The signs of spring are starting to appear all across the reserve and what a nice sight it is too! Snow drops are blooming along the river bank, birds are singing, blue tits are eyeing up our camera nest box, cranes are dancing, bitterns booming and marsh harriers are displaying their acrobatic sky dancing skills...
Whilst it is very easy to get distracted by all of this, it’s been a busy few weeks as we try and fit in all the necessary habitat management work before the breeding bird season starts. So, the Thursday work party have been hard at work helping us get all the remaining jobs completed in time.
Going back a couple of Thursdays now, despite the threatening grey clouds, we headed down to Joist Fen to open up the area in front of the viewpoint. Armed with a brushcutter and waders, I headed out to make a start cutting some channels in the reeds and a bay on the back edge of the water.
It can be a little interesting moving around in the reeds, water and mud, especially with a brushcutter. However, it does give me an appreciation of the skill of bitterns to move so easily (and quietly!) through the reedbed.
Work in progress, halted by the rain! (Photo credit: Phil Hammond)
Opening up the area not only improves the view over the reedbed, but will hopefully encourage wildlife to venture a little closer as they take advantage of the newly cut areas. We were lucky enough last week to see a bittern fly out of one of the new channels (the right hand side of the photo) and a lucky visitor spotted an otter there on Sunday evening. So, when you next visit keep an eye out for our secretive residents lurking in the reed edges!
We made our way back to Joist Fen last Thursday, to make a few finishing touches to the view. Rain stopped play the previous week and there were a few sections of reeds that I just couldn’t reach (the problems of being slightly lacking in height!) so Phil bravely ventured out and managed to get those last few pesky reeds to complete the view:
We also like to put the cut reed to good use – it’s perfect for the viewpoint shelter roof, which has suffered a little bit over the winter and in need of a little attention. So, the volunteers put their thatching skills into practice and made a start on sprucing up the shelter.
Unfortunately, the roof is a lot bigger than the amount of reed we cut – it’s a work in progress, but so far it’s looking great and it’s nice to know we can ‘recycle’ the reed on the reserve
It’s not all hard work though, and after a pit stop in the centre for some lunch, we headed out to do a snipe count on various parts of the reserve.
It’s one of my favourite surveys as we get to go to areas of the reserve we don't normally, but also quite a challenge. We’re often walking through some wet, muddy areas (wellies and people can easily get themselves stuck!) all the while keeping track of the numbers of snipe! We managed with no one getting stuck in the mud and a grand total of 42 snipe – a pretty good day all in all.
Botany Bay – snipe hot spot! (Photo credit Katherine Puttick)