Bird Hide Improvements

If you have been over to Woodwalton Fen recently, you might have noticed that just prior to Christmas we carried out some improvement works on our bird hides. Firstly, we asked volunteers to help cut and clear the vegetation in front of the hides; ensuring that the view out from hides remains unobscured. At the same time, we made repairs to some of the reed screens around the hides that had unfortunately been vandalised. These screens help to prevent wildlife in front of the hides from being disturbed by wildlife watchers entering the hide. Hopefully now they have been repaired, visitors will be more likely to get some great viewing from the hides. 
 

Some more significant work was also required on the steps leading up to the hides, with their footings beginning to rot. We welcomed contractors from Gilleard Brothers who installed new steps with concrete footings that should hopefully be stronger and last longer than the previous wooden ones.

Do let us know what species you spot from the newly improved hides. 

Darlows Barns Demolition

Some construction work that we are hoping will not last much longer is to the barns on the restoration land at Darlows Farm.

This area, just to the north of Woodwalton Fen, was the first parcel of land bought to be restored as part of the Great Fen and which enlarged the existing nature reserve by 40%. Darlows has now been under restoration for nearly 20 years so we've seen a great increase in the number and diversity of species of birds, including waders and ducks, ranging from lapwing to redshank, and shelduck to garganey. The site is important for ground nesting and roosting birds as it is remains undisturbed throughout the year. For these conservation reasons, we should note, this area is not currently accessible to the general public. It can be viewed from the west bank of Woodwalton Fen, at the end of Mason's Drove, and wildlife sightings from this location are always welcome. 

Formerly, the barns were used as a work base for some Natural England staff, but more recently have been little used. As part of efforts to make the Great Fen more naturalistic, these barns are going to be demolished, further opening up the landscape between Woodwalton Fen and Holme Fen. We have been busy readying the barns for demolition and are now just waiting for all the right legal boxes to be ticked before we get started on this next step of restoration on the Great Fen.

Glade Cutting at Holme Fen

Holme Fen itself is rather odd when one thinks about restoration at the Great Fen, as the birch woodland that makes up most of the reserve is a result of the draining of the wetland that once existed on the site. Whilst we value the woodland here, a significant part of our work at Holme Fen is maintaining some more open areas, which may better represent the vegetation structure that might have existed prior to draining. A good example of this is our glade management.

Firstly, vegetation in the glades was cut with hay mowers and then the cuttings raked and cleared. By doing this, we maintain a more open structure within the woodland providing a greater variety of habitats; hopefully with knock-on benefits for biodiversity. 

Over the coming weeks we will be continuing with our glade management at Holme Fen, so do keep an eye out on our Facebook page for how these works progress!

Basher’s Glade

The largest glade at Holme Fen is “Basher’s Glade” in the North West of the reserve, so named after a former worker.  This large area of heath grassland contains many different species such as cross-leaved heath, tormentil, sorrel, mosses etc. It’s also an important area for invertebrates, including a couple of rarer species: the grizzled skipper butterfly which needs the tormentil for its lifecycle, and the forester moth which needs the sorrel.

Normally this area would be regularly cut, like the other glades in Holme Fen. Unfortunately, the past few years the cut has been missed for a variety of reasons (changes in staffing, work time lost during lockdowns etc.). The result of which has been an invasion of birch and a lot of these plant species (and so the insects that rely on them) were decreasing in abundance.

Birch is a pioneer species: often one of the first tree species to colonise open spaces. It has small seeds that can travel large distances, is tolerant of a wide variety of soil conditions, and is very fast growing. This last characteristic has meant that even just during the last couple of years, the birch in Basher’s has grown to such a size that some of it is now too large to be taken on by our mowing machinery.  This has meant we have had to tackle some of it in a more labour-intensive way; using clearing saws to cut down the regrowth.

A few sessions with our fantastic volunteers have allowed us to really get back on top of the management here. Hopefully, in years to come we will now be able to stay on top of this lovely glade with regular mowing. The skippers seem to be appreciating the work across the glades and this year during our surveys we have found them over a larger area.

Enjoy John Kerr's video showing the speedy work of our teams tackling the clearance!