We are now coming to the end of the Havergate Island Surge and Climate change adaptation project, and what a busy couple of months it has been! After the wall lowering was completed the diggers moved onto the lagoons to re-shape the existing small islands, create new ones and generally improve and enhance Main lagoon. They have been working really hard and it is amazing the difference we can see already! We have been very lucky with the weather and conditions with only one day being missed due to heavy wind.
Whilst the diggers were on the lagoons the volunteer team started the tough job of laying out the rockfall netting on the lowered seawall. The netting will help stabalise the wall and keep it strong whilst the vegetation is re-growing. This is no easy task - the wire rolls are 2m in width and 25m long. They need to be rolled out fully and pegged into the ground, and then each roll needs to be secured together using small steel rings. We have 650m of lowered wall so this might take a while!
Whilst the contractors have been out on the island we have been getting other odd jobs sorted that have been on the to do list for quite a while. We have managed to take the old tractor shed down, removed all the rubbish that was piled up from a number of litter picks over the past few months, October Storm has had her annual inspection and we have managed to keep an eye on the wildlife. Dave discovered 2 vagrant emperors (24 Oct), and the highlights from the past couple of weeks – Goldcrest, song thrush, redwing, yellow hammer, short eared owl, sparrow hawk, chiffchaffs, corn bunting, top counts of 330 black tailed godwits, avocets, teal, pintail, ringed tailed hen harrier, spotted redshank, sandpiper and a stunning rough legged buzzard.
Vagrant Emperor