January 2016
5th January 2016 - (Tuesday - Kedd)
A fairly short, morning visit, mainly to record the Small Quarry landscape after yesterday's snowfall - the first snow of 2016. As usual, the snow had given the SQ as sort of mystical feel. The only sounds were the chattering of a few Fieldfare in trees just outside the perimeter, and the scratching of Dog Rose thorns as they tugged on my thick work coat.
10th January 2016 - (Sunday - Vasárnap)
Teréz, Robica, and I paid a morning visit to the SQ as we'd had almost 2 days of continuous rain, and we hoped that this deluge had produced some favourable results. Lots of rainwater was surging down the airfield road, but this emanated mainly from the western side of the road. Most of the flow from the eastern side was turning into our channel and entering the site, as usual. It's difficult to improve the situation because the camber of the asphalt road takes the water flow away from the SQ. Even so, the waterfall roared as the torrent of water dropped into the site. The only birds seen were a Jay and a Bullfinch. While we were on-site, the rain stopped, and low cloud moved in from the south to engulf and hide the Sár-hegy mountain. Eventually, so much cloud and mist came into the site that it was almost impossible to see one side of the SQ from the other !
Here are Teréz's photos of the same day (10th January 2016)
13th January 2016 - (Wednesday - Szerda)
14th January 2016 - (Thursday - Csütörtök)
Teréz and I paid a one-hour lunchtime visit to check on the water situation at the Small Quarry. Although the rain had stopped yesterday, a reasonable flow of water was running down the airfield road and into our channel. The water level has continued to rise, and has now flooded the circular pathway near the reedbed, making it impassable without using wellies or waders. The lack of leaves on the bushes mean that dumped bottles, cans, and other rubbish (just outside the SQ) are all too apparent. But such mess is difficult to clear up as it lies between the trees and bushes. A flock of Fieldfare flew over, and a Robin flitted tantalisingly about in the bushes. Another mystery bird explored the reedbed.
Teréz's photos of the same day (14th January 2016)
15th January 2016 - (Friday - Péntek)
Teréz paid a short morning visit to the SQ following overnight snowfall.
18th January 2016 - (Monday - Hétfő)
Teréz made a quick visit to the SQ to record the latest scenes.
20th January 2016 - (Wednesday - Szerda)
Teréz's Small Quarry session was cut short when she tried walking on the ice in the reedbed section. Yes ... you guessed it ..... the ice wasn't quite as thick as she had thought ! She plunged through the ice, and was almost up to her waist in icy water ! She still managed to photograph the hole she fell through ! What a professional !
24th January 2016 - (Sunday - Vasárnap)
An hour-long visit to record the latest scenes following the snow of last night. It was a pleasant visit, with the sounds of Bullfinches, Fieldfare, and Blackbird to keep me company. My pleasure evaporated somewhat at the end though, when I discovered that 'persons unknown' had made strenuous efforts to block our irrigation channel. It looks like a trailer load of brick rubble had been brought to block the entrance to the channel, and two side-channels had been cut to send any rainwater down the hill. We will 're-configure' the channel shortly, but it cannot be done at the moment as the ground is frozen hard. Ah ... the joys of conservation work in Hungary !
29th January 2016 - (Friday, Péntek)
As I reported recently, 'person, or persons unknown' blocked our irrigation channel by depositing a trailer-load, or wheelbarrow load(s) of brick rubble and soil. In addition, they also cut 2 side channels off our original channel to divert any water that made its way into said channel. As we had quite a lot of overnight rain, Teréz and I went to the SQ armed with an array of tools. Our plan was to un-block our channel, and fill in the 'rogue' channels. I started to work with the pick and immediately found that the soil and ground was frozen solid ... it seemed like Arctic tundra ! I felt that I could not shift the soil today, but then, with a cry of 'bastards !!!' I swung the pick harder and harder until I broke through the frozen soil. It was like a scene out of Fawlty Towers !! After working for about 2.5 hours, we had stopped the water flowing down the road, sealed and filled-in the rogue channels, and all of the water was flowing into the SQ ... as it should be. Maybe this was harder work than when we created the original channel in January 2008 !
Here are Teréz's pix, taken on the same day
30th January 2016 - (Saturday, Szombat)
Teréz visited the SQ, along with Franci and Robika
31st January 2016 - (Sunday, Vasárnap)
On her 1600 visit yesterday, to check that our repaired channel was untouched, Teréz (with Robika and Franci) discovered that someone had cut a wide path through the Dog Rose bushes from the main gates. This is a worrying development as, if the chains are cut from the gates, a large vehicle could be driven onto the site. Motives? Well, it could just be someone being awkward, or maybe they wish to steal a large quantity of rock slabs for a patio or path. When I examined our channel today, it looked like a few more rocks and red brick rubble had been thrown into it. However, the water flow from the melting snow and ice was much reduced, and all of the water was going into the SQ. On the wildlife side, about 60 Fieldfare flew over, in 2 or three flocks. We may contact the road construction company that holds the tenancy to see if they can install some official notices, warning against penalties for those dumping rubbish, or removing any rocks or other property from the site.