One of the things we have wanted to do via the blog is to not only keep you informed when we have undertaken work here on the reserve but also to let you know some of the things we are planning to do to enhance the reserve for wildlife and for our visitors.
Next week we are planning to fell a small number of poplar trees in the West Wood. The West Wood, like the Trial Wood and the East Wood are remnants of what was once a much larger block of woodland planted by Bryant and May to provide fast growing cheap timber for their matches. The woodland used to total around 150 hectares and much of it was felled well before RSPB bought the reserve. This woodland was the stronghold for the small British population of golden orioles. Unfortunately this bird has declined since the removal of the larger wood.
When RSPB purchased Lakenheath in 1995 to create the wetland reserve you see today, as well as create reedbed, we also tried to arrest the decline in orioles by planting new hybrid poplars on the reserve. We have increased the area of woodland from 32 to 60 hectares. Unfortunately orioles have continued to decline such that they have not bred on the reserve for 5 years and last year we had no birds at all return from Africa where they spend the winter.
So why fell some of the poplar trees if that is what the orioles like? Well the poplars we plan to fell are shading two bands of alder trees which run westwards from east side of the West Wood. Alder is a native tree, characteristic of wet woodland and thus supports a good range of other species. Hybrid poplars, whilst good for orioles are pretty poor for many other species. The idea is to promote the growth of the alders by felling some of the poplars around them. In addition some of the poplars will be ring barked to provide more standing dead wood. Wet woodland is a very scarce habitat nationally and is a key one for two declining birds willow tit and lesser spotted woodpecker. In winter alders are a great food source for siskin and redpoll.
But what of the orioles? Well elsewhere in Europe golden orioles do favour mixed wet woodland so by diversifying the wood, promoting the growth of the alders and in future maybe planting other characteristic tree species like crack willow and native black poplar we provide a home for orioles moving north from southern Europe due to climate change. This year we are reviewing the 5 year management plan for the reserve and one of the things we will be taking a look at is the woodland and how we can improve them for wildlife. This is the first small step along that path. We would like to see orioles back and nesting successfully at Lakenheath as part of a vibrant wet woodland community along with some of the other species that are predicted to colonise the United Kingdom like night herons and great white egrets as well as helping some of our rapidly declining species like lesser spotted woodpecker.
David Rogers
Senior Site Manager
David Rogers Senior Site Manager - Lakenheath Fen