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Warden's Winter Diary

Winter at Wallingford Castle Meadows

Well it’s starting to feel a little more like winter now with these beautiful frosty mornings after a couple of months of higher than average temperatures, but still not a speck of snow!

The first flowers are starting to emerge much earlier than usual, the winter aconite is appearing by the cemetery wall at Castle Meadows and it won’t be long before we see the first signs of snowdrops around the Victorian Pond.  

Fantastic Mr Fox

Back in October we rescued a fox that had become tangled in the wire surrounding Queens Tower.  He was probably trying to catch a tasty rabbit on the other side and misjudged his jump.  Derek, a volunteer from Tiggywinkles animal hospital, came and collected him and he had to have part of his left rear leg amputated as it was badly damaged.  The good news is that he was rehabilitated and released back onto Castle Meadows on 6th January.  So if anyone spots a three-and-a-half legged fox on the meadows please let me know, as I’d love to find out how he is doing!   

Volunteer Action

The volunteers have been busy over the last couple of months, repairing the boarding along the path through the pond area, planting some replacement trees in the copse and starting the scrub clearance along the ditch through the centre of the site – this work will be continuing through the rest of the winter too.    

Over at Riverside Meadows we have had to replace one of the wooden field gates, which fell apart over the autumn.  The site is now secure ready for the cattle to come back on in spring.

We’re usually busy at Mowbray Fields, Didcot, over the winter coppicing willow, but this year is a quiet year for us as there are no more major tree works scheduled in until 2013.  Minor repairs to the viewing platform and benches have kept us on our toes though.  

Winter bird walk at Thrupp Lake

We held a winter bird walk at Thrupp Lake, near Abingdon, in December for our friends and regular volunteers and nearly 40 species were recorded including green sandpipers, kingfishers and redpoll.  Thrupp Lake is a fantastic place to spot overwintering birds and a great place for a winter stroll so pop down and see what you can spot.  A poster in the bird hide will help you identify anything you see.  

If you would like more information about the sites or are interested in getting more involved with one of our volunteer groups or as a warden please contact me, Lorretta Waters, on 01865 409410 or 07982 218493, or email lorretta.waters@earthtrust.org.uk