The team have been busy getting the majority of the habitat management completed before the breeding season and we are now very close with only a few small tasks left before we start the big clean-up and get onto our spring/summer task programme.
This month the team have focussed most of the effort on clearing willow from two areas of reedbed on the reserve: an area at the south end of ARC and another area along the track to Badgers field (towards Lydd from the Viewing Ramp).
The clearance at the south end of ARC is a multi-year project due to the large quantity of willow which has developed in the area. By starting the project this year, we now have a clear way in for the team in the coming winters to further reduce the coverage. It has also opened up some of the marginal habitat to provide access for an excavator to remove sea buckthorn in the coming years as well.
The willow in the reedbed at Hookers had started to be cleared quite a few years ago but has since developed again and was forming a thick barrier between the Hookers reedbed and the back of this.
By clearing the willow, we are confident the reed will develop and link the two reedbeds again. It has improved the view from the viewing ramp no end as can be seen from the image taken on Monday evening and we have been out doing more work since then! We have really hit the mature willow hard in the reedbed this year to prevent it increasing in domination too much and this will continue into the winters ahead.
View of Badgers from Viewing Ramp
The team have relaunched the ARC seabird raft in the bay close to the ARC viewing screen, but where we could be confident that it would not ground out and cause damage to the substructure.
Preparation for raft deployment
We are hoping that the new location will improve viewing across the raft and help with ongoing monitoring of any seabird species nesting on there.
Tern raft location from ARC Screen
We have also started installing a floating fence around the currently slightly submerged (about 10cm underwater) islands on ARC.
Floating fence deployment
The idea for the fence has come from Denmark where it has been successful used to protect seabird colonies from predators as they generally don’t like to put their heads underwater and there is not enough there to support their weight to pull themselves over. This fence is lightweight rope and is supported by gill net floats which are a red/brown and yellow colour.
We will be monitoring the success of this fence moving forward but will be doing something similar to the new islands on Burrowes Pit which are now bedding in nicely and have been seen supporting good numbers of ducks recently.
We will be recovering the southernmost seabird raft on ARC in the very near future if nothing nests on it in the next couple of weeks as we need to investigate its listing and replace some rotten timbers which make it unsafe currently. We will hope to undertake and relaunch the raft before the breeding season really kicks off in April. We will also be receiving a raft in mid-April which we will be launching onto Burrowes Pit as well.
The sheep have come in from grazing the shingle at the end of Feb and have done a cracking job of grazing the rank grasses around the reserve providing our flora with the best opportunities to thrive. The team will be out on the trails clearing back some of the vegetation from the edges of the trails and paths to reduce our ongoing management throughout the summer months, to promote fresh growth of some plant species and open out some new viewing opportunities where we can.
The team have also been cutting fresh sand cliffs into the andrena vaga bank, this is the grey-backed mining bee, which is only found in 2 locations in the UK. By chiselling fresh sand cliffs, we are providing easy digging opportunities for the bees to nest in and thanks to the hard work of the team over the last few years, the colony is bigger than ever. This colony is adjacent to the car park and we expect the bees to start being active in the next few weeks. Please ask at the visitor centre if you would like more information.
We have deployed our new solar pump to the Discovery Area to help reduce the quantity of flooding in the area. The levels in here are now dropping as a result of this as well as the recent fine weather. This solar pump is mobile and will be deployed as necessary in the wet grasslands to help keep them wet throughout the spring and summer months.
Sea buckthorn regrowth work was completed in February too with just about all 4ha of habitat revisited to keep this invasive plant at bay and help provide opportunities for our rare shingle and damp sand specialists.