Mere Hide is open: Hooray!

I am pleased to say that after all of the hard work, Mere Hide is now open to the public! I will now pass you over to Dave Rogers, our Site Manager who will tell you about putting the final touches to the hide:

Ali and David have been keeping you all informed about progress on the new hide and the access to it via the boardwalk, but with Ali off work, I’m writing the blog today.  We have had two work parties this week and thanks to all the hard work from the volunteers the hide is now open for business!

 Tuesday dawned bright and sunny and we got an early start with Roger B, Roger H and Mark G and I bolting down the posts for the handrail.  After half an hour’s work we were treated to a fly over by one of our resident crane pairs, “Little and Large”.  They flew through the gap between West Wood and Trial Wood coming from New Fen North, checked out how the work was going and then headed west towards Humphrey’s Paddock.  For those who don’t know where the names come from “Large” (the male) is much bigger than his partner “Little”.  He also has much more black on his neck and has a jet black bustle, the spray of tail and wing feathers that cranes sport.  Little, the female is a much daintier bird with a lovely pale grey bustle.  This pair are quite distinctive, whereas the other original Lakenheath crane pair looked identical to each other, being of a similar size and markings.

 Anyway I digress, with all the posts bolted down we turned our attention to the reed screens.  These are to reduce disturbance to wildlife on the pools from visitors accessing the hide and fill in areas of reed we had to cut when the hide was installed.  The reed panels are smart, square, timber framed sections we purchased from local firm the Reed Panel Co. Ltd: http://www.reedpanelfencing.co.uk and use English reed from the Norfolk Broads.

 After a well earned lunch Roger B and Mark G started putting together some temporary screening up on the bank to provide some cover until the vegetation grows back in the spring.  Roger B and Mark G had to depart at 2:30 but Karen was a worthy replacement after spending the morning with Katherine surveying for water voles.  Roger H and I started on getting the handrail screwed onto the posts with Karen keeping us supplied with the timber.  After a slow start getting past the ‘dog-leg’ section near the hide we managed to get around half the hand rail finished before bad light stopped play.

 Thursday’s weather was less conducive to using the power tools, with light rain falling as we started work.  Su, Roger B, Rob and Robert continued on with putting up the home made reed bundles as a temporary screen whilst Nigel and I started clearing up all the surplus wood.  Once the rain stopped Nigel and I got the generator going to power the drill and started fitting more of the handrails.  With the pair of stonechats for company we made good progress with the rails and by 15.00, we were all the way back to the stone part of the path.  At this point Rob and Robert joined us and we finished the rails whilst Su put the finishing touches to the reed screening on the bank.

 So the hide is now open.  We are still bringing up water levels in the pools in front of the hide and we still need to install some more of the temporary screening on the bank but we hope you like it!  A very big thank you to everyone who has helped on the project.

Here are some photos of the hide, just so you know what to expect when you come and visit:

The "dog leg" linking the path with the boardwalk:

The boardwalk from ground level:

The entrance to the hide with the newly installed reed screens:

The view from the hide door:

The hide door from another angle:

Image credits: Dave Rogers

So, there you have it. The opening of the hide is very timely indeed as it coincides with World Wetlands Day, which is celebrated every year on 2 February.

Thats about all we have space for now. I will return with a "recent sightings post" on Sunday morning. Until then, please read Katherine's note on the Forum about the tweaks to the path that will be taking place over the next couple of months. Also, please check out the RSPB Suffolk Facebook page for more news and sightings. We look forward to seeing you soon.