Well, the weather forecasters weren't wrong; we really did feel the force of Storm Jocelyn last night, and this time more than the last we have sustained significant damage on some of the Reserves.

The perimeter fence at the Home Reserve has been flattened in several places, and 3" and 4" posts snapped like matchsticks. There are a few trees down, and a shed lifted off its base, but to be honest I had expected worse as the whole building groaned and shook in the 70-80mph gusts. Even the old apple tree which the herons first nested in when moving from the sanctuary to the reserve ... has been blown down and ended up across one of the ponds.

Our Cumbrian reserves also suffered trees and fences down, as they too are exposed to the winter storms on those sites.

Thankfully the Southport reserves have come off relatively unscathed due to their position and design; Three Owls Wood is relatively young and so the trees remain flexible and relatively short in stature at just 12 years old. The Meadow, Marsh, and Doctors Rest reserves do not have tall trees onsite, and Old Beech Wood is so densely populated and part of a much larger woodland, that it is self-preserving and the only trees to fall there were ones which were 'due' to come down, and will be left where they lie to provide food and shelter to the myriad of wild birds and animals that reside there.

Nigel