Those of you who visited Kinnordy this week may have been surprised to see a new piece of machinery cruising around on the Loch. For the first time ever we were able to trial the 'Truxor' - a mini-tank like amphibious all-terrain track vehicle. This snazzy piece of kit could mean an end to long days of cutting and clearing the reed and bog-bean vegetation by hand in dry suits and waders, no more dodgy canoe antics and water in your wellies! The idea is that because the Truxor is able to float and move on water as well cross swamp, bog and well pretty much anything, we can use it to cut and clear unwanted vegetation as part of the habitat management of the wetlands on the reserve.
We need to occassionally cut back some of the vegetation because otherwise we would lose the open water spaces which attract so many birds and enable them to feed. Excess vegetation can also be a problem in that it increases the levels of nutrients in the water causing more vegetation to grow more quickly, depleting oxygen levels which may be harmful to fish and other creatures living in the Loch, on which some of the birds feed. It also means that we can give our visitors better access to view all of the fantastic wildlife at Kinnordy by making sure that the hides are kept clear of tall reeds.
Outside of the Loch itself we are using the Truxor to clear the channels of water which lead out of the reserve and which ensure that there is a steady flow of water in and out of the ecosystem, this is important to keep water at the optimum level. The Truxor is also being used to help improve the 'floating mat' of vegetation at the West end of the reserve where we hope to attract more breeding waders such as Redshank, Curlew and Lapwing.
By Sophie