Work by volunteers and staff in the Blean continued throughout January and February on rotational coppicing work and clearing rides, with extra chain sawing help provided by teams from the Northward Hill and Dungeness RSPB Reserves. Between them they have completed 2,300 metres of ride work this season and 1.5 hectares of coppicing, plus some glade cutting. All the work done helps maximise habitat diversity in the woodland by encouraging the growth of wildflowers to attract invertebrates, such as the Heath Fritillary butterfly. Working in the woods this winter has been very cold, very wet and at times very muddy. However, come the spring, the return of the nightingales and the nightjars will make the work of creating an attractive habitat for them and other returning species seem worthwhile.
Work also continues on the Seasalter Reserve, which, unlike the Blean, currently has no public access. Work there is mostly clearing the invasive pennywort from the ditches and carrying out monthly bird surveys. Despite a very wet winter, pumps are currently being used to increase the water levels, which it is hoped will make a more productive year for the lapwings. From next month water levels will gradually be reduced, exposing muddy edges, a good source of food for the lapwings and their chicks. Although there is no public access to the main part of the reserve, good views of birds in the area can be seen from along the adjacent sea wall. Recent sightings have included a pair of short-eared owls, ravens and peregrines, plus flocks of lapwing and golden plovers. Surveys on the nearby beach have also shown increased numbers of dunlin, ringed plovers, turnstones and sanderlings.
East Kent reserves on TV
The Welsh naturalist Iolo Williams may be a familiar name from his work on the ‘Springwatch‘ and ‘Autumnwatch‘ programmes. He has a new series on BBC Wales S4C called ‘Natur Gwyllit Iolo‘ (Wild Nature with Iolo). The first programme, filmed in May last year and broadcast on the 2nd of March, featured nature reserves in East Kent, including Northward Hill, Reculver (where there are some great shots of the nesting sand martins), Stodmarsh, Denge Woods and of course Blean Woods. The programme is currently still available via the BBC iPlayer. It was broadcast in Welsh but English subtitles can be added using the S button in the bottom right of the iPlayer screen. The programme can be found at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p03jwkwh/natur-gwyllt-iolo-new-natur-gwyllt-iolo
Future events
A grey squirrel winter drey survey has started this month, which consists of volunteers walking different routes (transects) around the woods counting squirrel nests. The record for the first count was 32 dreys in one transect! Current research suggests that grey squirrels are not always directly responsible for the decline of many woodland species, but they do cause damage to trees and the plan is to carry out this survey on an annual basis to assess squirrel numbers. It will be followed up in the spring by a visual count of individual animals.
A number of spring and summer guided walks in the Reserve have been planned. Everyone is welcome but please contact the warden team first so that they know how many people to expect.
The cost of the walks is £3 for RSPB members, £5 for non-members, under-16s free. For further details contact the RSPB Swale office on 01227 464898