Hello from the Exe Estuary Reserves, Mark here to update you :-).
This week we have been doing various bits and bobs, including a day at Aylesbeare Common.
We spent Tuesday at Aylesbeare Common, where we walked along the fence line on the outside of the reserve to check for any problems such as fallen trees, broken wire and wobbly posts. It also gave us a nice tour around the reserve. During the afternoon, we cleared some vegetation along a track to allow access to lorries. The lorries will be used to take away old piles of scrapings (when they scrape off the top layer of soil on the reserve to remove vegetation), and will be taken to a healthland restoration site near Newton Abbot, where these old scrapings can be used for regeneration as they contain a seed bank. While there, we also saw the Dartmoor and Exmoor ponies that graze the site :-).
On Wednesday, we monitored the Lapwing again on Exminster and Powderham. They have settled down a bit on Powderham, but numbers on the Exminster side of the reserve are fluctuating. Hopefully they’ll get settled down soon so that we know how many pairs will be breeding this year.
In the afternoon on Wednesday, Peter and I sprayed Dock plants with knapsacks on the field where the viewing platform is on Powderham. We left some of the field alone, as there are rare agricultural weeds in some places, and it would be best to spray different areas in different years. It was important to do this before the field gets ploughed, as Dock plants produce long tap roots which regenerate if broken. If the Dock is not controlled but the field gets ploughed, the chopped up pieces of Dock will regenerate, meaning that more and more Dock will come back every year. This would be very undesirable because the diversity of the plants on the field would be reduced and there would be less crop stubble left for wildlife in the winter. Andrew also carried out a butterfly survey on Wednesday, the first one of the year. He did see a few different species but not too many numbers. We will no doubt see more butterflies as the weather gets warmer, and will be undertaking surveys on a fairly regular basis, so we will keep you updated on the butterfly situation ;-).
On Thursday we constructed a stile at Goosemoor, to create access to the tidal exchange pipe system. This stile was needed because we built a stock fence around the field so that it can be grazed by cattle in the summer, but it had to be built in front of some steps that were previously used to gain access. Dennis (one of our Thursday work party volunteers) has kindly provided photos of our work, which I have uploaded below.
Before the stile (Photo Courtesy of Dennis)
After the stile (photo courtesy of Dennis)
We also continued to attack the Tamarisk which is growing on the sea wall in front of the viewing platform. We are trying to get rid of the shrubs as they would block the view over the estuary if left to grow. They are also non-native, having been introduced from Southern Europe and are considered to be invasive in warmer climates such as the south-western United States.
Today we are going to continue wood staining the cladding on the shipping container on the sidings. Once that coat is dry, we will apply another coat and the wood staining will be complete :-).
I hope you had a nice Easter break and we’ll be back soon :-).
Mark