After a very wet December, water levels on the moor are at a record high. Short term flooding benefits flood plains by in fluxing an area with nutrients from the over spilled river. Long term flooding can however be detrimental to the soil, leaving earthworms and insects to drown.
Wading birds such as Lapwing and Redshank probe the soil with their bills and feed on insects within the soil. Long term flooding will remove their main food source.
We have carefully monitored water levels in the ring ditch. Now that the water has dropped significantly, we have temporarily turned on the Greenaways field pump to lower levels in the field.
Winter is also the time of year we carry out the reed cut on the reedbed. This year we will be focusing on areas in the southern reedbed. An earlier effort to cut the reed this winter failed, as temperatures were just too low.
In early December most of the reserve, apart from the reedbed was frozen. The reedbed became a haven for wildfowl and so the reed cut had to wait.
Drawing the water levels down in the Greenaways field will benefit the southern reedbed by allowing water movement into Greenaways. Although this water will still be held on the reserve, it will allow us to carry out the reed cut before the bird breeding season.