It was volunteer Sunday again yesterday and we had a large turnout of 14 people arriving bright and early for a day’s work on site. Several different activities were on offer this month including footpath maintenance on the eastern boundary public footpath, finishing off our raised path at the western end of the boardwalk, polytunnel maintenance, giving our containers and storage areas a spring clean, litterpicking and sprucing up our site entrance complex on Cottage Lane.
It is the time of year again when practical habitat management jobs cease for the breeding season and we get a chance to do various maintenance jobs that are so important for keeping the site looking good – especially as our public opening of Phase 1 grows ever closer!
The group also made an impressive 20 submerged fish shelters to add to the large number already installed in Phase 1 and silt lagoon 7. Fish shelters are effective as areas for fish to congregate, spawn and shelter from predators in the developing areas of reedbed – areas that are relatively sparsely vegetated underwater. The shelters enable our fish populations to expand whilst the reedbed in establishing, hopefully reaching levels capable for supporting bittern in a few years time when the reed is mature and fully developed.
Once again, a huge thank you to everyone for an excellent days work.
And there is always plenty of wildlife to keep us entertained, with yellow wagtail over silt lagoon 6 mid-afternoon, little ringed plover over the office as we left in the morning, green sandpiper on Phase 3 and of course the sand martins, now here in good numbers, excavating nest holes in the bank.