As many of you will know winter is a very busy time for us as we do much of our key habitat management on the reserve. This winter has been no different and I'm sure if you have visited recently you will have seen we have been undertaking further reed cutting in New Fen North. We have now finished cutting the final third of this large reedbed as part of rejuvenation works to keep the reedbed in tip top condition. Reedbed is a habitat that will change over time, generally developing into a wet woodland - a process ecologists call succession. So to ensure we keep our reedbed species we need to intervene and reset nature's clock.
We have been cutting and burning reed through mid December and into January and will again graze this whole area through the spring and summer with hardy Highland and Belted Galloway cattle and Dartmoor ponies. The reed was cut with a tracked excavator and then staff and volunteers have burnt up the cut piles. This is tiring work as the ground conditions can be quite uneven. We also had difficulty in getting the excavator into the wettest southern areas so Emma, Cat and I with help from Hannah and Luke from the Ouse Fen / Fen Drayton team and Tommy and James from the Nene Washes team brush-cut around five small blocks of reed, which we then raked up and burnt by hand.
Volunteers and staff burning reed heaps whilst the excavator cuts more - Dave Rogers
With the next work party tomorrow we should complete clearing up in New Fen North and we can then raise the water levels, which should hopefully pull in a few birds into the shallow flooded areas. We have also cut some of the reed along the southern grass track and opened up the ditch that runs west from the viewpoint to give better views of the wildlife for visitors.
View from the grass track looking north into the newly cut areas - Dave Rogers
The storm last Wednesday night and into Thursday morning has done some major remodeling of the poplar woods, with the West Wood seeing significant numbers of trees blown down by the high winds. Interestingly we have been planning to diversify the woods now that we no longer have golden orioles breeding in them. The plantations of hybrid poplars, whilst suitable for the orioles, lack a shrub layer and were not supporting many other species. So we had got a felling licence to thin 200 poplars around the belts of alder that run through the West Wood. Nature however has done in a few hours what would have taken us days with chainsaws. Nature has also created more new habitats than we could. As you can see from the photograph below lots have trees have fallen over.
West Wood from the river bank - Dave Rogers
This may look horrific but it is actually great new habitat. The root plates provide great nesting sites for kingfishers. The holes where the root plates have been form lots of small pools - great for invertebrates. The broken branches will provide dead wood. Finally most of the trees won't die but will sprout new growth and give us a bit of a shrub layer where many woodland birds will feed and nest. We have some clearing up to do where trees have come down across paths so the track around New Fen North is partially closed as is the Trial Wood trail. We need to get into West Wood to take a more detailed look but future work is likely to include planting native shrubs and trees like willows and alder, more thinning around the existing alders and works to wet up the wood. As a result of all this we may be able to treat you to singing nightingales to join the chorus of booming bitterns and bugling cranes.
West Wood from the New Fen North reedbed - our work and nature's - Dave Rogers
Do pop in and see us soon and ask in the visitor centre for the latest information on which paths are open.
Dave Rogers
Site Manager
David Rogers Senior Site Manager - Lakenheath Fen