The winter begins

 The Otmoor tractor season is now over! It was a big success and no one got the tractor stuck this year!! To keep the site in prime condition as a wetland wonderland, the grass has been topped, the edges of our shallow footdrains and scrapes have been rotavated, the fields have been aerated to improve soil condition and the visitor paths have been flailed. With this hard work out the way, we can now raise the gates on our sluices, allowing us to contain any rain that falls onto our fields, holding it throughout the winter for the benefit of the visiting hoards of wildfowl and wading birds. These hungry visitors will feast on seeds, grass and insects, all of which are in abundance on Otmoor. Already numbers of our winter visitors are starting to build with the count from our latest Wetland Bird Survey (carried out in mid-October) showing this. Numbers will continue to rise as the weather gets colder.