Sunday 3rd November 2024

Meet 9.55am at The Iron Bridge

The bat project has been underway for several months. This entailed removing rubbish and debris from the pill box, modifying the window slits and fixing a secure threshold and door with a metal outside cover which mice and rats can't get through. 

To create a roosting and hibernation habitat inside 4 bat roosts were fixed to the walls,  made from untreated rough sawn hard wood. 12 bat bricks were fixed to the ceiling and 2 towers of logs which were piled up, nearly to the ceiling. 

For the hedgelaying we split into 3 groups. The first made a start with the hedge by thinning and preparing the hedge to be laid. The other two groups went foraging around the vicinity for stakes and bindings that will be required to hold and secure the newly laid hedge. It will be a season or so, but the aim for our hedglaying is to enhance biodiversity for birds, small animals and insects by encouraging regrowth from the base and thickening the hedge for greater security.

Many thanks to:

Our bat team - Cathy Green, Nilesh Dodhia, Nigel Daley and Shaan Purohit and anyone else who contributed at other times.

On the Hedgelaying front:

Ken Davies, Mike Lansdown, Phil Gibbs, Philip & Julia Davies, Nick & Christine Gray, Alison Marriott, Alex, Amy Gornal, Kim Jacob, Sylvene Greaves, Russell Ball and Nicola Pazdzierska.

Jack Westbrook 

Best wishes

Jack Westbrook

Lead Warden

Friends of Stockers Lake

07716 296093

Work Party Sunday 6th October

Meet 9.55am at The Iron Bridge

Dear all,

In the coming months we will be hedge laying, one of the most rewarding jobs we carry out at Stockers. So in preparation we worked on a section of hedge around the cattle fields by removing unwanted growth up to head height. This also served to make the pathway more accessible.

Another group worked along the causeway between Berry and Stockers Lakes to clear some larger branches that would restrict the grazier's vehicle when transporting the cattle to and from the fields.

We all joined forces later to cut back brambles and again remove unwanted growth leading up to the cattle coral.

Finally, our dedicated group working on the pill box for the bat project put some finishing touches to the access door to ensure it is rat proof.

Many thanks to Ken Davies, Bob Sheeren, Julia Davies, Nick and Christine Gray, Phil Gibbs, Nilesh Dodhia, Russell Ball, Catherin Green and Nigel Daley

Best wishes

Jack Westbrook

Lead Warden

Friends of Stockers Lake

07716 296093

Sunday 28 July dawned sunny with a light breeze - a perfect morning for seeing butterflies and dragonflies and we were not disappointed.  9 of us (Chris, Kay, Janet, Kate A, Lynda, Brian, Kate T, Barnaby and Linda) spent an enjoyable 2+ hours around Stockers Lake both on the River Colne and canal side plus Meadow1, which the cattle had not been in and so plenty of tall grass and wildflowers to attract insects.

Thanks to Chris Bessant, our identifier, with so much knowledge on the life cycle and habits of these beautiful creatures.

We also saw a long horned wasp beetle and on Stocker’s Lake, a good number of water boatmen and a pair of ruddy common darter mating on the wing, the female dipping her tail in the water again and again as she dropped single eggs into the Lake.
Linda Ascroft
FoSL Events Coordinator
The list and a count of the butterflies and dragonflies seen on the walk. 

Meet 9.55am at The Iron Bridge

. It was time to cut back the brambles at the causeway viewpoint between Stockers and Bury Lake. Another season and the bench would have been swallowed up by them. 

We had a small group of volunteers this month, but we achieved our goal. It is now intended to cut back a couple of the lakeside trees to fully appreciate the view over Stockers Lake.

Meanwhile, two of our number continued on the Pill Box project for bats. One more course of concrete and the door threshold will be rat proof.

Many thanks to Ken Davies, Tony & Sheila Lee, Alison Marriott, Mike Lansdown, Russell Ball, Catherine Green and Nigel Daley.

Jack Westbrook

Lead Warden

Friends of Stockers Lake

07716 296093

We’ll be running the annual Life at the Lake activities this year, six sessions aiming to enthuse kids (and anyone) about wetland wildlife, using the dipping trays full of pond life. We’ll also be continuing to make the bee towers and other activities.

The sessions will be every Wednesday in the school holidays starting tomorrow, 24th, also on (31st July, 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th August) set up from 09.30 starting 10am finishing 3pm.

The aim is to engage with over 1000 people as we base in the middle of the causeway between Stocker’s and Bury Lakes.

 Linda and Cathy will be volunteering at some of the events and any other volunteers are very welcome, even for a couple of hours.

Could you put the word out to your contacts to see if anyone is interested in helping for a day or half day? Sometimes it can be really busy. Also a good chance to promote FoSL and give out leaflets, plus I’ll make sure there are biscuits!

I’d be really grateful if anyone interested can email or, better yet, WhatsApp me 07880094965.

Best wishes,

Josh Kalms

People & Wildlife Officer

01727 858901 x237

07880 094965

hertswildlifetrust.org.uk

Sunday 28 July dawned sunny with a light breeze - a perfect morning for seeing butterflies and dragonflies and we were not disappointed.  9 of us (Chris, Kay, Janet, Kate A, Lynda, Brian, Kate T, Barnaby and Linda) spent an enjoyable 2+ hours around Stockers Lake both on the River Colne and canal side plus Meadow1, which the cattle had not been in and so plenty of tall grass and wildflowers to attract insects.

Thanks to Chris Bessant, our identifier, with so much knowledge on the life cycle and habits of these beautiful creatures.

We also saw a long horned wasp beetle and on Stocker’s Lake, a good number of water boatmen and a pair of ruddy common darter mating on the wing, the female dipping her tail in the water again and again as she dropped single eggs into the Lake.
Linda Ascroft
FoSL Events Coordinator
The list and a count of the butterflies and dragonflies seen on the walk. 

Dear all,

It was a work-party of two halves. The first hour was sunny and productive with three activities: (a) cutting back footpath brambles and nettles next to the Iron Bridge, along the Causeway and down to the Kingfisher Hide, (b) clearing around trees in the Jain wooded copse and (c) creosote treatment of the Field 3 cattle coral. However, the second hour met us with two huge thunderstorms with lighting across the lake. Needless to say everyone got soaked to the skin: though happy with the work we’d achieved in such a  short space of time.

Russell Ball

Following on from June’s work party, both myself and Nick Grey worked on opening up the access to the bat pill box in readiness for building a proper rat proof threshold to the door. Several large branches were removed from neighbouring trees giving the bats a better flight into the pill box. The weather hampered efforts to make real progress but work will carry on in August’s work party

Nigel Daley

Many thanks to Nicola, Julia, Christine, Philip, Nick, Ken, Nilesh, Shaan, Nigel and Russell 

Best wishes

Jack Westbrook

Lead Warden

Friends of Stockers Lake

Dear all,

Notes on FOSL July work party

It was a work-party of two halves. The first hour was sunny and productive with three activities: (a) cutting back footpath brambles and nettles next to the Iron Bridge, along the Causeway and down to the Kingfisher Hide, (b) clearing around trees in the Jain wooded copse and (c) creosote treatment of the Field 3 cattle coral. However, the second hour met us with two huge thunderstorms with lighting across the lake. Needless to say everyone got soaked to the skin: though happy with the work we’d achieved in such a  short space of time.

Russell Ball

Following on from June’s work party, both myself and Nick Grey worked on opening up the access to the bat pill box in readiness for building a proper rat proof threshold to the door. Several large branches were removed from neighbouring trees giving the bats a better flight into the pill box. The weather hampered efforts to make real progress but work will carry on in August’s work party

Nigel Daley

Many thanks to Nicola, Julia, Christine, Philip, Nick, Ken, Nilesh, Shaan, Nigel and Russell

Best wishes

Jack Westbrook

Lead Warden

Friends of Stockers Lake

Sunday 23 June was hot but with a cool breeze.  We were fortunately shaded for a good part of the walk by the large trees around the Lake. 
Nine people (Janet, Christina, Hazel, Jon, Charlotte, Alex, Kate, Rosi and me) enjoyed a
3 hour walk identifying many wildflowers.


Janet Lowndes was our chief identifier with Christina Bressant providing
additional information, especially with bird song (blackcap, cetti warbler).

Besides the many wildflowers (almost 100), we found a blackcaps nest which
must have fallen from a tree, saw a heron sitting on top of one of the canal
barges and another looking for dinner at the weir. 
The sides of the footpath around the Lake had recently been heavily strimmed
and unfortunately this included the area where we would usually see the
Common Helleborine.  We will keep a watch on this area and look for its
hopeful return next year. 
The list of wildflowers identified is attached. . 

This month our volunteers split up into small groups, three of which set about widening certain overgrown, single track sections of the pathway on the north side of Stockers, along the river Colne. Just a moderate touch was needed to maintain good access without being too severe on the wild flowers that border the path.

Another group worked on the coral kissing gate. Its latch mechanism required realignment. That proved tricky, but was successfully accomplished eventually.

Finally, more work was carried out on a pill box to help establish a bat colony.

Many thanks to Ken Davies, Mike Lansdown, Tony & Sheila Lee, Christine & Nick Gray, Philip & Julia Davies, Alison Marriott, Catherin Green, Nilesh Dodhia and Nigel Daley. 

Meet at 9.55am. Work starts at 10.00am. Meeting points vary month by month according to the work programme being planned. So any members wishing to volunteer who do not receive a monthly invite should please check with our Lead Warden, Jack Westbrook in the first instance.

A Group of 10 embarked on a beautiful morning walk in the hope to see as many spring migrants as possible. Due to some flooding around the middle of the path along the lake that was impassable without wellies, our plan was to start by the reedbed, turn around to the farm flood and then go to the hides nearer the entrance. 

As soon as we started, we heard and briefly saw a very loud Reed Warbler. This was certainly the more prominent warbler on the walk. Shortly after, we were treated to an aerial display by 4 Swifts, which appeared along multiple points along the lake. By the fields, we saw a single Chiffchaff and a Great Spotted Woodpecker, which I later found out that it was likely a parent of some fledglings that were calling from a hole in a tree between shoveler hide and the heron viewpoint. This was confirmed when one of the parents returned to this hole to presumably feed the chicks. The theme of chicks was quite a common one and we saw some Coot chicks on the side of the lake behind the heronry. By the reeds, we heard another 2 Reed Warblers very well but they were too hidden to be seen. Another member of the group saw a Sedge Warbler further along briefly. On the lake, we could see the immense number of Black-headed Gull nests, which were present on pretty much every raft, island and shrub. On one raft, we were lucky to see some Black-headed Gull chicks and 2 pairs of Common Terns. Other Common Terns were showing their acrobatics as they were fishing along the surface of the water. Also along the surface were 2 Swallows, which we saw more of later. 

On the way to the farm, we got brief views of a Garden Warbler. A little further long and we finally got a much better view of a Reed Warbler adjacent to a Swans nest opposite the causeway. On the farm floods, there was a single lingering Lapwing and by the paddocks, there were approximately 30 Swallow, flying very close to us. Among the Swallows was a single House Martin that flew through very quickly past us. 

Near the entrance of the lake, we finally saw our first Blackcap after hearing multiple along the way. By the heron viewpoint, we were able to see a few Common Terns closer up, in addition to the surplus of Little Egrets and Herons. Lastly, we saw a Great Crested Grebe nest, which has been present for some time now. 

Other Species included: 

Greylag Goose

Canada Goose

Egyptian Goose

Gadwall

Pochard

Tufted Duck

Stock Dove

Woodpigeon

Herring Gull

Lesser Black-Backed Gull

Cormorant

Red Kite

Buzzard

Kingfisher

Parakeet

Jay

Magpie

Jackdaw

Crow

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Cetti’s Warbler 

Long-tailed Tit

Wren

Starling

Blackbird

Robin

Dunnock

Greenfinch

Goldfinch

Reed Bunting

Mallard

Moorhen

House Sparrow

Pied Wagtail

Many thanks to all those who came along today and I hope you enjoyed the walk.

Shaan Purohit

There is always work to be done at Stockers, and although recent rainy conditions have hampered our plans we were able to carry out a few useful tasks.

The heavy rains have kept the fields saturated and are unsuitable to introduce the Dexter cattle so far. Although the grazier is delaying their arrival, we need to ensure he can gain access with his vehicle. The brambles along the causeway between Bury and Stockers lake needed cutting back a half metre to enable that access.

Three of our volunteers carried out a survey of 2 pill boxes for suitability of converting into bat roosts. The first was converted some years ago but in a rudimentary way. Since then we have gained experience of  requirements to adapt these structures more successfully, so now our plans are underway.

Unfortunately the second pill box had nesting birds at the entrance so we'll have to revisit at a later date.

The kissing gate nearest the Iron Bridge required some new timber to keep our gentle Dexter cattle safe when they arrive for their summer vacation. 

Finally, we have several pamphlet holders around Stockers for anyone who enjoys the Lake walk to join FOSL. The holders get vandalised regularly. We replaced the broken ones. 

Many thanks to the team: Ken Davies, Mike Lansdown, Tony & Sheila Lee, Phil Gibbs, Philip & Julia Davies, Alison Marriott, Shaan Purohit, Nilesh Dodhia, Russell Ball and Nigel Daley.

Jack Westbrook

The bird breeding season is underway. So we no longer carry out jobs such as hedge laying and coppicing that might interrupt our feathered friends.

So we did something quite different that enabled us to appreciate and enjoy Stocker’s from a different perspective, whilst contributing to countrywide data records of breeding birds around the lake. Our efforts are helping to build up a detailed understanding of how many of which species are breeding at Stockers Lake, the locations of their preferred habitat, and population change over time.

Many thanks to Josh Kalms, Ken Davies, Mike Lansdown, Rob, Anna & Alex Liddel, Christine & Nick Gray, Philip & Julia Davies, Amy Gornall, Alison Marriott, Shaan Purohit, Alex Poppel, Russell Ball, Jay Vala, and Janet Reynolds.

Jack Westbrook

A small group of four met at the causeway as usual, but unusually compared to most walks, at 1:00pm. We were lucky with the lovely weather, as the following days were quite the opposite with many showers.

To begin with, we didn’t have to move to get a good view of some of the herons present. From the causeway, there were three nests, one unoccupied and the other two occupied with adult Herons sitting comfortably on them. A few minutes later, one of the adults got up and it looked like it was tending to chicks, although we could not see any chicks from our viewpoint due to the height of the nest. Shortly later, the Herons were joined by two Little Egrets that landed in adjacent trees.

After a while we moved on to the heron viewpoint. As the name suggests, there were plenty of herons to view. There were four nests, all of which occupied by adults and we got fantastic clear views of all four of these nests. Thanks to Nilesh Dodhia, we also had the livestream of the heron cam on a laptop on a small table running whilst we were viewing the herons with the ‘scope and our binoculars. From the livestream, we think we were able to identify which nest the camera looked over, with some help from the twelve Little Egrets also among the herons, which all seemed to be insistent on being in the same tree as the nest on the livestream. Most of the egrets were a little further back than the herons and so we could not tell whether there were any little egret nests. A little later, a few of the adult herons were joined by their mates, who were observed flying back and forth, likely providing food for the chicks or coming with more nest material. We remained here for a long period of time and many people walking by also got to the opportunity to look at the livestream and the herons and egrets. After a while, Nilesh unfortunately had to leave, and we decided that it was also time to move on to see if we could get any different views from other points around the lake.

From the other hides there didn’t seem to be any additional nests, only different angles of the nests in the main heronry. Later on as the three of us headed towards the fields, we got a behind view of what we think was the nest overlooked by the camera. I was lucky enough to get a brief view of the top of a chicks head with the ‘scope, but sadly the chick didn’t feel like popping again for the others to view. By the time we got to fort drew, the sun was out and very bright, limiting the views of the nests from the causeway a little closer than before. However to conclude the walk, we observed a male flying over carrying nest material and eventually landing on one of the nests opposite us.

In total at least twelve Herons were seen and thirteen Little Egrets were observed. Soon enough, if they haven’t already started, the Little Egrets will start to make their nests and breed as we move further into Spring.

In addition to the many Herons and Egrets, there were other birds and interesting behaviours observed. Towards the beginning of the walk we saw a pair of Wigeon, likely the last remaining pair here as they look to be heading back to their summer, northern breeding grounds. By kingfisher hide, we observed a pair of Black-headed Gulls mating and observed a brief but magnificent courtship dance from a pair of Great Crested Grebes. We also saw a pair of Swans, with the female sleeping on a nest, hidden from the rest of the lakes occupants in the flooded woodland. Hopefully, we can expect some cygnets further into spring. On the west side of the lake, we got a good view of a single Greenfinch and were lucky enough to get great views of a female Goosander. This may very well have been the same female seen a week prior and if so, this will be the second individual Goosander seen here this year. Along the walk there were many singing Chiffchaffs that were seen and plenty of raptors, with up to 6 Red Kites, 3 Buzzards and a very distant Kestrel being seen. Finally by Fort Drew, we were able to locate the two flamboyant male Red-Crested Pochards that have been here for a few weeks. As usual they were doing the best to not be seen and it very nearly worked!

Shaan Purohit

That's February behind us. So much rain! There has been occasion in the past when flooding of pathways between the river Colne and Stockers lake has rendered the pathway inaccessible, but the recent rain has flooded so much, that even on the south side the lake was overflowing into the ditch alongside the canal. There was quite a torrent flowing across the pathway in a couple of places.

Many thanks to Ken Davies, Nilesh Sasha, Mike Lansdown, Rob Liddle, Nicola Pazdzierska, Christine & Nick Gray, Cathy Green and Shaan Purohit.

Jack Westbrook

We are extremely grateful to Vaughan Ryall for agreeing to lead our second wildfowl walk of 2024.

We met at the usual meeting place on the causeway. Twelve of us joined the walk.

Looking over to Bury lake, we saw the flamboyant headdress of the Red Crested Pochard. On the flooded field of Stockers farm the very distant Wigeon were spied through the scope. Moving to Stocker’s Lake, a female Goldeneye was soon spotted. There were Herons galore sitting on nests. Hiding in plain sight amongst the Black Headed Gulls was a solitary Common Gull. One of our walkers was lucky enough to have a Treecreeper fly past. On the last leg of the walk one of our walkers spotted a beautiful male Goldeneye quite close. For the group, that was the bird of the day. 

List of Birds seen

Wetland Birds

Cetti’s Warbler

Common Gull

Common Pochard

Cormorant

Gadwall

Goldeneye

Great Crested Grebe

Grey Heron

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Moorhen

Red Crested Pochard

Shoveler

Tufted Duck

Wigeon

Woodland Birds

Blue tit

Jay

Long Tailed Tit

Siskin

Stock Dove

Treecreeper

Wren

Nilesh Dodhia

This month we focused on opening up a more user-friendly access route into Shoveler Hide. The ground to the east of the hide has been cleared of vegetation, ready to be levelled with some gravel and then  fenced to finish it off.

Meanwhile, a second group of volunteers set about pollarding willow in meadow 1. This is essentially to stop further encroachment of the trees and allow more light to the field

Many thanks to Ken Davies, Nilesh Dodhia, Tony and Sheila Lee, Nick and Christine Gray, Simon Parish, Nigel Daley and new recruit Amy Gornall.

Jack Westbrook

This was our first wildfowl walk of 2024.

We met at the usual meeting place on the causeway. It was a very well attended walk with 20 hardy souls. Vaughan Ryall had volunteered to lead the walk for the first time, but you couldn’t tell as he led us like a consummate veteran.

The overwintering wildfowl – Goldeneye , Common Pochard and some Red Crested Pochard too - were soon spotted. The Wigeon as usual were being camera- and scope- shy. A flock of Siskins and a lone Goldcrest were next to show themselves. The young ones excelled with spotting and identification, with Sean spotting a Sparrowhawk high in the sky. A distant Great Spotted Woodpecker concluded the walk with some considerable aplomb, thanks to the young ones.

Here is a full list of species spotted:

Waterside Birds:

• Black Headed Gull

• Common Gull

• Common Pochard

• Coot

• Cormorant

• Goldeneye

• Great Crested Grebe

• Greylag Goose

• Grey Heron

• Herring Gull

• Kingfisher

• Lapwing

• Lesser Black Backed Gull

• Mallard

• Moorhen

• Red Crested Pochard

• Shoveler

• Tufted Duck

• Wigeon

Woodland birds:

• Blackbird

• Blue Tit

• Carrion Crow

• Chaffinch

• Collared Dove

• Goldcrest

• Goldfinch

• Great Spotted Woodpecker

• House Sparrow

• Jackdaw

• Magpie

• Pied Wagtail

• Redwing

• Robin

• Song thrush

• Siskin

• Woodpigeon

Raptors:

• Red Kite

• Sparrowhawk

Nilesh Dodhia

High winds and recent rainfalls had left their mark around Stockers lake. It didn't dampen our spirits for the January work party, but it did cause us to modify our to-do list.

Firstly there were a couple of locations on the River Colne side of the lake where the high winds had semi blocked the pathway, so a clearance job took precedence over our scheduled tasks.

Close by is the construction of a new kissing gate into cattle field 1. It's not completed yet but will enable walkers to negotiate it when cattle reside in field 2 this spring. We set about clearing a pathway inside the field of some thick brush and low branches.

Three of our group of volunteers planted 60 hedgerow whips to infill any gaps or sparse sections around the cattle fields.

Finally the rest of the team continued with hedge laying. During our last visit to this section in December we endured constant rain. This time we were able to lay a further section and finish it all by binding the top of the hedge to stakes, thus compacting and strengthening the hedge.

Pictured are shots of the pathway before and after clearance plus (main photo) one of the tool cart being lugged back to the Fisherman’s hut after the morning’s efforts. There were a couple of long sections where the pathway was completely submerged.

Many thanks to Ken Davies, Nilesh Dodhia, Christine & Nick Gray, Simon Parish, Alison Marriott, Josh Kalms, Russell Ball and Nigel Daley.

Jack Westbrook

We have been running our winter wildfowl walks for years but this was the first time we had run one in midweek, or as early as December.

We met on the causeway at 10am and soon we were viewing winter duck - Goldeneye, Wigeon and gaudy Red Crested Pochard. 9 hardy people enjoyed up to 3 Kingfishers and a small party of Siskin were feeding in the Alders.

Vaughan Ryall’s scope was on hand to identify Common gull. Finally a sleeping Fox and a grazing muntjac ended our morning

Steve Carter

One of the more satisfying jobs at Stockers that our volunteers undertake is hedgelaying. It regenerates a gappy hedge and creates a corridor and habitat for wildlife.

This month's team split into groups, some went foraging the surrounding hedgerows for suitable sized stakes and binders for the hedgelaying, while one group prepared the hedge to be laid. It's an ongoing process and although the drizzly weather conspired against us we made a good start.

We also started clearance of a pathway inside cattle field 1 for the installation of a new kissing gate, which is already under construction, and removed a sizeable branch from leaning on the cattle fence.

Many thanks to Mike Lansdown, Cathy Green, Nilesh Dodhia, Jenny Hopping, Josh Kalms, Russell Ball, Nicola Pazdzierska, and Nigel Daley.

Jack Westbrook

A recruitment drive at the reserve. Our stand attracts many folk stopping by to find out more about our valuable volunteer efforts to manage the lake and moreover the benefits of being a FoSL member.

In October we had signed-up 24 new members. We thought 24 was good but we topped it with 26 new members on our chilly breezy recruitment day in mid-November. This brings us to a total of 50! 

A special thanks go to all those FoSL volunteers* who helped with these recruitment drives. Your time is very much appreciated.

The Reed beds around Stockers support a variety of mammals, young fish shelter in the submerged roots feasting on plants insects and larvae. These reed beds are great for breeding Reed and Sedge Warbler and we recently discovered that harvest mice nest here too!

This month our volunteers set about maintaining the reed beds by coppicing willow, which if left unchecked would overwhelm the reed beds.

It was a mild, bright and sunny day, absolutely perfect for the task in hand. Wellington boots were a must, although in our enthusiasm two of us got a little swamped!

Four of us started the morning by finishing off some coppicing on the opposite side of the lake, but later joined the main group.

A great morning's work, so many thanks to Josh Kalms, Ken Davies, Nilesh Dodhia, Tony & Sheila Lee, Philip & Julia Davies, Alison Marriott, Shaan Purohit, Cathy Green, Russell Ball and Nigel Daley.

Jack Westbrook

After the recent stormy weather, the clear blue sky for our first Recruitment Day of 2023 was most welcomed. Our stand attracted many folk stopping by to find out more about our valuable volunteer efforts to manage the lake and moreover the benefits of being a FoSL member. We signed-up 24 new members and may I take this opportunity to welcome them all to our charity.

My special thanks go to all those FoSL volunteers(*) who helped with this recruit drive. Your time is very much appreciated.

We look forward to our second Recruitment Drive of 2023 on 19th November – hoping for equally good weather.    

Russell Ball (Recruitment Officer)

If you are interested in helping out with recruitment then please call Russell on Mob: 0788 4426671.

(*) In no particular order:  Linda Ascroft, Cathy Green, Nilesh Dodhia, Larry Hurst and Ken Davis.

We split into two groups again this month. One group engaged in coppicing the willow on the canal side of Stockers. It has taken two months on this task to clear an effective area that we feel sure will improve the habitat.

Our second group got to grips with the never ending undergrowth around previously hedge-layed sections along the cattle fields.

 Many thanks to Ken Davies, Mike Lansdown, Christine & Nick Grey, Philip & Julia Davies, Shaan Purohit, Josh Kalms, Russell Ball, Nigel Daley, Stanley, Hattie & Mimi.

Jack Westbrook

This month we embarked on an important job to improve biodiversity along a stretch of ditch which runs between the canal and the lake on the south side of Stockers. The ditch plays an important role in flood control for the canal and lake, but if left unmanaged the dominant willow will choke off the habitat for many species.

We plan to open up sections along the ditch to let light in and promote a wider biodiversity. For example, the Large Bittercress has all but disappeared from this area, so if we can encourage it, it will provide a valuable food source for wildlife, including birds and small mammals.

A second group, including the Duke of Edinburgh youngsters, worked on preserving stretches of fencing, clearing pathway verges and litter picking in those areas. 

Many thanks to Josh Kalms, Bob Sherren, Christine & Nick Gray, Philip & Julia Davies, Alison Marriott, Nicola Pazdzierska, Shaan Purohit, Nigel Daley, Stanley, Hattie & Mimi.

Jack Westbrook

No work this time. As a treat we were invited to enjoy a walk around the lake led by Josh Kalms from Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, as a “thank you” for all our efforts over the months.

The walk covered many interesting facts about the lake, its history and all things relating to the wildlife. We also discussed some of the up and coming projects for Friends of Stocker Lake to get their teeth into.

Highlights were the Common Sandpiper, puffball mushrooms, juvenile sparrowhawks and jumping baby frogs. 

In attendance were Josh Kalms, Bob Sherren, Ken Davies, Nilesh Dodhia, Tony and Sheila Lee, Philip and Julia Davies, Alison Marriott, Ian Lee, Janet Ryall and Jay Vala.

Jack Westbrook