Well it is organic week at Saltholme. Or to be more accurate: It’s organic matter week at Saltholme.
That means this week we are adding organic matter to the mud where birds feed in front of hides. We need to do this when clay has been exposed and there is no organic matter there. Of course the birds aren’t feeding on the organic matter itself, but the larvae of midges which in turn feed on the organic matter.
As this is not an exact science, we will by trying a few techniques to see what happens. On Tuesday, we will be collecting cow pats and strategically placing them in the new micro scrape in front of Paddy’s Hide.
This one looks useful
This will be in the afternoon, after we have done a little bit of digging to enlarge the bay and lengthen the spit to make the bay more sheltered. The calmer water is also good for kingfishers, and the new specially designed stick has already attracted two birds at once.
Then on Thursday, we will be dumping lots of compost in the form of grass cuttings to the area of water in front of the Wildlife Watchpoint hide. A second team will be digging turf and placing that in the mud of the new scrape in front of the Phil Stead Hide.
Which technique will provide the most bird food ?
We’ll need to wait until the wader passage next year to find out, but my money’s on the turf. After all, that would be just like the natural flooding of wet grassland.