the planting for the whole area, very much pleased =)
The day started out miserable with the rain fair coming down, we made our way to the Glasgow Fort only to realise we'd forgotten the gloves..so it looked like the cold weather was going to be made better by having to plant with our bare hands. Luckily though, we opened the first aid box and made good use of the rubber gloves in there =D ha ha.
After making our way to the service yard with a game plan of doing the work as swiftly as possible, we couldn't find the plants!! We looked right up and down the grass and fencing but none to be found, so we went back to the van. Only to decide on having a second look where we actually found them =P
The rain was pretty constant all day and we had 300 plants to work through. With 6 of us, we made light work of the plants and managed to finish pretty early..which was more than welcome as we were all soaked through. Not a good day to be kneeling on the soggy grass and not moving much, it certainly was a cold experience.
That's us now finished the planting for the whole area, very much pleased =)
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Day 6 of BTCV Placement - Loch Lomond SPA
Today we were in Loch Lomond at the SPA (Special Protection Area) to continue on the days work we had done on the tuesday. Today we were to continue with pulling the cut willow and birch across the pond an stacking it behind the pathway. Today we had a twist though with a fire going (watched over by Nick from SNH =P) to burn the branches and logs cut from the willow trees.
Through the course of the morning we got the fire going gradually in order for us to use it fully in the afternoon. We had the lads from Cardonald College with us today which was a great help for us to blitz through the work we had.
The morning started off really well with the sun shining and everyone working away in t shirts. Me and Ali made some excellent progress clearing a large area away in our section using the rope to drag it across the stagnant water.
We broke for lunch around 1 and made our way over to the tree line across the meadow so we could sit on a large hummock under the sun. About 20 mins into lunch the rain clouds rolled in and gradually started to drizzle, just when we were packing up the supplies again the heavens opened....lovely start to the afternoon.
By the time lunch had passed the fire was now burning away nicely and we were then told to cut back on dragging the willow across the water and now to bring it to the fire for us to burn it. The danger of fire was clearly evident when the wind suddenly changed and blew the flames right into Nick's face, he ended up with his eyebrows singed and the front part of his hair missing..was quite funny actually.
By the end of the day it was a great accomplishment to look back and see the areas we'd cleared, gave a good feeling after being soaked all afternoon, ha ha.
Through the course of the morning we got the fire going gradually in order for us to use it fully in the afternoon. We had the lads from Cardonald College with us today which was a great help for us to blitz through the work we had.
The morning started off really well with the sun shining and everyone working away in t shirts. Me and Ali made some excellent progress clearing a large area away in our section using the rope to drag it across the stagnant water.
We broke for lunch around 1 and made our way over to the tree line across the meadow so we could sit on a large hummock under the sun. About 20 mins into lunch the rain clouds rolled in and gradually started to drizzle, just when we were packing up the supplies again the heavens opened....lovely start to the afternoon.
By the time lunch had passed the fire was now burning away nicely and we were then told to cut back on dragging the willow across the water and now to bring it to the fire for us to burn it. The danger of fire was clearly evident when the wind suddenly changed and blew the flames right into Nick's face, he ended up with his eyebrows singed and the front part of his hair missing..was quite funny actually.
By the end of the day it was a great accomplishment to look back and see the areas we'd cleared, gave a good feeling after being soaked all afternoon, ha ha.
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Tuesday, 21 October 2008
BTCV Day 5 - Loch Lomond Special Protection Area
Day 5 of the BTCV placement - Today we were in Loch Lomond helping out with Scottish Natural Heritage. We were clearing away willow trees which had been previously cut down by workers with chainsaws. The land we were on was a wetland area next to Loch Lomond which in the winter floods over and actually becomes a part of Loch Lomond!! The problem this then poses is that as the water rises, it picks up the loose trunks and vegetation and carries it away possibly causing damage to fences or affecting farmers land and all in all making it harder to collect when it's all spread out.
We were working with Stuart and Nick from SNH. We had to move the cuttings from one side of a stagnant pond to the other and lay it at the back. We made some remarkable progress in our first day there this year, looking back on it I'm sure it was 1/4 of a mile!!
The pond itself was really deep in some places, up to 6 feet. The grass growing through the top made it deceiving because it was only a thin layer and wouldn't support your weight, whereas it looked as sturdy as a lawn of grass. I was caught out though, not through negligence but wrong footing, ha ha, up to my hips in freezing cold water..certainly woke me up anyway!!
The land is home to many animals but mainly Geese. I'll have to look up the specific breeds of Geese as one particular breed that inhabits this land in the winter is very low in population. In Loch Lomond alone there are 200 of them, this is 1% of the total world population!! I couldn't believe how low the numbers were. In some or most other survey areas the population numbers have been dropping steadily, whereas in Loch Lomond the numbers are staying constant.
The area we were in as said earlier is a Special Protection Area (SPA) which is a higher status than any other in Europe. This basically guarantees against ANY development which could be possibly suggested, not even the government could build on this land as it is protected under EEC Directive.
We will be back in the same plot tomorrow to continue the same work as today and hopefully will clear the rest if not most of the vegetation. If it comes to the point where we're not making enough progress then we will burn the rest of the willow.
We were working with Stuart and Nick from SNH. We had to move the cuttings from one side of a stagnant pond to the other and lay it at the back. We made some remarkable progress in our first day there this year, looking back on it I'm sure it was 1/4 of a mile!!
The pond itself was really deep in some places, up to 6 feet. The grass growing through the top made it deceiving because it was only a thin layer and wouldn't support your weight, whereas it looked as sturdy as a lawn of grass. I was caught out though, not through negligence but wrong footing, ha ha, up to my hips in freezing cold water..certainly woke me up anyway!!
The land is home to many animals but mainly Geese. I'll have to look up the specific breeds of Geese as one particular breed that inhabits this land in the winter is very low in population. In Loch Lomond alone there are 200 of them, this is 1% of the total world population!! I couldn't believe how low the numbers were. In some or most other survey areas the population numbers have been dropping steadily, whereas in Loch Lomond the numbers are staying constant.
The area we were in as said earlier is a Special Protection Area (SPA) which is a higher status than any other in Europe. This basically guarantees against ANY development which could be possibly suggested, not even the government could build on this land as it is protected under EEC Directive.
We will be back in the same plot tomorrow to continue the same work as today and hopefully will clear the rest if not most of the vegetation. If it comes to the point where we're not making enough progress then we will burn the rest of the willow.
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