Having looked at the project, we realised that this was not going to be a one day task, so decided that the first thing that needed sorting out was changing the uniform depth of the water. To create shelves, we placed slabs of rocks near the edges of the pond. This not only created arrange of water depth, but also provided a causeway for creatures to enter and leave the pond. This required some people to be in the water, so a few of us clambered in. Almost immediately Frankie managed to flood his wellies and soak his backside.

Frankie decides to see just how deep the pond is!

Once this was done, the next stage of the project was to place in the silt some donated plants, in order to create more oxygen for the invertebrates in the water. Southern Aquatics had been really generous, not only giving us expensive plants, but also gravel, planters and pond plant compost. With all these features, the pond soon looked much more wildlife friendly. Lunch was called and we were invited into the staff room, for free tea and toast. What a feast, Frankie had 13 slices own his own.

T and toast

We even washed up, much to the amazement of the teachers. Next we cleared the courtyard of all the chopped down leylandii trees, moving them to the woodland adjacent to the school (which they owned, so we weren’t fly tipping!). This was a hard job because the branches were really itchy and got up our noses and scratched our arms. The trunk of the tree’s were also utilised, creating log piles around the pond for insects. By the end of the day, we took stock of what we had done. Before we started the project the pond was virtually dead to all wildlife apart from one lonely fish, now it is a haven for whatever stumbles across it. Especially as we have added wood piles around the edge and of course the sacred wooden heads.

job done

Today’s escapade was fixing a fence at Winfrith that had been injured when a 4×4 decided to drive through at high-speed during the frosty season. The only casualties of the crash were some headlights and a strainer post. Doctors say that the strainer post probably won’t make a full recovery,  being that its snapped in half.

So the surgeons were called for to see whether anything could be done to restore the fence to its former glory. The surgeons were part of the supersquad, so naturally they could fix anything.

Firstly, the now deceased fence posts needed to be removed from the wire part of the fence. This was a fairly simple task until the pliers broke, which then made the task slightly more tricky, but of course not impossible. Then excavation of a new hole was needed, this involved using spoons and a rabbit naturally, as all good surgeons know, until a deep hole down to Australia was dug.

Then in went the strainer post and the soil from surrounding mounds of earth was cheesed off and packed in to keep it in place. Then strainers and posts were added and just like that it looked more like a fence.

At this point, you’d think the surgeons would have taken a break, but not supersquad surgeons. Next job was to tighten and attach the now very stretched wire onto the new posts.

'Hit it like you hate it'

And so after a couple hours of intensive surgery, the fence made a full recovery and hopes no more cars crash into it.

New fence and what was extracted from the old fence.

Happy New Year everyone! With Christmas way in the past the Supersquad have thrown themselves back into hard work, mainly because we need to burn off all the food consumed over Christmas. Even little Sonny has grown massively in the 2 weeks, although he’s allowed too.

Not so tiny any more.

Over the past 2 days we have been relaying an old hedge at Corfe Mullen Meadow. At first it seemed quite a daunting task as the hedge hadn’t been laid in a good many years and so all the branches were really thick, and in some places there wasn’t even anything to lay.Most of us hadn’t laid a hedge before, so we got a quick talk about why its important to lay hedges and how to do it.   Hedgelaying is a great way of providing an excellent habitat for dormice and other mammals, and good nesting opportunities for birds as they provide a great deal of cover and protection from predators and the elements.  Hedges which have been laid provide green corridors across large areas of land so different habitats are linked and many different species can flourish.  In the areas where there was nothing or little to lay we filled them in with ‘dead hedging’ which were excess bits which we removed and dead wood which we found in and around the existing hedge, this also provides great habitats for invertebrates, which in turn provides a food source for mammals and birds.

Then we got stuck into it, cutting part way through the branches as close to the ground as possible, and bent them over, inter-twinning them as we went.

Isn't John's car rubbish

For the areas where there was no hedge, we went to dig up some sapplings from near a more recently laid hedge, and planted them in the gaps.

By the end of day one we had finished the first section of the hedge. And it was lovely. On the second day we were joined by Andy and Nigel and their team of volunteers, and so we managed to get most of the length of the hedge done (and also eat lots of yummy food).

Look, a hedge!!!

For those of you who will rememeber, Bob had the nose. Mary will never forgive.

It’s Christmas time so this is the last blog of 2010! Hasn’t time flown! Summarising the entire year would take forever as the SAS have achieved so much due to the thousands of hours of volunteering done by many many wonderful young people. So instead, a Christmas song; rewritten to reflect just some of the adventures of the year (not all numbers are accurate).

Dreaming of a White Christmas

On the first day of Christmas DWT sent to me:

A Supersquad with Ruby.

Ruby the wonder dog

On the second day of Christmas DWT sent to me:

Two duck islands and

A Supersquad with Ruby.

It all turned out well in the end

On the third day of Christmas DWT sent to me:

Three games of bin ball,

Two duck islands and a Supersquad with Ruby.

On the forth day of Christmas DWT sent to me:

Four hedges laid,

Three games of bin ball, two duck islands and a Supersquad and Ruby.

A hedge so good you can sit on it

On the fifth day of Christmas DWT sent to me:

Five glorious ponds,

Four hedges laid, three games of bin ball, two duck islands and a Supersquad with Ruby.

Ponds R Us

On the sixth day of Christmas DWT sent to me:

Six tiny puppies,

Five glorious ponds, four hedges laid, three games of bin ball, two duck islands and

A Supersquad with Ruby.

A blog isn't a blog without puppies

On the seventh day of Christmas DWT sent to me:

Seven rhodi bashes,

Six tiny puppies, five glorious ponds, four hedges laid, three games of bin ball,

Two duck islands and a Supersquad with Ruby.

Brownsea fun

On the eighth day of Christmas DWT sent to me:

Eight muddy wellies,

Seven rhodi bashes, six tiny puppies, five glorious ponds, four hedges laid,

Three games of bin ball, two duck islands and a Supersquad with Ruby.

On the ninth day of Christmas DWT sent to me:

Nine saws cutting,

Eight muddy wellies, seven rhodi bashes, six tiny puppies, five glorious ponds

Four hedges laid, three games of bin ball, two duck islands and a Supersquad with Ruby.

On the tenth day of Christmas DWT sent to me:

Ten pathways cleared,

Nine saws cutting, eight muddy wellies, seven rhodi bashes, six tiny puppies

Five glorious ponds, four hedges laid three games of bin ball, two duck islands and

A Supersquad with Ruby.

On the eleventh day of Christmas DWT sent to me:

Eleven fences fixed,

Ten pathways cleared, nine saws cutting, eight muddy wellies, seven rhodi bashes,

Six tiny puppies, five glorious ponds, four hedges laid, three games of bin ball,

Two duck islands and a Supersquad with Ruby.

How many people does it take to nail on one rail?

On the twelfth day of Christmas DWT sent to me:

Twelve bonfires burning,

Eleven fences fixed, ten pathways cleared, nine saws cutting, eight muddy wellies,

Seven rhodi bashes, six tiny puppies, five glorious ponds, four hedges laid,

Three games of bin ball, two duck islands and a Supersquad with Ruby.

One of the many

From everyone in the Supersquad, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

On a cold Friday morning the Supersquad set off for a pond adventure. They drove to a secret location on a farm some where between Shaftsbury and Gillingham. Along the track down to the farm was a lovely old twisty oak tree which we all admired as we passed, but unfortunately didn’t look closely enough at; Steve O later on told us when he’d driven past they spotted a Little Owl in the hole.

Teenie, tiny Little Owl

The plan for the day was to clear the bramble and other vegetation from around the south side of the ponds on the farm. This is to allow more sunlight into the ponds to make them more suitable for Great Crested Newts, which can be found in other ponds in the area.

Now a happy unshaded pond

There were many ponds to clear, but the squad, Neil, Steve, Rachel and 2 other volunteers raced through the clearance of them. By the end of the day we’d cleared the vegetation from around 4 ponds!

Heroes vs blackthorn

This is a perfect opportunity to introduce the newest member of the team – Sonny. Ruby’s little puppy, he’s been coming out to play with us for a few weeks now, which for some members of the squad means that they don’t do quite so much work.

John temporarily takes over kangaroo duties from Becky

A very enjoyable and rewarding day was had by all, and made all the more better by tasty soup made by Rachel,  a massive tin of biscuits provided by Christina, and lots of fires to keep everyone warm

All still smiling at the end of the day - success!