There’s been no winding down to Christmas for us and our volunteers - since last weeks blog we’ve held three work parties! Last Thursday was a particularly strenuous day, cutting and treating willows in one of our reedbeds. This was the area of reedbed in which our new hide is located so we needed to get these done in conjunction with boardwalk work. Once the boardwalk is complete we’ll then be able to bring up the water levels straight away. The tricky part of willow removal generally concerns getting the cut brash out of the reedbed. Lakenheath reedbeds are designed with lots of ditches and pools within them – this creates lots of reed edge and feeding areas for our wildlife, particularly bitterns. It does mean however, that getting to particular areas isn’t that easy on foot and it means forging a long path through thick reed. Needless to say we were all pretty exhausted last Thursday.
Luckily, this didn’t put our hardy volunteers off and they were in again yesterday carrying out yet more willow removal, this time in Norfolk Fen reedbed. It was a beautiful day, although a bit chilly. Many mince pies were consumed during tea break and lunch so our volunteers were kept festive and fuelled at the same time!
With the willow work taking place around the reserve we can start to let more water into the reedbeds that are finished and we’ve opened up the abstraction point with the river for a few days before Christmas. New Fen North reedbed is the target initially. Dave and I checked the abstraction meter point prior to opening the sluice and when we looked inside the box there was clearly a nest inside – mainly made from a very chewed instruction manual as well as some grassy material. While we were leaning over and peering inside, wondering whether the wires had also been chewed, one of the inhabitants of the nest launched itself straight out at my face! A blurred flash of brown just shot horizontally out of the box, hit my shoulder (not my face thankfully) and fell to the floor, quickly scampering away through the grass. It was, of course, one of the aforementioned mice – a wood mouse we think. I’m ashamed to say I squealed loudly, (possibly followed by a minor expletive...) not because it was a mouse but purely out of shock! Another mouse was peeping serenely out of the top of the nest, seemingly less bothered by our intrusion than its partner. Next time I open the box I’ll do so more carefully.....or get Dave to do it instead!
Back to the important stuff anyway - on Tuesday a team of four (men, not mice) armed with yet more mince pies plus chocolate Yule logs, continued with the boardwalk:
Photo credit: Ali Blaney – Volunteers Roger and Tony working on the decking boards while volunteer Martin helps Dave get the frames down
I got the chance to join them in the afternoon and finally contributed to the actual construction of the boardwalk, by nailing down a few decking boards. I’m sure in the new year I’ll get my chance to work at the other end and take my fair share of turns with the drivall. The good news is that we are over halfway with getting the frames down but there is still a fair bit of work to go yet before the boardwalk is complete and the hide is open.
When I joined the gang at the boardwalk on Tuesday it was lunchtime (always a good time to arrive at a work site!) and Roger was outside the hide, staring intently through his binoculars. I'd just missed a handsome male hen harrier. Bad luck for me but a lovely sighting from the hide location. My luck was to turn however – Roger and I joined the other three for lunch inside the hide (the chilly wind was strengthening) and after just a few minutes we saw a bittern! And this wasn’t just a peek at a bittern - it flew in from the east at reed height, flew right in front of the windows, across the hide and landed in the reed edge just beyond us. There is a great little window that looks out to the west on one end of the hide and through that we saw the spot where it landed. Fantastic! The bittern clearly wasn’t fazed by the new installation and despite us all exclaiming loudly / jumping excitedly / pointing and flapping like mad things inside, its flight was undisturbed. Hopefully this will be a regular sighting for our visitors in the near future!
I’ll finish off by wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone here at Lakenheath Fen, plus a HUGE thank you to all our volunteers for their hard work over the year. If you’re on Facebook, keep an eye on the RSPB Suffolk page on Christmas Day for a festive surprise..... otherwise, rest up well over the Christmas period everyone – 2014 is going to be busy!
Quick reminder – the visitor centre and toilets will be closed 24-31 December inclusive. The reserve car park and trails will remain open at all times throughout this period. The visitor centre and toilets will reopen on 01 January.
Oh and Ali watch out for those flying ninja mice - they are deadly!
David Rogers Senior Site Manager - Lakenheath Fen
Many thanks to Ali and David for all the informative blogs this year and to them, Katherine and Suzanne for all their hard work over the past 12 months. Very many thanks to all our brilliant volunteers, without whom we couldn't run Lakeheath.