I note from Sunday’s entry on the Chasewater Wildlife Group daily diary that we’ve yet again had a horse and rider get in trouble with the mudflats created by draining the reservoir. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. If you wander out onto that mud you need your head examined. As Graham says, there are still springs dotting the lakebed, keeping the mud dangerously wet, and with the waterline in Jeffrey’s Swag now also lowered and showing huge expanses of very wet mud there is danger there, too.

Please take care, I fear a real tragedy may occur before too long if the message isn’t communicated to all concerned. I thank Graham Evans for his tireless work with the Chasewater Wildlife Group, and would urge all readers interested in the wildlife and welfare of the park to visit their informative and entertaining site.

Picture by Graham Evans and posted on CWG's daily diary.

27th March 2011 (from Chasewater Wildlife Group Daily Diary, written by Graham Evans)

An incident this afternoon involving 2 young horse-riders replicated one from last April when a horse became stuck in the mud, causing great stress to the horse and rider. Fortunately the horse eventually struggled out of the mud, at least half an hour before the fire brigade arrived. It is clearly time to put up the fencing to protect the Little Ringed Plovers and deter general roaming over the lake bed. The photo shows after the event. The black mud, where the horses sank and where this young family are about to walk, is very unstable in patches due to springs (© GE).