Read about the life and work of the Attingham Wardens

Attingham Park is a National Trust property comprising of an 18th Century mansion set in a Repton landscape; the Park and wider Estate includes a deer park, walled garden, several miles of the rivers Severn and Tern, extensive farmland and woodlands.



Thursday, 13 August 2015

A dry spell

As I type this in the office I am looking out to a darkening sky that promises a downpour of much-needed rain - some of our younger trees and hedges have really struggled over the last few weeks as the dry weather and scorching sun take their toll. We have been watering when we can but nothing beats a good natural soaking so sorry folks, I'm hoping for a rainy day!

Last week the team spent a day at Betton Farm putting up a new stretch of stock fence in a quiet scrubby corner as well as removing an old fence and replacing some rotten posts on another. They battled with nettles, brambles, swampy ground and a wasps nest but still managed to complete the task ahead of schedule and with time to spare at the end of the afternoon for a cup of tea after the tools were put away. Win!
Judy keeps everything tidy! Photo: Terry Carr
Clearing the ground ready for the fence line  
Photo: Terry Carr

You may have spotted a digger out on the front park a few weeks ago and our tractor and trailer hauling loads of soil - Duncan, Matt and myself have been busy training on this piece of kit and using the machinery to clear the pile of earth that was left over from work on the sewage system some time back. Future projects using diggers will include resurfacing paths and clearing out some of the ponds that become filled with silt and leaves over the years.

This weekend we will be hoping for some sunshine and calm weather as we have our dragonfly walks on Saturday and Sunday at 2pm. We will take a gentle stroll to two of our best ponds to see what we have on the wing, hopefully with the chance to see a few close up if I can net them. We have a collection of exuviae to look at too. Bring some binoculars and a camera to see some of these colourful insects in their full glory!

















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3 comments:

  1. Monether25 August 2015 at 19:11

    What is the bird we heard late on Sunday afternoon about 6pm? It sounded like a bird of prey in the woodland to the west of the deerpark. Very loud and clear. It sounded similar to a Montagues harrier but we are doubtful. Definitely not a buzzard's usual call. It was a high pitched repetitive shriek
    Any help appreciated

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  2. Joy Margerum28 August 2015 at 15:28

    Hi there, I'm intrigued! It would be very unlikely to be a Montagu's Harrier as they are so rare in this country and usually found further south. Could it have been a Sparrowhawk? They have a high pitched call, as do Merlins. I find the RSPB website useful for listening to bird calls. Please let me know if you identify it! This weekend (Sunday) we have Feather Perfect Falconry in doing a display of birds of prey, if you are visiting you might like to talk to them as well?

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    ReplyDelete

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