Equilux

That moment when daylight and darkness are each half of the day. Now the days get longer than the nights.

Spring has sprung. New life, days of dark and dormancy begone. We are on a roll.

Green shoots are emerging as the water levels start dropping.

And the dawn chorus is worth getting up for

Bees and Beavers are about. A small posse of us went to find out more. We jumped on a train early on Saturday morning.

ARK, Action for the River Kennet, held a lovely morning in a church in Newbury to fill us in on the latest news. Beavers are closer than you think, much lovelier than you could imagine and the answer to our prayers.

We were early so we sat outside the church in the sunshine watching Tawny mining bee males waiting to pounce on the females. It’s a Marshian thing. Wherever we go we’re on the lookout.

It was a gorgeous spring day. We went by train and the journey there and back traversed our meadows. Well, the upstream part from Southcote to Theale and beyond. And there were many little egrets and countless acres of beaver habitat along the Kennet valley. Vast acres of land crying out for beaver dams.

But it’s spring. Like the rest of the planet this side of the equator we’re getting busy. The badgers are too. They’ve been extending their sett and making the path a bit dangerous for mobility scooters. We rectified that.

We can make things better still, but that will have to wait.

It’s spring and we have a new drone to fly.

Our drone pilot lost the last one. It flew too close to the sun and the wax holding it together melted. Our new improved model will allow us a glimpse into the parts of the marsh even Marshians don’t go. We can check for beaver dams from the air.

But that will have to wait. We have a film to make.

One of the many facets of the whole Marshian concept is the learning and it just so happens that some Marshians are learning Marine and Natural History film making. And where better to hone their art than our marsh. They came all the way from Falmouth to do it. Now, is that an honour?

But whilst we welcomed them we had work to do. We’ve got more willow to plant.

There is in the marsh a cricket bat willow. Only the one, a tree planted quite a few years ago. We would like to plant some more. Not only are they good for making cricket bats but they’re good for wildlife too. And maybe worth a few bob if post apocalyptic England is still thwacking their bright red balls with bits of willow.

So we clambered up into the branches and cut a branch off, and then cut it into little pieces. Careful with that axe, Eugene.

Meanwhile the river levels are dropping. Mud is exposed and footprints appear.

These are rat. I haven’t found water vole yet but I live in hope.

The early bird has already laid eggs. And a fox has nicked one. Probably. It was a Canada goose. Just a shell now.

The weekend highlight was really unexpected, although that’s what we expect now.

As we finished the day I went one way while our team went the other. And they spotted two Cranes flying over the marsh. I missed them, but I’m so happy that having travelled all the way to the Marsh to film it they were fortunate enough to spot the rarest bird we’ve had there for a long time. They only managed a brief and out of focus clip of them flying.

Could they settle here?

If only the marsh stayed this wet all year long. Then they might.