The start of September in the UK usually signifies the beginning of autumn, with cooler temperatures, the smell of woodsmoke in the air and condensation on your car windscreen. For me it also signifies the end of most of the survey work we carry out at RSPB Fairburn Ings and a steep change in the type of work we do on the reserve. The majority of bird species have now finished breeding for the year and this means that we can start returning to areas we’ve left to the wildlife over the summer and carry out work that might otherwise disturb nesting attempts.
One of the first tasks we carried out this year was the clearance of our nesting islands. The birds that raise young there, such as common terns, like to nest on flat, poorly vegetated surfaces close to water, however in recent years, some of our islands have started to sprout taller vegetation. To maintain the optimum habitat, we chop down and pull out as much of this vegetation as we can before it dies off naturally over winter. Doing it early means that the maximum amount of nutrients and organic matter are prevented from enriching the soil, which helps to suppress the tall, vigorous vegetation (such as nettles) that we don’t want.
In addition to our more natural islands, we also have several rafts out on site that require maintenance, the largest of these (unofficially named the Greta Tern-burg) is a pontoon raft moored out on Main Bay. It has five anchors, which are attached by shackles and chains that require careful annual checks to make sure they are in good enough condition to withstand a winter flood. This raft was installed to provide more nesting space for black-headed gulls and common terns and because of its relative newness in the area, we’ve been using tern ‘decoys’ to encourage nesting on the raft. So far only the black-headed gulls have taken up residence here but we hope that at some point a tern might decide to make it their home too. Our tern decoys are taken in and put in a nice, cosy box (after a thorough scrubbing) for the winter to ensure they are in tip-top condition to attract amorous terns the next year.
Work that we have planned for the rest of the winter includes scrub, woodland, reedbed and ditch management amongst many other things and will keep me and our fabulous volunteer team busy for the next few months. If you’re hardworking and able to put up with sideways rain and soggy boots, check out our Reserve Assistant volunteer role here and you can come and join us!
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Written by: Rachael Tulloch
Photos: Rachael Tulloch, Jen Sharp