Feeding birds,pruning,removing dead tree and putting up bat and bird boxes

Monday November  5th 2018

After yesterday’s wet weather thankfully it was dry though overcast for our morning’s work session..

I arrived in school wildlife area just after 8am and began work by spreading 3 large bags of autumn leaves along the path below the far steps-leaves left for us by school caretaker…

Had just begun to refill the bird feeders when Colin arrived to help…back then to the shed when Chris came to join us..

Chris had brought nails so he and Colin went off to collect the ladder from the upper playground then they re fitted  bat box and half a dozen repaired bird nest boxes to trees in the school wildlife area

Meanwhile I was busy pruning back the Michaelmas daisies at the top of the main steps ie below the shed…I also pruned the roses in the pots

Time next for our coffee break and catch up then after Colin and Chris managed to pull out a dead plum tree we packed up and headed for our homes.

NB lots of wild cyclamen in the school wildlife area also heard birdsong and we saw a magpie on our bird feeders

 

 

 

 

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Repairing bird feeder,feeding birds and bramble clearance.

Monday October 29th 2018

* Didn’t work last Thurs as Rose unwell and I had overdue  jobs at home to keep me busy…

On arrival today at school around 8am I went into the wildlife area and started refilling the bird feeders then stopped to replace a broken cover over a seed tray.

Colin arrived to do more volunteer work so he helped me finish re filling the rest of the bird feeders

We then got the repaired bird nest boxes out of the shed ready to fix back on the trees..

Whilst awaiting Chris we decided to carry on with pruning back the brambles and wild roses which were overhanging the playground plus spreading over the planted bed by the boiler house..

When Chris arrived he joined us tackling these prickly plants ie the men chopped down the majority of the brambles and I chopped them up…after an hour we swept up and added the chopped brambles to the compost bins whilst Chris rolled large ball of brambles down to the copse by the pond…ready for us to chop up at future work sessions!

After our well deserved coffee break we packed up and went home .

NB Colin unfortunately mananaged to scratch his head twice when brambles drew blood ie index his ear and scalp to forehead!

* Hopefully we’ll manage to get the repaired bird nest boxes back on the trees next Monday.

 

 

Watering,feeding birds,pruning buddleijas and wildlife pond clearance

Monday October 22nd 2018

School Autumn half term holiday  so not sure if other wildlife area volunteers would arrive to help nevertheless I made flask of coffee as usual and headed up to school ie 45 steps and steep slope!

On arrival first job was watering planters and pots at front of school then in the wildlife area I began to refill the bird food feeders when thankfully Colin arrived to help

Just as we finished this task Chris arrived to work with his  waders ie ready to clear  out lots of surplus  flag iris from our school wildlife pond

Colin assisted Chris by raking and netting out unwanted pond foliage

Meanwhile I was busy  pruning back  buddleiajas nearby

After an hours hard work we stopped for coffee and chat then packed away tools and headed off for our homes

Sorting bird food deliveries

Thursday October 18th 2018

Wasn’t going up to school as Rose alas unable to help this morning then I remembered there were 3 boxes of bird food I needed to put in the shed..

Bird food purchased via internet regularly from Food4Birds…caretaker kindly brought the 3 boxes (mixed seed/sunflower hearts /suet pellets) down to the shed for me …I spent 40 minutes mixing the bird food …we now have another 6 tubs ready to use plus enough other bird food in store ..this should now  last until early 2019…

Have recycled the cardboard boxes ie from the bird food delivery…flattened cardboard now on top of our homemade recycled pallet compost bins!

Feeding birds,repairing outdoor classroom seating and removing more brambles!

Monday October 15th 2018

Arrived school first as usual…first job was refilling all the bird feeders around the school wildlife area..

When Colin arrived I assisted him with removing more brambles from overgrown bed by playground…chopped brambles later added to compost area..

Chris also came to help …he brought cement from home and went down to do a super job repairing lots of large and small holes in the bench seating and table tops of the outdoor classroom seating near the wildlife pond!

After our coffee break and catch up we packed away tools and headed for our homes.

Feeding birds plus removing brambles…

Monday October 8th 2018

NB not working last Thursday as Rose away and I had tasks at home to do!

At school not long after 8am …I began work by refilling all bird feeders around school wildlife area

Colin arrived to help ie back from holiday …alas I wasn’t expecting him so hadn’t brought coffee!

Nevertheless we decided to do some work and made a start clearing back brambles from the bed by the boiler house ie above the playground…Colin pulled the brambles out or cut them back whilst I chopped them up ready for composting…

We headed back for our homes around 10am!

 

Watering,feeding birds,step repairs,pruning,refilling water butts etc

Monday October 1st 2018

Lovely warm and sunny autumn weather for our work session this morning…

I arrived school not long after 8am …first job was watering planters and pots at front of school…

Next to the wildlife area where I watered all the planted pots etc near the shed…

Chris arrived to help …he spent morning using large cherry tree branches to repair the edges to the steps below the shed…he also connected the hose pipe and re filled the 2 water butts..

Meanwhile I was busy refilling all the bird feeders, sweeping the pond boardwalk and finally pruning back lots of self sown tree sapling growth which was overhanging pathways.

NB Have asked Chris to clear out most of the flag iris from the wildlife pond again asap…don’t think it was done last year…thankfully Chris has waterproof waders!

Chris is also planning on refilling the holes in the “outdoor classroom” benches and table tops with cement .