Good afternoon. I find it hard to believe that New Fen North, the first large area of reedbed on the reserve, was planted 20 years ago in 1996. This means that it is now ready to be cut. Those of you who visit the reserve regularly will know that we cut the eastern end of New Fen North around this time last year. Well, now its the western end's turn!
Therefore, we will be commencing reed cutting and burning next week in this compartment. Once the reed has been cut, staff and volunteers will burn the cut reed so please note that if you are planning to visit, things might get a bit smokey while we are burning. There may also be limited access to the interior path around the reedbed, but we will let you know about this when you arrive in the visitor centre.
If you would like more information about why it is important that we cut our reeds periodically, please read Emma's excellent blog post about it from last December which can be found here. The cutting in the eastern end of New Fen North was very successful and here are some pictures of our local wildlife using the newly cut areas from earlier on in the year:
Bittern:
Image credit: Martin Peake
Cranes:
Image credit: Darren Thompson
Dartmoor ponies:
I will leave you with two pictures taken from my favourite spot on the reserve, which is on the south west corner of New Fen North. The view from here will probably look quite different for the next year or so:
Image credits: David White
We hope to see you soon!