Time is certainly flying by here at Ham Wall - it's already over a month since the last reserve team update and we're nearly through September! Here's what we've been working on over the past few weeks.
Education shelterThe storage benches are now complete inside the education shelter and I think you'll agree they look amazing. Volunteers Garry, Reg and Pete W have done a fabulous job! The bird silhouette holes match the window stickers and really finish the benches off nicely. They also allow people to see into the benches and show that although the benches are locked, there is nothing of value inside. This should hopefully prevent anyone breaking into them and causing unnecessary damage. A lot of hard work went into these and they will be beneficial to school groups and many other visitors throughout the year. A great place to relax with your lunch or a cup of tea in all weathers!
Wildlife GardenSince the last reserve team update the raised beds have acquired some plants! This made an instant impact and the area is definitely starting to look more like a garden. Further planting will take place over time but it’s great to see the first wave of plants in there. Thanks to Trish Harper from the West Sedgemoor team and her daughter, who got those in on a very wet day at the end of August. Trish's photo is below:
The Sunday practical volunteers cleared all the thistles and nettles out from the area behind the screens at the beginning of September, which allowed us to better see the space we have to work with in there. After that the Wednesday volunteer team, under the direction of Trish, did further work to prep the ground, weeded in front of the screens and a few existing plants got repositioned slightly behind the screens. A willow gate is ready to be hung to fill in the gap between the screens and the building. We’ll continue to develop that area as best we can, to demonstrate many things we can all do in our own gardens to give nature a home. Watch this space!
Habitat managementOut of the Mini-Marshes and onto the wider reserve now. Work is almost complete on the annual vegetation cut on the islands in front of the first viewing platform. The cutting on the islands is all done and the volunteers kept up with the edge brushcutting and burning, despite the weather trying its best to delay us. The islands are now pulling in great and little egrets, cormorants and various ducks as well as the glossy ibis of course. The team found the remains of a huge fish on one of the islands last week, which had been caught and devoured by something. The week before last the Thursday volunteers had fires on one island while cutting, raking and burning also took place on the last. The photo below was taken just before the heavy downpours around about midday.
The last area to finish here is the section right in front of the viewing platform itself. The Softrak has been in and cut, we just need to do the edges which hopefully we'll do this week. Then we'll be moving on to the islands in Waltons reedbed, so you can check on our progress from the main track and Tor View Hide. We'll provide updates as usual via Twitter and the Welcome Building, on the days we're out and about carrying out tasks that might cause some disturbance. We have also trimmed the top of the brambles and reeds that were slightly obscuring the fabulous islands from the viewing platform, so it is now much easier to appreciate the view!
If you were out on the reserve a couple of weeks ago you might have spotted another large machine trundling away in the distance. We had the tracked tractor out on site, being driven by Adam from the RSPB’s Ecological Services team. He topped some larger areas of rush for us, which the Softrak finds harder to process.
The tracks allow the tractor to access wetter areas than a normal tractor with wheels and then the topper on the back gets to work. Adam was working on the annual cut of other fen areas round the reserve. In his wake we saw numerous buzzards and herons taking advantage of easy pickings including toads, frogs and voles.
Floating vegetation raftsSite Manager Steve H has been working on a design for floating vegetation rafts. These rafts should provide a number of benefits. The rafts have a mesh bottom and the root systems of some of the plants on top should dangle through and create underwater habitat and cover for fish and aquatic invertebrates. The rafts themselves also become feeding and roosting platforms for birds and could be used by amphibians and water voles. You can buy ready-made rafts but they're not cheap, so Steve has been trialling some homemade designs.
The photo shows version three being planted up by Steve H and Steve C, after which it was successfully launched round the back of Waltons reedbed, although still out of public view for the moment. Tomorrow we'll see whether it's still afloat! Once we're happy with the design we'll construct some more and they will appear in more prominent locations around the reserve.
Finally, we've been lowering the water levels in front of the second viewing platform over the past few weeks and hopefully you've noticed the expanding patches of mud. This provides great feeding areas so it's definitely worth checking this spot out. If you've got time, take a look from the viewing platform on the main track for a raised view and the lower level screens on the opposite side of the canal.
We've had ruff, dunlin, pectoral sandpiper and spotted redshank over the past week or so as well as lapwing, black-tailed godwit, common snipe, glossy ibis and great and little egret. I also had a close encounter with an otter near those canal bank screens last Thursday morning. Who knows what'll turn up next!
Before you go....don't forget to tune in to the National Lottery Awards, BBC1 at 10.45pm this Wednesday evening to see the Avalon Marshes Partnership receiving the award for Best Environment Project!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b097dmrr