Friends at work and flora & fauna

Christmas Day photo of the stream by Dothill Bridge - great shot Kevin!

High winds at the end of December brought down a tree over the path by Dothill Bridge ...

... thank you to Jerry, who cleared it the following day.

Sunset over Tee Lake December 2020.

The Friends have fitted some anti-slip strips to Dothill Pier - 17th December 2020.

One team worked on the Donnerville path on 15th December. We are very nearly there with this now.

Another team resumed battle with the mud on the path by the old canal - 15th December 2020. Before ...

... and after.

Tee Lake and the swan family were looking lovely in the winter sunshine today.

180 oak saplings, donated by Extinction Rebellion Telford, were planted on 14th December. Helping to plant were members of XR, Small Woods, Rotary Club Wellington, children from Dothill Primary as well as some of the Friends. The event was filmed by Telford & Wrekin Council.

Getting stuck in!

Councillor Karen Wilkinson said a few words.

Ta-da! Thanks to everyone who took part.

One of the volunteer teams dug 150 holes for the oak saplings to be planted next week. Great work everyone. 8th December 2020.

Ron fitted some anti-slip strips to the edges of the steps from Morville Drive.

Another team got rid of some mud and leaf litter from the path alongside the old canal. Before ...

... and after.

The sweep team moved onto another path after that. Here are Glenys and Carole working like troopers. Well done, ladies!

We worked in pairs again on 1st December. More sweeping by Shawbirch Bridge - before ...

... and after.

Ron and Vera cut back the vegetation at the Teme Avenue entrance to the Reserve. Before ...

... and after. Really tidy job, thanks both.

Another great effort on the Donnerville path - 1st December 2020.

A lovely neat job, Keith & Jerry, on the planned nursery area.

The group hired a rotavator to break up the soil for the planned nursery - a new toy for Jerry!

Keith doing some more strimming.

Great work - that should make life easier for us! 27th November 2020.

Late afternoon sun catching a silver birch by Tee Lake.

Due to lockdown we are still working in pairs. One pair worked on clearing the path by the old canal. Before ...

... and after - 24th November 2020.

Another team cut back the vegetation on the steps by Morville Drive - before ...

... and after. Great work, Ron and Vera.

Jon and Russell after another session on the Donnerville path - 17th November 2020.

Keith and Jerry working hard on the planned nursery area - 17th November 2020.

Litter and tree supports collected from Donnerville Spinney by Glenys and Fiona - 17th November 2020.

More work on the path by Donnerville Close - great work Lisette. 13th November 2020.

She's a dab hand with a rake too.

The larch provides a nice bit of Autumn colour.

Volunteer groups are suspended but we can continue working in pairs. This is Jon on the Donnerville path - 10th November 2020.

Paula getting stuck in!

Kevin and Dawn collected a load of plastic tree supports - well done both!

New bench installed by Tee Lake - good work, Keith & Jerry - 9th November 2020.

Beanhill Wood looking lovely in the autumn light - November 2020.

Today's progress on the planned nursery area - 3rd November 2020 ...

... and today's progress on the path - 3rd November 2020.

Blue and gold.

The Reserve could lose 500 trees to ash die-back disease, so we are prepping this area between Tee Lake and the old canal to plant saplings - 27th October 2020.

Revealing a wall that was part of the canal system.

We made a fair start.

An autumnal henge.

Some of the group continued with the path while others cleared undergrowth - 20th October 2020.

Clearing undergrowth from the hedge plants - 20th October 2020.

Top layer going down - 13th October 2020.

Who knew weed suppression was that funny?! 13th October 2020.

Beanhill Brook October 2020.

Normally you can see stepping stones here - Beanhill Brook mid-October 2020.

A great turnout today, so the volunteers split into 3 groups. The ladies cleared the undergrowth from around the holly saplings by Charlton Pool. 6th October 2020.

Some of the volunteers continued prepping the hedge by the 'snake' field for laying, and the rest of us carried on with the path by Donnerville Close. 6th October 2020.

Tee Lake - a tranquil September scene.

A splash of bright autumn colour - September 2020.

A peaceful seat.

Socially distanced volunteering - 29th September 2020.

Continuing hedge work at the back of the 'snake' field - 22nd September 2020.

Time for a brief pause - it's allowed occasionally!

September evening light on newly-mowed meadow, Tee Lake. The annual mow lets in light for wildflower seeds to germinate through winter.

There are still some flowers to be seen on the Reserve - this is purple toadflax ...

...and this is yellow buddleia - a garden escape but still a nice splash of colour.

The Wellingtonia field on a September evening.

New member Carole, cutting her teeth on Himalayan balsam! 15th September 2020.

Kevin looking pleased that the entire first layer is down! 15th September 2020.

This week the group planted 10 Scots pines in Donnerville. These are excellent for raptors and goldcrests, and provide winter shelter for many species. 8th September 2020.

Teamwork - Glenys and Dawn.

The new trees in situ.

After tree planting we moved onto Himalayan balsam, while the rest of the group continued with the new path - 8th September 2020.

Himalayan balsam, Donnerville Spinney - before ...

... and after! September 2020.

There are some very fat stems among the HB this year!

Glenys doing a great job of tamping down the aggregate and ... the end is in sight! 1st September 2020.

A sea of thistle seedheads - 31st August 2020.

Some autumn colour starting to appear on the Reserve now. 31st August 2020.

Prepping for laying down the membrane and aggregate - 18th August 2020.

Many hands!

Path progress - 18th August 2020.

Small tortoiseshell butterfly.

Someone has been busy cutting back the overgrown banks on The Drain (by Dothill Bridge) - great job! August 2020.

Are we nearly there yet? 11th August 2020.

Not the result of the recent storms - just some of the Friends uprooting the invasive Himalayan balsam - 11th August 2020.

Glenys and Dawn tackling Himalayan Balsam - 11th August 2020.

The Himalayan balsam certainly grows to a fair height. 11th August 2020.

Nice light on Dothill Pool this evening - 30th July 2020.

The colourful rowan, by Dothill Pool - July 2020.

Kevin pretending it's all his own work! Further from the houses and nearer to Dothill Bridge now - 28th July 2020.

Tee Lake looking lovely - July 2020.

The cob (at the back) now seems to have decided that the youngster from last year's brood (front left) can stay - July 2020.

The last of three new signs - this one is at Dothill Bridge. Thank you Keith for all your hard work on these.

Every month we monitor the bodies of water on the Reserve - this is checking the pH level.

Monthly water quality testing - temperature check.

Monthly water quality testing - ammonia levels.

Monthly water quality testing - checking turbidity.

The new benches by the Henge - July 2020.

Second new signpost, at the Severn Drive entrance to the Reserve - July 2020.

Today we tackled the Himalayan balsam in two areas along Beanhill Brook - 14th July 2020.

Jerry in the jungle!

The new path is really coming along now - 14th July 2020.

We have breeding green woodpeckers on the Reserve - July 2020.

Adult green woodpecker with young - Beanhill Brook July 2020.

Musk mallow - June 2020.

There's always one! Continuing with path laying at Donnerville Close - 30th June 2020.

Some directional signposts will be going up around the Reserve - here's the first, at the crossroads by Millennium Wood.

Wild flowers in one of the meadows - June 2020.

Common mallow

Heron on the hunt - Tee Lake 25th June 2020. Great photo Sylvia.

Another lovely photo from Sylvia - a male chaffinch in full voice - 25th June 2020.

This week we were able to resume laying the path at the Donnerville Close entrance to the Reserve - 23rd June 2020.

Keith installing new signpost - nice job! 23rd June 2020.

A lovely larch bench, one of five now installed around the Reserve. Thank you to Telford Woods.

More path clearing work around Tee Lake - 16th June 2020.

Socially distanced volunteering - clearing one of the Tee Lake paths - 09/06/20.

One of the Friends affixing the anti-slip surface to Dothill Bridge - June 2020.

Several new bird and bat boxes have been installed - June 2020.

A potential home for the beautiful insects called lacewings - June 2020.

Hedgehog house - June 2020.

Great spotted woodpecker - lovely photo by Sylvia Jones - May 2020. This is a male (the female has no red on her head).

Smooth newts have been spotted in a pond on the Reserve - May 2020.

Smooth newt - May 2020.

The lovely froth of a hawthorn, with its 'May' blossom.

Cow parsley in the Wellingtonia field - May 2020.

Single flower-head, ramsons or wild garlic - May 2020.

Beanhill Woods are full of cow parsley again this May.

There are some fine carp in Tee Lake this spring.

Just 2 cygnets for the Tee Lake swans this year but they're in fine fettle!

One of the native bluebells planted by the Friends, so much more delicate than the Spanish ones and hybrids. Thank you for the photo, Jerry.

There are some cheerful sights on the Reserve in these testing times - April 2020.

The celandines are now carpeting some of our woods - April 2020.

Lovely cherry blossom - April 2020.

Nice to see some violets and celandines on the Reserve - March 2020.

Gorgeous bullfinch pair (the brightly-coloured one is the male). Thank you to Sylvia, February 2020.

Male sparrowhawk on the Reserve, another beautiful photo by Sylvia. February 2020.

Plenty of willing hands today on path work by the 'snake' field - 03/02/20.

A really good start - 03/02/20.

This week the volunteers cleared some plastic tree supports from Donnerville Spinney - 25/02/20.

Dead-hedge now complete with gate - 25/02/20.

Beautiful native daffodil by Tee Lake - 23/02/20.

Some catkins and new leaves are now in evidence - 23/02/20.

Lovely light on the new wetland area - 23/02/20.

Blackthorn, Feb 2020.

Not native daffs, but a nice splash of colour on the floor of Beanhill Wood - Feb 2020.

Friends continuing with the dead-hedge laid by schoolchildren last month - 18/02/20.

Excellent job, well done all!

The recent high winds have brought down a few trees on the Reserve ...

... and cleared, well done Jerry! 11/02/20.

New path started at the Donnerville Close entrance, Feb 2020. Thanks to David Bromley for the great digging work.

What a look of concentration! Some of our volunteers had some sawmill training at Small Woods in Coalbrookdale, Feb 2020.

This lot was retrieved from Dothill Pool by volunteers today - 04/02/20.

Fantastic dead-hedge built by children from Dothill Primary, January 2020.

The Friends continued with the dead-hedging along the 'snake' field today - 21/01/20.

Happy volunteers - it's finished! 21/01/20.

Latest comments

29.10 | 09:14

Wellington UDC Sewage Works were just beyond the end of the blocks going north.
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=17.3&lat=52.71466&lon=-2.53383&layers=193&right=BingHyb

04.10 | 18:40

I think a water pipe or sewage pipe was supported on those blocks many years ago, they look pre war.

28.04 | 15:50

A big thank you to all you wonderful volunteers, what an amazing paradise you have developed.

03.04 | 14:38

What are the large concrete blocks that are along one of the paths in nature reserve walk please