Nick Carter, Conservation Officer (Fens)
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| The perimeter abstraction point |
Last Friday - 28 March - saw another significant development of the wetland
site at Hilgay with the turning on of the abstraction system. This will enable
us to abstract water directly from the River Wissey into either the perimeter
ditch, throughout the year, or the storage lagoon during the winter. Abstraction
during the summer will enable us to keep the site wet but it is during the
winter that we will be able to build up water levels significantly which will
aid the spread of reeds across the site. The aim is to now finish all the
construction and fencing works by the end of April.
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| Little ringed plover, photo by Nick Appleton |
In my last post
I was anticipating the arrival of little ringed plovers and sand martins. Friday
saw the first little ringed plovers on site. In the morning only one bird was
visible but by the afternoon there were at least four. Nearby there was a lapwing
sitting on four eggs with other pairs also dotted around the site. No sign of
any sand martins yet but hopefully they should arrive soon if they are going to
breed. Several species of duck are still present including mallard, teal, wigeon,
gadwall and shelduck which may also stay to breed. Several pairs of redshank
and at least one pair of oystercatcher are also present along with small
parties of snipe which will probably be departing soon. With south easterly
winds forecast for the next few days more spring migrants should start arriving
onsite, including those that just pass through such as wheatears.
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