Sieving the Chaff

We spent most of today doing odd jobs, with the main job being to empty and clean out many of the Hoppers around the reserve. The hoppers are filled with Chaff, which are the hard casings of seeds of crops like Rapeseed. While the casings themselves aren't particularly attractive to birds, many of them still contain a lot of tasty seeds.

We found that the bottom of the hoppers were bunged up with damp coarse stems, so with a bit of innovation and a homemade sieve, we separated the seed from the stems and shells so that the birds could get to them more easily. 

Some other jobs included staking up some windblown Fir trees, tidying up a dead hedge and working on two mink rafts which were struggling to float.