Normal Silly!

Weather conditions were interesting yesterday morning for Team Tuesday! The recently planted hedge on the moorland edge had taken a battering from Storm Ciara over the weekend and the young trees needed to be re-staked and better protected with tree tubes. The moorland is the windiest place on the reserve and with several snow showers the only shelter was behind the Coxon Brothers digger!

It was decided that an attempt would be made at the work however, if conditions became 'really silly' then the group would retreat to the workshop instead! There was a lot of debate as to the definition of 'really silly' compared to 'normal silly' but spirits were high and Gerry kept himself warm with some exercises!

Fortunately, the showers were short lived and the team did a great job.

There is no such thing as bad weather just the wrong clothes;  balaclavas, hats and hoods were the order of the day!

The two Exmoor ponies were checked and seemed to be in fine fettle. They are so well adapted to harsh weather with thick winter coats that their undersides remained dry in all of the heavy rain and snow. This can be seen in the picture below.

After lunch, the team split into smaller groups, some re-staking small trees that had been blown over…

...some planting Rowan trees and filling bird feeders. There were also many indoor jobs such as sanding and painting benches and chalk boards.

Thank you to all of the volunteers that turned out in such wintry conditions to help at the reserve. Besides Jo's delicious lemon cake there was another good reason to be thankful, the reedbed was cut last week just in time before the pond turned icy cold!