February 2017
3rd February 2017
After a week of temperatures around the -8 deg mark, today saw a much milder day, with the result that the frozen snow started to melt .... in a big way! Teréz went to the SQ at 0900, saw that torrents of water were surging down the hill, and came up with a master plan! She made a dam across the airfield road by compressing large 'clumps' of snow, and pressed then together to form a barrier. Almost all the water turned left as it reached the dam, and flowed into our irrigation channel. Before that, she had to block three 'unofficial' channels dug by our German friend. Readers may remember that we had the same 'running battle' with him last year. We decided that we should staff the site for as long as possible today while the water was running, so that he could not interfere with our project. I arrived just before 1300 to relieve Teréz for a break, and I stayed until almost 1700. During my stint there, I had to repair the dam about 15 times, as cars kept driving to and from the airfield! During the last part of the afternoon, Teréz brought young Robika to see the very impressive waterfall, and, of course, he just HAD to help with the work!
Here are Teréz's images from the same day (3rd February 2017):
4th February 2017 - (Saturday, Szombat)
An interesting day ! I arrived to find that the German had cut drainage channels from our top irrigation channel to stop water going into the SQ. Again, I repaired the damage, and restored the waterfall. As I was about to leave, he suddenly appeared in his yellow van, stopped it in the middle of the road, and proceded to start cutting 'his' channels again. I called out to him about 15 times, getting ever closer, but each time he ignored me and carried on working. We then had a big shouting match, with him asking me why we do such an idiotic thing, and then, when I tried to explain, he just kept shouting 'no', and refused to listen. In the end I became abusive to him (almost Basil Fawlty!). Finally, he asked me to go and have a look at the cellar of his house, which I did. True, there was a round hole full of water (with a female Common Toad close by) and he said that he has to bail-out water in the early hours of the morning, or his whole cellar is flooded. After a while, things quietened down and we discussed things calmly. For now, we have agreed that no more water will be diverted in to the SQ until his flooding problem clears. We will try to solve the problem by measuring how much water can go into the site before it starts to flood his cellar .... IF THAT is really happening. His name is Áchim (spelling?), and we parted with a handshake and calm voices. He says that he likes nature very much, and is all for conservation, but will not put frogs before people ... i.e. himself. On another tack, a Wren was seen (and heard) inside the site.
8th February 2017 - (Wednesday, Szerda)
Confusion reigns! When I checked the SQ this afternoon, Achim's three channel cuttings had been blocked off, and water was flowing into the site again! But the strange thing is ... Teréz and I didn't do it. So, who did? It must have been a supporter of our project .... or maybe Achim, himself. Why do I entertain that thought? Well, he was against us bringing vast amounts of meltwater into the site, but said he didn't object to 'normal rainfall' ... and this is what we recently had. A mystery, indeed! As I arrived, I saw a Buzzard sitting on top of the poles near the entrance. Of course, when I exited the car, it became camera-shy and flew off.
12th February 2017 - (Sunday, Vasárnap)
A 30-minute afternoon visit to check on the status of the SQ. All was quiet .... Áchim's channel was still blocked (even though Teréz and I didn't block it!). Ice covered all of the water bodies. Only a Wren was heard, and the last vestiges of the recent snow were clinging-on in shaded areas of the site.
16th February 2017 - (Thursday, Csütörtök)
A 15-minute afternoon visit to check the site wearing its picturesque Winter coat. Only Blackbirds were seen today.
22nd February 2017 - (Wednesday, Szerda)
A short visit this afternoon to check on the status of the SQ. It's becoming rather difficult to tell which way our irrigation channel is being blocked as there is so much rocky debris everywhere. I think it is on 'irrigation setting' at the moment, although some small clearance work is required if the channel is to operate efficiently. The old pile of concrete, across the road, that we have 'lived with' for many months has completely disappeared, although it looks like a few pieces have been used to block Achim's 'unofficial' channels. Some sizeable deer have been very active, scraping for food items after the recent hard frosts. Their workings were found in most areas inside, and also outside, beside the road. The water in the Bowl is now free of ice, but the level looks to have dropped. I doubt that amphibian breeding attempts will be successful, unless we have some substantial rainfall. Most of Rock Bath 1 was still covered in ice. I saw some movement in the Coffee Pool area, which may have been amphibian activity. I witnessed some medium-sized Water Beetles arriving on the surface before disappearing below.
24th February 2017 - (Friday, Péntek)
I made a short visit with the idea of removing debris from our irrigation channel so that any rainwater would enter the site. However, the first thing that greeted me as I drove up the hill was a small amount of building material (tile pieces and cement) that had been dumped on the right side of the airfield road, just outside the Small Quarry. Being a seasoned guardian of the site, I no longer fly into a rage over such events, but simply resign myself to the fact that another 'dirty' job awaits Teréz and myself. After recording the depressing sight, I started to clear the debris from the channel. It was literally 'by hand' as I had no tools with me. I hope my work was sufficient, but it's hard to tell these days, as the channel has been 'mauled about' so many times. It no longer even looks aesthetically pleasing, but hopefully it will do its job, as in the past. Exploring the site, it was obvious that the water level had dropped even more, and as the strong wind gusted across the site, it was impossible to check for amphibian movement as there were so many ripples on the water surface.
25th February 2017 - (Saturday, Szombat)
As it was a sunny morning I visited the SQ to check whether there was any amphibian activity. I donned my wellies and strolled through the water until the level reached the top of my boots, but saw no sign of life. Maybe the strong, cold wind is a factor in their reluctance to appear. Although there is still quite a lot of water in The Bowl, there will not be enough for amphibian breeding to be completed unless we have substantially more rain. Rock Bath 1 was, again, topped with ice, but RB2 and The Bowl both had 'open' water.