Saturday 11/3/23  The Barn Owl box at The Maltings had also been occupied by Jackdaws last season as well as the one at the mill, so it was decided to move it to another part of the site, hoping Barn Owls would use it.

I took the forklift and cage over to the owl box, Ryan and Fred got in the cage and I raised them up so they could remove the box from the tree, the old Jackdaw nest material was cleared out and the box was taken to one of the buildings, Ryan and Fred went up in the cage again and fitted the box on the gable end of the building facing North East, which Barn Owls prefer.

Saturday 18/3/23  When we arrived at the mill most of the insect hotels had blown over in the recent winds, so Ryan put them back and staked them to the ground. Daffodils growing in the middle of the grindstones look good now that they are in flower.

Ryan has donated a bird identification chart, one side has garden birds, with birds of prey on the other side. Emma used the binoculars to see Egyptian Geese and Little Egrets in the field, then a Red Kite on the hedge which we identified using the chart.

Emma brought wellies and went down into the river to start removing some of the masonry from the fallen wall. The priority was to remove the pieces in the middle of the river as these were more likely to affect the water flow, I tried pulling one with a rake but it was too heavy to move, so Emma retrieved pieces of tar floor instead, Ryan found a piece with a bone stuck to it which I displayed in the visitor centre. Ryan loaded up the rubble into the truck and tipped it on the track to make it less muddy.

After lunch Ryan went back to get his wellies and collect David, they both went into the river and broke up the masonry pieces near the middle and threw them up onto the river bank. Emma and I loaded the rubble into the truck and I tipped it near the brick stacks ready to be taken away when we next have the tractor and trailer on site. When the track is dry it will be safe to take the digger to the mill and remove all the debris from the river.

In the afternoon Tabitha, who is interested in volunteering with us visited, I showed her around the site and visitor centre, then we all had coffee outside. We look forward to Tabitha joining us soon. 

David and Emma filled the bird feeders before we left, as we were busy working on the riverbank all day and we nearly forgot to fill them.

Graham Bartlett  

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