A new wetland landscape is now clearly visible, where just a few weeks ago was a mini-mountain range of soil mounds. Our contractors, Miles Waterscapes, are now finishing off the final details of the land-forming before we let nature take over. They have had to battle against extreme winter weather conditions, including several floods, to compete the project on time, and we are grateful to them for their excellent commitment to the project.
At the moment, it’s hard to see all the detailed work that has gone into shaping this area into a “lifeline for lapwings”. This will be gradually revealed over coming few weeks and months – as the water levels rise and the whole area greens up with grass and wildflowers.
Once the diggers have left, we will finish re-seeding the grassland areas and erect fencing ready for grazing. The fence will also be electrified during the nesting season, to deter predators and giving the ground nesting birds an extra helping hand.
As birds flock into the new habitats it will be exciting to see which areas they use. Yesterday (Monday 20th May) a pair of courting redshank, very eager to use the new wetland, landed just metres from RSPB staff, and inspected a new pool!
Views across the wetlands will be enhanced by the creation of a couple of screened view points over looking two new shallow lagoons. Work is also progressing on the new Lookout Hide overlooking our northern lagoon; this will be ready for opening later in the summer.
Good views across the Jubilee Wetland can be obtained from the path along the western side of the wetlands. We are starting to re-open footpaths, but the full northern loop of the wetland trail is not yet passable.
Watch this space for further news.
MikeMike PollardWest Midlands Area Reserves Manager
See you on the reserves,
Best regards,
Chris Edwards
It is looking good already,i hope the birds will love it.