There has been a lot of activity on the marsh throughout September and October. Bam Nuttall are working on behalf of Network Rail north of the railway and Andrew Sandow has been working south of the railway, adjacent to the public footpath.
Bam Nuttall has been installing a new sluice, which will give RSPB staff the ability to raise water levels in the reedbed north of the railway. The higher water levels will improve the area for fish, amphibians and aquatic invertebrates, which in turn make the area more appealing to birds like grey heron and bittern. They have also been attempting to dredge Ludgvan stream and a couple of dykes that feed water into the main marsh but this work has been delayed due to high water levels especially during the high spring tides, which flooded the marsh and backed up the Red River. Last week with permission from St Aubyn Estates, Bam Nuttall cleared the mouth of the Red River and since have had much clearer access to their work area. Work should be completed by the end of November.
Andrew Sandow worked for four days adjacent to the public footpath, near the wooden bench. This area has been scraped back to allow more water to flood in, extending the fen habitat closer to the footpath. This will remain an area of shallow water and as the marsh and fen plants start to colonised should provide a much better area for aquatic warblers, bitterns and dragonflies. The raised bank of earth will be reprofiled to provide visitors with a viewing platform screened from the birds by an earth bank.
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