Habitat management
We have recently been removing trees from the shores of the grassland on Ferry lagoon. This work is part of the ongoing improvements being made for breeding waders and wintering wildfowl. Waders, such as lapwing and redshank require open areas of wet grassland in which to nest and raise their chicks, whilst wildfowl such as wigeon utilise these same areas in winter. The felling of the large willows around Ferry lagoon opens up this area and goes some way to making this area more suitable for these species.
Tree felling - Ferry lagoon
We have also been felling some of the trees directly into the lakes. This fairly recent management technique has many benefits for wildlife, whilst also opening up views across the lakes. Many of the trees are not cut away from the stump which allows the branches to produce leaves and roots. This adds some heterogeneity to the underwater structure, which acts as great refuge for fish. Moreover, egrets, herons and cormorants take full advantage of this, patiently stalking their prey from these vantage points, whilst coot will use these areas to nest. A further advantage of this work is protection of the banks from wave damage. The extra light which can now penetrate these areas will hopefully see some emergent vegetation take hold, which helps protect the bank and benefit grebes and coots among other species.
Extra viewpoints - Drayton lagoon
Over at the holywell grasslands we have been using an excavator to have a bit of a dig and scrape to see what the substrate is like across the field, in order to plan further work aimed at benefiting aculeate hymenoptera. It quickly became apparent that one area in particular contained a base of sand and gravel which had been covered with a thin layer of top soil. This area has now been scraped back to bare sand and will hopefully benefit a large range of invertebrates and add some diversity to our early successional grassland.
Holywell early successional grassland scrape
Wildlife
The wildlife spectacle at the lakes has had a fishy theme of late, with over 50 little egrets, at least three great white egrets and over 100 cormorants. These birds are taking advantage of the plentiful supply of fish in Moore Lake and Ferry lagoon and are a real delight to see, whether they are stalking the shallows or gathering in the lake edge willows.
Elney Lake is the best place on the reserve to spot another member of the heron family, the Bittern. The best way to see one is too scan above the reeds and hope to pick one up in flight. Other species seen over Elney this week (30th October) include bearded tits, marsh harrier, snipe and barn owl.
Great white egret and little egret
As the weather turns colder we should expect to see an increase in wildfowl on the reserve including tufted duck and goldeneye. More winter visitors should begin to arrive soon including short-eared owls and starlings. There is always plenty to see at the lakes, so why not wrap up warm and head on down.