Shark-tooth weir demolished

An initiative by Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust (funded by the Environment Agency) has enabled the removal of the old Shark-tooth weir downstream of Wychall reservoir.

For some adventurous persons, crossing at the ‘stepping stones’ was an entertaining though risky practice; but the aim is to permit the flow of water in the Rea in a more natural manner, increasing oxygenation and improving habitats for invertebrates and other wildlife.

Fallen trees

There have been several incidents of trees in trouble on the Reserve, including a massive branch on one of the big pines at Merecroft. A great shame, and we await the opinion of the tree specialist. Sorry, it is looking dangerous, and we don’t approve of the rope swing….

Later a willow collapsed, heavy with ivy, across the ‘Woodland Walk’ at Wychall, but we were able to clear it, with some difficulty. The photos show ‘before’ and ‘work in progress’, with our volunteer, for scale.

Our attempts to control Himalayan Balsam during the summer have been partly successful thanks to intensive work by a few stalwart volunteers on Wednesdays, but now its seeds have set it will be a continuing job for 2025.

Our 2024 AGM was held on July 9th at the Triplex club, followed by an excellent presentation about Wychall Mill by local historian George Demidowicz.

On May 4th we held our Spring event, ‘Dawn to Dusk’, including a 5am Dawn Chorus walk, with twenty-six bird species identified.

Our stalls and exhibits in the Meadows were well-attended, the plastic duck races in the River Rea also popular with children. Mary Green led a botanical walk, and river-dipping with nets and trays enabled visitors to find some tiny invertebrates that live in the river.

Over thirty adults and children attended the Bat walk in the evening, led by Chris Sherlock of BrumBats; using detectors near the lake we identified Pipistrelle, Daubenton and Noctule species.

Our Photo competition was won by Dylan Read, age 16, then studying GCSE photography at St Thomas Aquinas School.

The judges liked his close-up of withered bramble leaves - an ordinary subject, well observed, given new interest by the backlit effect and shallow focus.