Last year we built a raft which we floated out into the northern phase of the reedbed to try and attract common terns into nesting. They didn’t nest last year, possibly because we got the raft out a bit too late, but this time around we got it out just at the right time. Battling against a massive head wind, we rowed the raft out to its mooring position a few weeks ago and anchored it in place. The raft is covered in shingle to allow the terns to make their nesting scrapes and also has a few clay pipes on top; these will hopefully give some cover and protection to any tern chicks that might make an appearance. We have also put an electric fence around the outside of the raft to keep potential predators at bay. The batteries need changing on this quite regularly and so Zoe and I made our way out to the raft again yesterday to sort this out. A tern was perched on the raft and it looked like a nest scrape had been made, which was good to see.
As well as tern raft related jobs, we also collected some water samples from both phases of the reedbed for analysis. We monitor the condition of the reed itself and also the fish populations in the reedbed, so it’s a good idea to monitor the water quality too so we can keep track of the health and condition of the reedbed and hence it’s suitability for wildlife.
Lots of swifts were hunting over head, we saw a couple of hobbies and also a female marsh harrier soaring over the reeds. Later in the day we heard a turtle dove purring down near the bird feeders and excitingly it now sounds as if 5 of these threatened doves might be on the reserve!
Photo 1.) Approaching the tern raft on the good ship HMS Reedling
Photo 2.) Tern raft with tern seen flying off to the left
Photo 3.) A stowaway!