At the end of last week, you may have seen a strange, tracked, tank-like vehicle working in amongst some of our reedbeds. Or you may have just seen what looked like people floating through the reed as that tracked vehicle was obscured by the height of the reed itself.
Those people were in fact riding on a ‘Truxor’. We hired one to help us manage the reedbed in front of the Haverton viewpoint, one of our oldest reedbeds. A Truxor is an amphibious beast with a 2-metre-wide reciprocating blade attachment at the front (this attachment can be swapped for a giant rake) and caterpillar tracks. Oh, it floats as well and this means it can go anywhere. I want one.
Truxor at work at Haverton (photo: Darren Clark)
It moves slow, but it has saved our hard-working volunteers a good few weeks work in the wet and cold. (video: Ed Pritchard)
But why are we cutting down our reedbed, aren't reeds good for nesting birds and mammals? They are and they are also safe places because they are fairly inaccessible to predators, but they need managing for optimum benefit to wildlife and if left uncut leaf litter can build up, the reedbed dries out and scrub will take over.
A bit of edge (photo: Ed Pritchard)
The reed cutting will also improve the habitat conditions for a variety of wildlife by creating diversity of structure, creating open pools and paths within the reedbed and increasing the amount of all important reed edge. A number of birds show a preference to feeding near the edge where there is variation in height and density of reed and also in the invertebrate communities found there.
Crop circle fun (photo: Darren Clark)
The open areas with reed stubble will also attract feeding Snipe and ducks like Teal.
Finally, by cutting swathes through certain areas, we will allow freer movement of fish, including eels, through the whole wetland system and allow easier penetration of the reedbed.
All the cut reed has been raked and piled up neatly with the truxor providing additional habitat for invertebrates including moths and beetles.
Check out the video below of the Truxor created by Darren Clarke and his drone: