An interesting day at Flanders on Thursday. We hosted a mixed group of European nature reserve managers to look at the work we are doing at Flanders and how climate change may impact on it. There were professionals from all over the place, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, England, Wales and Scotland and even someone from Australia. As you can imagine the discussion were varied and information went both ways. Advice and options were offered to us on methods of scrub control, especially where it might not involved using herbicides while there was a lot of interest from the group in our recycled plastic boardwalk and the impact of the viewing tower. These events can be immensely useful as they get you to look at your site with new eyes, get you to question and justify again the work that you are doing the methods involved and give you confirmation where you have got things right. It will take a few days of thinking about them for the full impact of all the questions to take effect.
What was also great was that Thursday was the first day of the pinkies arriving at the Moss. Apparently last week pink footed geese had been building up in Iceland until the weather changed the the wind was blowing in the right direction to speed them south. Since then the geese have been pouring south and reached Flanders Thursday morning. Their amazing flight took them hundreds of miles across the seas and for some of them they will have been making this journey for the 10 th time or more. Listen out for their "wink, wink " call as they move around the Carse filling up on the stubble fields for the next stage of their journey south.
Thanks to Udo all the way from Australia for the first 2 photos in this posting.
