Firstly, belated Happy New Year to you all.
For us here at Lakenheath Fen, the New Year started much as last year ended with volunteers and staff out burning up the reed that had been cut with the excavator. The machine driver could cut much more than we could clear in a day and he had four full days of cutting. We are therefore still playing catch up!
Before Christmas, we had cleared up most of the larger of the two main sections of reed that had been cut. However, the smaller compartment has proved more difficult to burn as there is more soil in the piles of reed. Why is there soil in the reed heaps I hear you ask? Well, despite sitting up fairly high in the excavator cab the driver cannot see exactly at what height his bucket is cutting as he draws it back towards the excavator. This is because the uncut reed between him and the cutting bucket can be up to two metres high. This is particularly true with the first swathe he cuts so he has to feel his way with the machine. Sometimes, this means cutting lower than we would like. The area we still have to clear up was cut first and as the cutting went on, James the driver got his eye in and the piles had less soil.
In addition to the soil, we have had a number of days of rain on the reed piles. My previous experience of burning reed at Stodmarsh NNR in Kent was of leaving it overnight. This can mean the difference between a good burn on the day and a wet smouldering heap if left for 24 hours! We seem to be lucky with Lakenheath Fen reed as even when it’s damp, we have been able to get it going again and some of the breezy weather we have had has helped greatly.
So, first Monday back after Christmas, Katherine, Emma and I were out getting fires started. On Thursday, despite the light rain, we had a great turn out from our volunteers. This included Roger B, Phil, Sue, Rob, Richard, David M and Nigel T who despite the weather, managed to get more piles alight. We have continued to plod on with the burning when the weather has allowed and this Thursday, given dry conditions, we should be nearly finished. Every day we have been burning, we have had a pair of stonechats for company. They have been finding food amongst the reed litter. We have also had a juvenile mute swan feeding in one of the ditches next to us.
Some of the burning from last week (creating some smoke on the water!):
Image credits: Dave Rogers
On Wednesday, Katherine, Emma and I visited RSPB Minsmere to see what might be the future way we cut our reedbeds. The RSPB is working with the Department of Energy and Climate change and a number of other conservation partners on methods of harvesting reed from nature reserves and turning them into a bio fuel. We need to manage our wetlands to maintain all their wonderful wildlife but if we can turn what has been waste material into a fuel in order to help cut our carbon emissions then even better. Ideally, I would like to be heating the visitor centre with fuel produced on the reserve. We will have to see if the project delivers the technology to do so.
The reed harvesting machine certainly looked pretty effective:
Image credit: Dave Rogers
We hope to see you on the reserve soon!