Nice Day Out On The Reserve

     A Good day out on the reserve yesterday, plenty of
     people and plenty of Bird life, bumped into Dave L
     while I was there and its always a pleasure talking
     to Dave and deserves a lot of credit for all the work
     he does for the group.

     Blue, Great, Coal and Long Tailed Tits, Bullfinch,
     Reed Buntings, Robin, Dunnock, Jay, Grey Heron,
     Goosander, Teal, Mallard, Nuthatch, Goldfinch,
     Wren, 2 Buzzard overhead also Mute Swan on canal.

   

AVIVA NEWS!

Bums on Seats at the Bottom.......

Here’s some unexpected good news – your votes really did make a difference!

the AVIVA Community Fund got back in touch as one of the winning projects wasn’t able to go ahead. So….. We got our grant after all! Huge thanks to you all, and thanks to AVIVA too.

We are now in the process of finding a supplier for the benches and deciding exactly where to put them.

The committee has some ideas for where they think the benches would be sited, but we’d like to hear your views on this too.

• Do you have a favourite spot to linger in?
• Is there a place where you like to stop for a breather?
• Do your knees need a rest somewhere along your walk?

There will probably be three benches. We can't promise they will go exactly in your preferred places for reasons of practicality and safety, but your ideas will help us make the final decisions. 

You can get in touch via this blog - leave a comment below, or email cromwellbottom@gmail.com or leave a comment on our Facebook page. Also, if you are a Sunday cabin visitor talk to one of the team there and leave your comments.

Many thanks!

Recent Birds this week at the Bird Viewing Area.

                                                           Long Tailed Tits

                                                                 Nuthatch

                                                             Bullfinches (m)

                                                                   Blue Tits

                                                                  Chaffinch (F)

At the Viewing Area

A few images from yesterday afternoon.  A dozen or so bullfinch, great tit and blue tit along with long-tailed tit, chaffinch and robin were around for most of the time.  A jay put in a very quick visit, too.

Great Tit

Blue Tit

Bullfinch

Chaffinch

Robin

Ric Jackson

Otter Cub rescued

I don't know a lot about this, but it seems a young Otter were picked up along the Calder in Hebden Bridge a few days ago. It has been taken to an otter sanctuary, with intentions expressed to release it in Calderdale eventually

See Calderbirds.blogspot. (picture)

Originally it was posted by Matt Bell that two cubs had been rescued but it turns out this was due to a misunderstanding on Facebook.

Thank you to the Colliers.....

   ...... for rescuing our meeting! We were very grateful to you and your regulars for welcoming us and enabling us to hold our committee meeting in the bar after the power supply failed at our cabin.

A couple of photos from yesterday morning.

Was nice to see the Bank Vole and, although heavy cropped, good to get a few shots

Treecreeper in feeding area

Welcome visitor to the feeding area this morning

THE LAST SATURDAY WORK PARTY OF THE YEAR

Saturday the 9th is our last work party of the year and we could do with some help. We are planting trees on North Loop and many hands make it easier.
We are also running a strimmer course.

Meet at the cabin at 9.30 start with a brew and a chat.
If you intend staying all day bring along some lunch.

AVIVA - no luck this time!

Sadly we didn't get into the final group of lucky projects to get a grant this year, but there's always next time!

Many, many thanks to everyone who took the trouble to cast votes for our project "Bums on Seats at the Bottom!" - and it was trouble!!
AVIVA have sent a very apologetic email out to all the entrants about the difficulties with their website and in recognition of all the hassle they have given us £100, which should go some way towards realising our plans.
So, onwards and upwards as they say.....

Thank you SUMA!

We had a good surprise when David found several sacks at the gate last week - our friends at SUMA Wholefoods had left us a very generous donation of sunflower seeds for our winter bird feeding supplies.

We - and the birds - are really grateful, so thank you very much!

A sunny, chilly work day

Well the sun was shining, but it didn't ever really shift the frost. Despite that we all got stuck in - working to keep warm I suspect!

Welcome to new volunteer Martin who soon got busy with filling the bird feeders at the cabins and at the viewing area. Some work also got done down there to tidy up the logs and feeders.

We did a big clean up around the cabin, inside and out, which all makes it a welcoming place for Sunday visitors and weekday volunteers alike.

David and his team were occupied with their usual assortment of drills, hammers, wheelbarrows etc on "major works" to improve our storage and organisation.

A litter picking walk was also a good chance to see five Hooper swans fly over the reserve and to spot the giveaway signs of a sparrowhawk kill on the wildflower meadow.

Finally, the wildlife is now moving in.... 

More volunteers are always welcome - when are you coming down?

Cheeky Visitor to the Feeding area

Bums on Seats

Please don't forget to vote for us here:-

https://community-fund.aviva.co.uk/voting/project/view/17-3761

So that we can have some seating around the Reserve for our visitors to rest.

We need a few more votes. Members and friends, please sign on and help us reach our target. Sign on below.
https://community-fund.aviva.co.uk/voting/project/view/17-3761

November 1st. We have 700+ votes.  We need lots more so please get voting for us.

Tree Walk this Sunday, October 29th

       Hi all. There will be a tree walk this Sunday the 29th of October at Cromwell Bottom Nature Reserve. Free parking.

This will be led by Bel Hale. Walk start 1:30 pm until 3.30 pm. There will be refreshments in the Cabin. 

Remember to look out for our new Sand Martin wall! Pictures below.

All welcome.

Sand Martin Wall

 Sand Martin Wall installed today. Big thanks to Ted Ford for his generous grant, to John and Ben and for the installation and for all who helped at our workday

What a great start!

Hi Everyone

We're off to a flying start - by teatime today we had 136 votes. The first 200 projects to reach 1000 votes are guaranteed to get their £1000, so the faster we get the votes in the better! Get your friends and families on board and help us out!

Here's the link again:

https://community-fund.aviva.co.uk/voting/project/view/17-3761

Thank you so much!

Bums on Seats at the Bottom!

Many visitors to the reserve comment that they would love a few more places to sit down for a while. Well, here's your chance to help make it happen.....
We're applying for a grant from AVIVA Community Fund and we need you to vote for us. We need at least  1000 votes.

Please follow the link and cast your votes for "Bums on Seats at the Bottom", and get everyone you know to do it too.

https://community-fund.aviva.co.uk/voting/project/view/17-3761

 

You can also help by putting a link to the voting on your Facebook page, emailing all your friends or doing a Tweet about us.

We were very grateful for all your votes 2 years ago when we got our pond dipping equipment with an AVIVA grant. Can we do it again?

Voting starts tomorrow and is open until 21st November, so please get cracking - you can have a sit down when we get the benches!

Thank you very much!

              ALL HANDS ON DECK THIS SATURDAY

IT IS 12 MONTHS SINCE WE CUT THE REEDS IN THE LAGOON 

AND YES YOU HAVE GUESSED WE ARE IN THE LAGOON AGAIN

CUTTING AND BURNING THEN BACK TO THE CABIN FOR LUNCH 

WELLIES AND BOOTS NEEDED  

                                MEET 9.30 AT THE CABIN

Thursday Work Day

If you're reading this but you've never been to a work day you might be wondering what gets done?

Well, here's  a quick round up of this morning's efforts:






1. The big blue cabin is getting a make-over - we are lining it out so it's a warmer place to be in, especially in winter when inside jobs are preferable!

At the moment it's mainly a woodworking session in here. Later we're aiming to get some lighting in and a few more fittings so we can build birdboxes etc in comfort. Do you fancy joining in?

How many volunteers does it take........

2. Some routine clean-ups of the bird feeding areas at the cabin and in the reserve also got done. We washed some of the feeders and did a round of refills. Down at the viewing area in the reserve we re-sited a couple of hanging feeders so that they are closer to the wheelchair access viewing area. We hope you and the birds will find them! We also brought the empties back - they'll go out next time. This was an enjoyable task on a fine morning like today, and the feeders dried quickly in a stiff breeze!

3. The weekly cabin cleaning session also happens every Thursday. Armed with a mop & bucket, dishcloths and elbow grease a really good clean of the kitchen and serving counter got done and a general tidy up all made the cabin look welcoming for the weekend.

4. Last, but definitely not least - several tea breaks allow for a friendly chat. We usually put the world to rights, plan a few more jobs to add to the never ending list and dream our dreams of what the reserve might be like in the future.
It's a very enjoyable way to spend a morning - so if you fancy joining in just come along to the cabins from around 9.30am on a Thursday. There's always something to do!

Meanwhile, across the tarmac in the compound .......

.......  there's a grand clean up going on following the completion of the bridge works and the area will be landscaped and planted to look much more inviting.
Exciting times ahead for us - come and be part of it.

WORK DAY _ THIS SATURDAY

Make the most of the fine weather forecast! Come down to the reserve at 9.30am for a practical day with Robin Dalton from Calderdale's Countryside and Woodlands Service and some of the Wildlife Group members.
We'll be doing a variety of Autumn jobs. No skills needed, just your time and and effort.
Refreshments at the cabins, bring a sandwich if you want to stay beyond lunchtime.
Everyone welcome!

Autumn at the feeders...

Richard Tadman sent these photos, taken on a recent visit.

A beautiful female Bullfinch

Female Chaffinch

The inevitable Jay

And a perky squirrel

And finally........ a juggling Great Tit!!

Many thanks for sharing them Richard.

Autumn Newsletter

The Autumn Newsletter has been emailed to all members today.
If yours hasn't arrived please check your junk mail and add newsfromcromwellbottom@gmail.com to your safe list.... and check that your membership is up to date!

Car Park Fully Open

Dear members and visitors.

Our car park is now fully open now since the devastating floods and work to rebuild the bridge. Access is via the old footbridge or new road bridge. There is full access to the reserve as always and the Refreshment Cabin and toilets are open Sundays. 
Please only park in the car park or adjacent road.

Macmillan Cancer Support

  

All donations received at the Cabin on Sunday 24th September will be sent to Macmillan Cancer Support for their 2017 Big Coffee Morning appeal. Please call in and have a cuppa and cake and help this important cause.

We raised £250 on Sunday for Macmillan Cancer Support, thanks to the kind generosity of visitors.