It has been a busy summer and it looks set be an even busier winter for the warden team at St Aidan’s nature park. With just under 1000 acres of habitat and 12 kilometres of paths to maintain the work never stops!
So what has happened this summer?
With a big reserve like St Aidan’s comes a lot of habitat management and maintenance of paths and utilities. This means a lot of tools and equipment which need a space to live. Although our visitor centre is the perfect size for the public and visitor team, there is no spare space for the wardens clobber. To solve this space problem two workshops were installed near the car park. The spacious shipping containers were hoisted in to place and have since been hooked up to mains electric and water to create a lovely area for the warden’s tools to live and a nice space for volunteers to relax and take a break.
Straight off the back of a lorry! Watch your toes...
Over the summer we employed an external fencing contractor to fence off some of the hay meadows on the hillside. By creating these contained fields it gives us the opportunity to bring cattle on to the reserve. Cattle grazing helps to keep the grass level lows to allow other wildflowers and more vulnerable plants to grow. The more wildflowers, the better chance of seeing lovely invertebrates such as bees, butterflies and dragonflies! Cows rip the grass with their tongues too which creates lots of different heights.
Herding the cows to the hillside for grazing!
Our amazing volunteers and wardens have also been busy putting in the first phase of new benches round the site. We started with 10 new benches across the site. These have replaced some old/ vandalised benches as well as erecting some in new spots around the site.
At the end of the summer, with the help of Swillington Ings farm, we cut and baled up hay from the hay meadows on the reserve. By cutting the fields it stops the grass becoming rank and starts a clean slate for the following year. The hay is also a great use for feeding local livestock.
So what is going on this winter?
A big project for the reserve this winter is installing a new predator fence that will surround the ridge and furrow area. A predator fence helps protect the nesting birds from predation from ground predators such as foxes. Installing a predator fence around an important breeding bird habitat is a method that has been used by many other nature reserves with high chick success rates.
Whilst also installing the predator fence, we have taken the opportunity to do some work on the Bowers Bimble path. The path will be raised to allow the Ridge and Furrow to be flooded more regularly. The flooding, along with the established channels, will generate a mosaic of wet and dry grassland that creates a perfect breeding habitat for important breeding birds. With the combination of a predator fence and a better condition of habitat we hope next summer there will be a rise in the numbers of chicks fledging – fingers crossed!
The first step in the project was to drain the ditch surrounding the ridge and furrow with an extremely powerful pump. With thanks to our fellow northern RSPB site Old Moor for lending the pump, we managed to get the water drained in a couple of days.
Once empty, any plant debris and spoil was scraped from the ditch with a digger and transported to Bowers Bimble by dumper to help with heightening the path. The spoil formed has been piled on to the current path with plans to have it flattened and leveled later in the winter.
Warden John measuring levels of the Bowers Bimble path
So what should you keep an eye out for?
The installation of the predator fence has begun, so over the next few weeks you will begin to see the fence placed in the ditch. Once complete and predator proof the water will be allowed to flow back into the ditch. By having both the fence and water as a barrier it deters the main predators to wader chicks; foxes. Foxes struggle to swim and jump at the same time therefore deterring them from the nesting sites.
We do love foxes! They have plenty of other prey on site. Image: Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)
In the process of moving spoil and clearing the ditch, new scrapes and wetter patches have been formed around the edge of the Ridge and Furrow. These areas will be perpendicular to the paths - so great habitat for feeding waders and hopefully will allow you to get clearer views from both the Reedbed Ramble and Bowers Bimble.
Thanks to our warden team, John and Andy for their hard work as well as their lovely reserve assistants who have given them a helping hand with all these projects.
If you want to help the warden team with their work they have two days each week where you can lend a helping hand by volunteering with the RSPB. Two teams of volunteers meet on both Wednesdays and Thursdays.
If you are interested all you have to do is send an enquiry to Danielle Meyer by phoning her on 01977 628190 or emailing danielle.meyer@rspb.org.uk.