Helping improve the view to the Pond

Amanda Conlon of Hart Voluntary Action writes:

On the afternoon of Thursday 9th September a team of 12 Minding the Garden (MtG) Volunteers met up with Colin Gray and others from The Fleet Pond Society to create a low hedge along Hemelite Bay.

The Minding the Garden Project joins forces with The Fleet Pond Society roughly every 6 – 8 weeks to tackle ongoing important tasks around the pond, Hampshire’s largest freshwater lake.

It was a fantastic afternoon with everyone working really hard and many good endorphins were released!! We were rewarded by big chunks of KitKat at half time, (kindly provided by Colin) – which created just enough energy to see us through to the end of the session!

Some of the hardworking ‘Minding the Garden’ team

We will be linking in with The Fleet Pond Society on Thursday, 21st October to make some Bug Boxes from bamboo we harvested from around the pond on a previous session.

MtG Project Officer Guy Clayton with Project Mentor Amanda Conlon

Minding the Garden is Hart Voluntary Action’s ecotherapy volunteer project. Individuals are introduced to volunteering as part of a safe and friendly team, delivering a much valued gardening support service locally.

Funded through Ecominds, via The National Lottery, The Minding the Garden Project provides a first step to volunteering for Hart residents who have experienced mental health distress.

The Starting Point

This event, which was the first of the 2010/2011 Sunday volunteering sessions, was a repeat of a similar activity carried out last year, see here. This gives an idea of how quickly nature takes over!

It was an excellent day, sunny and quite warm (as you can see by the t-shirts the volunteers are wearing).

There was a good turn-out of ‘regulars’ plus 5 new volunteers!

New Volunteers – Deciding What To Do!

The task was to cut down the small trees and and scrub in Gelvert Marsh. The small parts were made into heaps and then burnt whilst the larger items (tree trunks, large branches etc) were put together to provide a habitat for small animals and insects. All in all, a good morning’s work!

New Volunteers – Enjoying The Day!

On this occasion we started the fires early on in the task as the site cannot be left until the fires have terminated and water has been dowsed on the ashes. The local fire service are then phoned to let them know that this has taken place.

As you probably know, fires can easily start up in the reserve, see eg here (at the bottom).

Getting A Fire Going

Sometimes various interesting wildlife items are uncovered during a volunteer event. On this occasion a fully shed skin of an adder was found (see below, the head is on the rhs).

You can read more about adders on the web eg here:

(Adders) shed their skins in a process known as“sloughing” or by herpetologist’s as “ecdysis” which occurs twice a year, in late spring and late summer, though the number of times may be greater in juvenile specimens as they grow rapidly depending upon the availability of food.

A Shed Adder Skin Discovered In The Grass

The remaining events for this year can be found in a previous post (which also includes contact information). Please consider coming along – it’s good fun and you’ll be made very welcome!

The next event is this coming Sunday, 10th October.

Meet at 7pm at Fleet Station pay & display car park next to the reserve. Join local bat expert Paul Hope and Ranger Joanna Lawrence on an evening bat walk to find out more about bats and which ones are using the pond after dark. If you have a bat detector please bring it with you, however, some will be provided. A torch may also be useful if you have one.

Duration: 1.5 hours. All abilities welcome.

Prices: Adults – £2 Children – £1 (Payable on the day)

For a write-up of a previous bat walk, please see here.

Please click on the image above for a larger version

We look forward to your entries!

For the results of the Fleet Pond Society Photographic Competition for 2009, please see here.

Fleet resident Richard Bennett was thrilled to have been named Fleet Young Person of the Year 2009, but disappointed that he was unable to carry out part of his prize, the switching on of the Christmas lights at the Fleet Festivities last November, as he was still at university.  However, his brother James proudly stepped up and switched on the lights on his brother’s behalf. Richard also won a £100 Outdoor Adventure voucher, an engraved glass trophy and a certificate recording his award.