A Week on the Estate: Cascading Weir, Jacqui’s Birds & Christmas Plans
We hope we find you well and that Storm Bert left you neither shaken nor stirred. Meteorological winter begins this weekend and autumn has bowed out dramatically, with cold high-pressure systems alternating with wilder Atlantic weather. Storm Bert raised daytime temperatures by as much as 15C almost overnight, and the coming weekend will mimic that pattern albeit with a bit less drama. We’ve had blue skies and freezing weather midweek but the weekend will be cloudy but mostly dry with a temperature range of 12C-6C and brisk south-westerly winds.
Last week, we reported that footings were in for the boat-house, the weir was taking shape and a beautiful timber foot-bridge now spans the beck at the north-eastern corner of the Lake. This week, we’re pleased to report that the Lake’s level has been restored to its normal height and water is flowing beautifully over the completed weir. Over time, this feature will blend artfully into the Hall’s landscaped grounds and prove a real boon for our wildlife. Watch this space for more news and images.
If you have sharp eyes, or you’ve walked past it, you’ll have noticed that South Ormsby Hall’s eastern profile and roof is now scaffolded over and covered in preparation for some extensive TLC. If you missed last week’s fascinating blog on this and the many other intricate activities going on in and around the Hall, you can catch up on our chat with architect Daniel Shabetai HERE.
Winter may be knocking at our door but one form of weather than can be relied upon to cheer us up is the BirdWeather. This wonderful analytical tool takes acoustic data from sensors around the Estate and gives us regular run-downs on the movers and shakers in our local wild-bird population. At the time of writing, the tiny but very vocal wren is top of the chart with 445 daily detections, with that underrated and inventive singer the dunnock – known erroneously but commonly as the hedge sparrow – at number two. The tawny owl is still courting, staking out territories and placing a respectable ninth with 136 detections, and the redwing tells us winter is almost here by placing tenth with 93 detections. Don’t forget, BirdWeather is freely accessible and you can take a look at our daily tallies HERE.
Estate resident and Hall Housekeeper Jacqui Rhodes gave us her take on our flourishing birdlife: “Since the program of standing hay around our house got going, we’ve seen a considerable increase in both the number of birds in the garden and the variety of species. We’re seeing some species, like the blackcap, the spotted flycatcher and an abundance of red kites, for the first time in the thirty years we’ve lived here. We’re about to start with winter feed on our bird stations. We’ll be adding seeds, peanuts and fat balls, and we can’t wait to see what we get this season.”
