A hedgehog in the kitchen

Helen Baczkowska, Conservation Officer and Diane Gilbert, NWT volunteer

Nine-thirty on a November night and on the way to lock up my hens for the night, I spotted a tiny shape scuttling into the veg garden. Normally this would be a moment for joy, not concern, but this was a very small hedgehog, lacking the fat reserves to hibernate and likely to die if not given some help. 

Hedgehog by woodpile, photo by Quintin Saling

So I scooped her up into my coat and settled her into a box in the kitchen for the night, with a dish of water, a handful of raisins and some straw. The following morning, I dropped her off at the wonderful Norwich Hedgehog Rescue, with a donation to help with their costs; this is one of a number of places that can take in tiny hedgehogs and give advice on hedgehog care. Over the coming weeks, they will feed her up and then send her off to a foster home to winter awake in a hutch in a shed, before re-release in the spring – hopefully back into my veg garden, where she can feast on slugs and snails and bring me much happiness if our night time rambles cross paths!

Such tiny hedgehogs are not uncommon this time of year, usually the result of a late litter and if you think you have hedgehogs in your garden, here is what you can do to help in autumn:

• Be careful when lighting bonfires or moving piles of leaves – there might be a hedgehog hibernating within!
• Look out for tiny hedgehogs they need to be at least 600g to get through the winter – I weighed mine on the kitchen scales to be sure!
• If you do find a hedgehog in distress, you can call the RSPCA, or find a hedgehog rescue contact from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) on 01584 890 801 or http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/found-a-hedgehog.php or email info@britishhedgehogs.org.uk and of course NWT Wildline is here to help too: 01603 598333
• Consider being a hedgehog foster parent for the winter!  You will need to be briefly trained and have a frost free shed with a rabbit hutch – see the BHPS website for information.

Hedgehog populations have declined by about a quarter in the last ten years (British Hedgehog Preservation Society & People’s Trust for Endangered Species) and yet, this is a species that happily lives alongside people in gardens and parks. However, gardens do need to be hedgehog friendly and here are some ways you can help garden with them in mind:

• Have a supply of water in your garden for hedgehogs and other animals. Milk is not good for hedgehogs.

• Hedgehogs will eat at least 100 invertebrates, such as snails, slugs and worms every night. If you want to put out supplementary food you can buy specially made dried food for hedgehogs or you can feed them dog or cat food – any flavour except fish.
• Use only hedgehog friendly slug pellets or control slugs by trapping.
• Provide suitable habitat by leaving areas of your garden undisturbed to allow hedgehogs to shelter. Avoid strimming and grass cutting in these areas.
• Provide extra shelter by creating hibernation spots, this can be a box or log pile. Hedgehogs also love compost heaps for the warmth and food they find.

I hope you have the opportunity to enjoy hedgehogs in your garden and I am keeping my fingers crossed that my tiny one comes back in the spring to enjoy my garden for years to come (and to help me keep the slugs at bay)!

Species of the month: Norfolk’s remarkable trees

Ed Parnell, Norfolk Wildlife Trust

November is a great time to get out into the Norfolk countryside and witness spectacular displays of changing autumn leaf colours. It’s also a good time to catch up with some of the veteran trees dotted around the county, many of which have interesting associations with local legends and folklore.

NWT Hethel Old Thorn, photo by Richard Osbourne

Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s smallest nature reserve happens to consist of just one, very old ‘tree’, though perhaps bush would a better description! Hethel Old Thorn is located beside the picturesque Hethel Church, near Wymondham. The tiny reserve measures only 0.025 hectares in size, making it one of the smallest reserves in the UK.

The eponymous thorn itself is thought to be one of the most ancient in England, possibly dating from the thirteenth century. In 1755 its girth was recorded as 9 feet 1 inch, but it has now decayed to a remnant of its former self. Even so, there is still something very appealing about this venerable shrub, which continues to grow each year and remains healthy. Superstition has it that the hawthorn grew from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea – a folk tale associated with other thorns around the country including at Glastonbury – as well as being a place where rebel peasants allegedly gathered in the time of King John.

Nearby, between Wymondham and Hethersett stands another historic tree: Kett’s Oak. Propped up by sturdy wooden beams, and perched precariously on the side of the busy road, this twisted oak is the supposed spot where, in 1549, the rebel Robert Kett and his army of revolting peasants stopped on their march to Norwich against aristocratic injustice. However, there are some suggestions that the tree may have not been the stopping-off point but actually the site where a number of the rebels were hanged. Confusingly, another Kett's Oak stands near Ryston Hall, not far from Downham Market, apparently marking another meeting point of that rebellion.
 

Oak at NWT Thursford Wood, photo by David North

For a creepily atmospheric woodland location, visit NWT Wayland Wood near Watton, alleged site of the Babes in the Wood legend with its villainous, murdering uncle. Walking around the densely packed trees on a winter’s afternoon it’s easy to believe there’s some truth in the dark tale, though the reality is that the wood’s thickness is down to the traditional coppicing woodland management techniques used to benefit wildlife.
 

Less shrouded in myth and fable, but even more impressive are the numerous other veteran trees found around the county. Norfolk Wildlife Trust conducted a survey of these leviathans in 2007, asking people to submit local records. Over 200 notable trees were recorded, with the largest example being an oak found at East Wretham with a massive nine-metre circumference; other large trees included sweet chestnuts and limes. An excellent site to see many such gnarled, ancient oaks together in one location is NWT Thursford Wood, just outside Fakenham.

For information about Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s woodland nature reserves, as well as events being run throughout the winter see www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk

Here, there and everywhere!

By Paul Waterhouse, Assistant Field Officer Breckland

As some of you will be aware, the NWT reserve staff are split into a number of different teams spread across the county each with their own patch. Although from time to time we do help each other out, especially when extra hands are needed for livestock management, by and large we tend to stick to our own sites. 

Here in the Brecks we cover a large area and are responsible for the management of eight nature reserves including Weeting Heath, Thompson Common, New Buckenham Common and East Wretham Heath. The Brecks team is based at East Wretham Heath where we have a small office and work yard to store tools and machinery. It is not unusual for us to visit a number of different sites on the same day, whether it is to check livestock, fix fences or to clear fallen trees. This is the reason you may see our red vehicles passing you on the roads, dotting from place to place.

Over the past few months we have been very busy carrying out work on a number of different sites. We are currently in the middle of replacing around 1.5 Kilometres of stock fencing at Weeting Heath and Thetford Heath as well as repairing considerably more than that across most of our sites. 

We have installed a number of new boardwalks at Swangey Fen, which have been recycled from sections replaced at Cley Marshes. This will allow our voluntary warden to move machinery around the site more easily in some of the wettest parts of the reserve. 

At East Wretham Heath we have been carrying on with the heathland restoration and have felled a number of birch trees to further open up the area near Ringmere. 

There has also been time to carry out scrub management at Cranberry Rough a site which I always enjoy working on. I don’t often get to spend much time there as most of the management of the site is carried out by the resident Highland cattle, which you may catch a glimpse of as you walk the Great Eastern Pingo Trail.

As well as all this we obviously have to fit in our day to day tasks such as livestock checking and management, maintenance of tools and machinery and yes, the dreaded paper work.

Ten reasons why people love Cley Marshes

David North, Head of People and Wildlife

There are many reasons to love our best known, oldest and most visited nature reserve.  Here are just some of them! I have distilled these from the comments left by visitors at our recent Cley Marshes: A wild vision screen-show in Norwich, from the wonderful and moving comments send in by the many generous people who have donated to our Cley Marshes land purchase appeal and from interviews with artists, birders and local people at Cley nature reserve.

·      A sense of wildness

NWT Cley Marshes, photo by David Tipling

One word that comes up time and time again about Cley is wildness. The landscape of marshes and reed beds, shingle and sand, sky and sea, this edgeland of Norfolk running from Salthouse through Cley to Blakeney Point is hugely valued for its wildness. Some comments talked about it being one of the last wild, natural landscapes in England. Our warden, Bernard Bishop, might be horrified because of course Cley Marshes is also a highly managed and created environment: the scrape pools dug with bulldozers and the reed bed only here because of constant years of toil and  management. However a sense of wildness is clearly something highly valued about this precious coastal landscape and something we must pay regard to in caring for it. Too many signs, the wrong sort of hides or pathways, could all put this at risk. Wildness of course is not so much out there as inside us: in our perception. In our hearts. Something we feel and experience; an emotional response to something special and wonderful about this place. This feeling of wildness can descent on a place with a storm, the fall of night, a peregine’s stoop or a curlews lonely call. We value places like Cley for touching us with their wildness.

·     Changing light

Storm approaching, photo by Tasha North

Another quality that was mentioned by many people, and by all the artists that we interviewed, was the special light at Cley: constantly changing and something about it capable of inspiring people.  If you have ever sat looking out the window of our visitor centre at Cley you will know how the amazing view over the reserve constantly changes with the changing light.

This changing light can create some really memorable moments: the reedbed turning to fiery pink on winter evenings as the sun sets, storms approaching off the sea, and if you  are an early bird some amazing dawns.

One of the best ways of perceiving the way the light changes is to watch reflections in the water. Stand on the bridge over the catchwater dyke and watch the reed reflections, so many colours in the water. We talk about reflecting on things – well Cley is a great place for reflections. Maybe it takes an artist to see things in their true colours but any visit to Cley adds some colour to life.

·      Rare birds   

The first Pacific Swift, photo by Julian Bhalero

Of course Cley’s other name is the ‘Birdwatcher's Mecca’ and lots of people did mention seeing rarities as one of the great Cley attractions.

Way back in Victorian times, when the naturalists saying was ‘What’s hit is history, what’s missed is mystery’, Cley and Blakeney Point were already known for rare birds. Perhaps we should forgive these early naturalist-collectors as they didn’t have the modern optics, field-guides, scopes  and pagers we take for granted today. So the first Pallas’s Warbler for Britain was shot with dust shot and then stuffed and many lesser rarities, bluethroats, wrynecks, shrikes and barred warblers were collected in this area. Probably, along with Fair Isle in the north, the Scillies in the south and Skokholm Island to the west, no other area in the UK can claim as many ‘firsts for Britain’ as Cley and Blakeney Point.

Rarities continue of course to attract many visitors – the Western Sandpiper a couple of years ago, the Wilson’s Phalarope just a few weeks ago, the pallid swift a few days ago. There is always the chance of the unexepected at Cley. So part of the meaning of Cley is its long history of attracting rare birds.

·      Cley’s sounds

Cley has a soundscape as well as a landscape and like the landscape this changes with the seasons. People frequently mentioned how important to their experience of Cley were its distinctive sounds.  

The wind in reeds, the sounds of waves breaking on shingle, the murmurings of Brent Geese on the marshes, the clamour of pink-feet overhead, skylarks singing in a blue summer sky over the shingle ridge, a redshank’s warning as it flies out of the marsh. Cley has so many wild voices.

If we lose the booming of bitterns or the calling of cuckoos over Cley Marshes do we lose part of its meaning? How much does the noise of more small planes overhead or increased traffic along the coast road impinge on this meaning of Cley?

·      Wild geese and ducks

Pink-feet skeins

Wild geese, perhaps unsurprisingly, were mentioned a lot. So flocks of geese and ducks have to be part of the meaning of Cley Marshes. The pink-feet arriving in September and October, gabbling their way across Cley’s skies, their skeins writing calligraphy over the marshes are now one of the icons of wildness at Cley. Approaching the hides in winter and hearing the whistling calls of wigeon. Looking though the hide flaps and enjoying those amazing colours of teal, elegant pintail, or watching shelducks with beaks lowered hovering their way through the mud is all part of the Cley experience. These birds also mark the changing seasons. Flocks of ducks and geese are one of the winter specials of Cley. Not to be missed!

·      The place to watch marsh harriers

Another bird which has become an icon for Cley is the marsh harrier.  

Marsh harrier, photo by Daren Mulley

In spring and summer they are ever-present – drifting on V shaped wings over the marshes,  causing pandemonium when they fly over the scrapes. People described how memorable seeing their first ever marsh harrier at Cley was and having fantastic views of food passes in April and May with birds grappling talons in mid-air. Special sights, perhaps glimpsed only for moments, but  forming a memory that will last a lifetime.

Cley continues to play an important part in the success story of this species.  Don’t take these amazing birds for granted, rarer as breeding birds than golden eagles, they are a special part of  the Cley scene and part of the magic of its reedy and watery landscape.

·      Big skies – a sense of perspective

Clouds at Cley, photo by Barry Madden

The sky can be a dominant feature at Cley. Stand on the coastal shingle ridge and look inland. The marshes and visitor centre ,even the villages of Cley and Salthouse and the Cromer ridge behind, can all be dwarfed by Cley’s huge skies. Towering cumulus clouds in infinite blue skies. Dark storm clouds that approach and pass by. Time spent cloud watching is never wasted!

When we spend time in this very open landscape we can feel very small and nature feel very big. Lots of people commented on this sense of perspective and how walking at Cley helps make sense of the world, quite literally giving us a sense of awe and wonder at the sheer scale of the landscape.

·      Wader flocks

You can’t talk about Cley without talking waders. Flocks of waders performing aerial spectacles, golden plover spiralling onto the scrape pools, long-billed black-tailed godwits probing the mud. Waders bring a touch of the international to Cley, passing through from distant lands on almost unimaginable migration journeys. These birds are beautiful to watch with their great migration journeys inspiring wonder and awe. More than most birds waders bring a touch of wildness on their wings. We are touched by their beauty.

·      A place to walk in nature

Cley beach, photo by Barry Madden

Not everyone who comes to Cley, to the visitor centre or the beach, comes to see wildlife.  Many just come to walk. One of our challenges is how to cater for this audience without compromising wildlife protection. But people chose to come here to walk at Cley for a reason: Cley makes people feed good. Time spent outdoors in wild places increases well-being. Gives us literally a breath of fresh air and provides us with a natural health service. Try it and blow those cares away with Cley’s wild salty winds.

        Avocets and breeding birds

In spring and summer people come here to watch the spectacle  of breeding birds. May was frequently mentioned as a favourite month. Black and white avocets  with their ‘kloot- kloot’ calls on the scrape. The opportunity to watch all their amazing behaviours from display and mating  to nest building and incubation. A chance to watch fluffy chicks being brooded safe under the adults on Cley’s Scrape pools.If you visit Cley’s reed-thatched hides in spring some of these special sights can almost be guaranteed.

Avocets, photo by Steve Bond

Avocets are another of Cley’s great conservation success stories. Their return to Norfolk in 1977 to breed at Cley after 150 years absence from Norfolk and then with our protection increase in numbers and spread north along the coast is a wonderful conservation success story of which Cley can be proud.

Today of course in spring and summer people also come to watch spoonbills at Cley. The start of hopefully another conservation success story.

·     The timeless landscape

The landscape is mentioned as often as wildlife as a reason that people value Cley Marshes. The quality of views between Cley  and Salthouse. From the famous East Bank you can look west over Cley’s reedbeds to the towers of Blakeney Church or turn around and look east to Salthouse Church. A much loved landscape made up of many elements: its history,  its wildlife and its habitats.

The new land between Cley and Salthouse Marshes, by Barry Madden

Yes, I know that was actually 11 reasons to love Cley Marshes, but in reality there are as many reasons as there are visitors. Visit and you will discover your own personal reason to love this living landscape. If you are lucky you too will have a magic moment, a fleeting glimpse that becomes a lifetime’s memory. But be warned: Cley is highly addictive. Once you come to love this place without doubt you will return time and time again. That’s what our visitors tell us. Some, visiting from distant places have even moved house to come and live close by.

I believe we can learn a lot by understanding what it is that people value about Cley Marshes. At NWT, our work involves providing opportunities for people to connect with nature. To inspire people to make decisions that benefit wildlife. It’s only when people gain a personal love of wildlife, when wildlife and wild places have real meaning to individuals, that people will take action to protect nature.

One of our great challenges is to ensure that even in this modern world, with all its pressures, when more people live in cities and move with jobs from place to place, even country to country, that a new generation still builds this deep affection for place. Is there a risk that the next generation will have less opportunity to build this connection with place and with nature? Part of our work at NWT is to make sure a new generation also comes to appreciates all that Cley means. To inspire a new generation to fall in love with Cley’s wildness, its sounds, its special light and its birds. 

The next few years will be exciting ones at Cley as through the recent Heritage Lottery Fund award and the our very successful appeal we now have an amazing opportunity create a vibrant new education centre, the Simon Aspinall Wildlife Education centre, and to ensure that young people have the opportunity to discover for themselves new meanings for and old but ever-changing reserve. To develop their sense of awe and wonder. To discover their own special moments at Cley which will become their lifetime, and perhaps life-changing, memories.

Hilgay: end of construction in sight

Nick Carter, Conservation Officer (Fens)

The pool being created in the SW corner of the site

The construction phase at Hilgay is coming to an end. Recent work by Fen Group has centred on the construction of pools which will remain reed-free and form refuges for fish. The reed-lined edges of these deep water pools will be an important habitat for bitterns and other birds searching for fish and amphibians. Despite the wet weather Fen Group have been able to form these pools using a bulldozer and an excavator, although the deeper they have gone the wetter it has become and the more difficult to work.

The finishing touches are being done to the abstraction system from the River Wissey and it is hoped to start filling the perimeter ditch and lagoon in November. The latter has to be filled in stages, checking the integrity of the bank to ensure there is no seepage or signs of instability. The electric pump, which circulates water back into the lagoon for re-distribution, is almost installed too. We are waiting for the meter to be installed in the next couple of weeks and for the pump to be tested. All of the sluices have been installed so we can build up the water levels on the site over winter which will not only aid spread of the reeds but also suppress the terrestrial plants, such as nettles, that have covered much of the site during development.

Over 45,000 reed plugs have been planted along the ditch sides, in chicken wire cages to reduce grazing pressure from deer and geese, to aid their spread across the site. The recent wet weather has helped them to establish prior to the winter. The reeds that were planted in 2012 by a Children’s Wildlife Watch group have established well and are seeding this year and small pockets of naturally occurring reeds are spreading. The locally-sourced reed rhizomes that were planted in the spring have survived the dry summer and the attentions of grazing brown hares, which are common on the site. These reeds will help prevent wave erosion of the lagoon banks as it is slowly filled over the winter.

Aerial image taken by Hexcam looking south east across the site, with the lagoon in the foreground

At the end of September Hexcam took some aerial shots of the site with their remote-controlled 'Octocopter'. These will form the start of a historical record of the site over time to show how it develops as the reeds spread across the site. The aerial shot clearly shows the extent of development and also highlights, in the foreground, the old ditch and drain network, which show up as straight lines criss-crossing the site.