Bat Bunker

Paul Waterhouse,  Assistant Field Officer Breckland

Those of you who have visited East Wretham Heath will have probably noticed a number of buildings and bunkers dotted around the reserve. These are remnants of East Wretham Heath's former life as an Air Field during the Second World War and are a very important reminder of the reserves and our own history. The buildings themselves are not obtrusive but are in fact very subtle and seem to blend into the landscape of the reserve. Over the years they have turned from harsh military building into valuable habitats of their own, supporting a wide range of flora and fauna. 
There is one bunker in particular that the Brecks team have made some minor alterations to, with the intention of creating bat hibernaculum. Ten of the UK’s fourteen bat species have been recorded in the Brecks and research suggests that artificial or man-made structures are becoming more and more important as hibernation sites for a number of these species.
 

The transformation from air raid shelter to bat bunker only took one day and the materials came in well under £100. The first job was to create artificial bat niches in the bunker including bat bricks and wooden structures, which will provide roosting habitat. 

We then covered the floor of the bunker with sand and gravel which will help to maintain humidity. Both temperature and humidity are important factors in a bat hibernaculum, along with darkness and lack of disturbance. 

There were initially two entrances to the bunker: the one you can see in the photo and also an escape hatch. In order to prevent a draught running through the hibernaculum, which is another unfavourable factor, we had to block off the escape hatch. Finally we covered the main entrance but without forgetting to leave a gap to allow bats to access the bunker. 

I don’t think this renovation project will be making Grand Designs, but these simple changes could provide a valuable habitat for species such as Brown long-eared, Daubenton, Natterer’s and Barbastelle.

Cley Catch-up: 3 April 2013

Barry Madden, Volunteer Bird Guide at NWT Cley Marshes

Another day of bitter, biting, easterly winds that whipped across Cley Marshes without pause, and gave scant regard to those folk trying to enjoy their Easter holidays. But as compensation, the sun shone all day from a brilliant blue sky, displaying the rich tones of the dancing reeds to full effect.  My early morning chat with the reserve staff had, as its theme, the lamentable lack of migrant birds seen so far this spring. It seems the whole coastline between Salthouse and Cley village is still devoid of the expected wheatears, sandwich terns and chiffchaffs. Things will change soon. With a swing in wind direction to the south-east the floodgates are sure to open. This ritual of mild frustration takes place every year at this time. It is something to do with the longing for warmer days and the vibrant sights and sounds of the spring season. We simply want winter to release its lingering grip and free us from having to step outside bedecked in layer upon layer of thick clothing. We long to be free!

After loitering in the comfort of the visitor centre for as long as I could, I had to step outside and brave the elements, and you know it wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared. My task as a volunteer at Cley is to visit the hides dotted around the reserve and assist people with any query they have on identification of birds or other wildlife, or the management of the area. Sometimes I help Bernard Bishop, much revered warden of these iconic marshes, with his regular ‘Walk with the Warden’ sessions. It helps when there are two of us pointing things out and chatting with visitors. I always make time to walk the perimeter of the reserve at least once a day, when I can stop and chat to people who prefer the fresh Norfolk air to being sat in a hide. I also need the exercise.

I was arrested in my musings today by a subtle movement from a small pile of earth beside the path of the West Bank. Thinking my eyes were playing tricks I waited for a few minutes, and there again the earth shifted! I realised I was watching the activity of a mole busily excavating a tunnel in the moist soil. Once or twice, this seldom seen mammal almost broke the surface and came into view, but sadly it must have been camera shy. However it was interesting to witness a mole hill in the making.

Shortly after, with the empty beach stretched out before me, the full force of the arctic blow could be appreciated. The boiling sea, a swirl of churning green, grey and muddy brown crashed at an acute angle onto the shingle. Even the path of the mighty waters were being shaped by the relentless force of the wind. I often wonder at these times how anything can possible survive these conditions, and in answer I shortly came upon a couple of large gulls pecking away at a floating corpse of a razorbill. Whilst I was busy snapping a few photographs, I realised there were at least two more fresh corpses being rolled around in the spume. Within five minutes, five razorbills were unceremoniously deposited on the beach. I collected them to see whether any had rings, or whether there were obvious signs as to their demise, but could find no clues. It is quite possible the broiling seas over an extended period simply resulted in these birds being unable to feed and so they starved. I guess the answer to my question is that not everything does survive in these conditions; the harsh reality is that wild creatures are always a short step away from death. Food for hungry gulls though.

Despite it still feeling like January, there were clear signs of the changing seasons today. I saw oystercatchers mating, skylarks singing and a grey-lag goose sitting atop her nest plumb in the middle of the area of reed cut in this winter’s harvesting. A small passage of ringed plover was in progress, with 20 or so birds gathering on Simmond’s Scrape to feed up prior to moving on, perhaps to Greenland or Iceland. Overwintering wildfowl were certainly fewer in number, with most now having departed to their northerly breeding grounds. Shelduck were disputing territory and avocets were beginning to adopt their usual aggressive stance towards anything that moves.

I always end the day feeling thankful that I am able to wander these fascinating wetlands, often being able to witness cameos of wildlife interactions that few people are fortunate enough to see.  And of course there is always next time to look forward to!

Holme - some migration at last

  Yesterday evening the wind finally moved round from the never ending cold easterlies to south-westerlies, and although it was due to be a short lived change it was hoped that there would at least be a change in some of the bird life on the site.

 I started the day (0620-0820hrs) on Hunstanton Cliffs with Chris Mills and although there was a steady trickle of goldfinches, meadow pipits and pied wagtails a hoped for swallow, sand martin did not materialise. The full count will appear on Trektellen a dutch migration website in a few days, take a look at it as it really does give you a good idea whats on the move over most of western Europe.

 Back at Holme it was noticeable some chiffchaffs (4) had arrived, along with a black redstart, there were several blackbirds around, held back migrants waiting for the weather to change in their favour. Brambling, siskin, woodcock, red-breasted mergansers and a female merlin reminded us it still felt like winter! By afternoon the wind had switched back to an easterly, ending any hope of further arrivals during the next few days.

  A change back to south-westerlies and further arrivals is not likely until Friday this week!

The Weeting Warden’s Diary

Simon Thompson: Summer Warden Weeting Heath NNR

 Weeting Heath NNR, photo by Simon Thompson

Quite a start to the season! I don’t know who was more shocked to be surrounded by two inches of the white stuff; the rabbits or me. It’s been a cold but picturesque few weeks and now that the icicles have melted and the sun is making a brave effort to break through the icy north-easterly blasts, it’s great to see that the weather hasn’t blown away people’s enthusiasm for visiting the Brecks.

Lots of fearless fleece-clad visitors have enjoyed our three-mile forest walk this Easter weekend, providing great opportunities to go hunting (in the least violent sense of the word) for woodlark amongst the young pines. Quite sensibly those stone curlews which have now made it back from their wintering grounds in Southern Europe and Africa are keeping well out of the wind and are proving elusive… but there’s no point in watching wildlife if you don’t like a good challenge! Only a short while spent in the hides has usually rewarded visitors with green woodpeckers, common curlew and lapwing busily feeding on the Heath and the exploits of the rabbits and stoats always make for entertaining viewing. In the next couple of weeks I’ll be digging a new pond in front of the woodland hide, hopefully it will draw crossbills down from the pines to drink and bathe and provide some excellent photo opportunities.

In spite of a distinctly wintery feel in the air, spring is on its way here at Weeting. Two brown hares were sat on the heath basking in the late evening sun yesterday and I’m very happy to report that the first two chiffchaffs of the season were spotted this morning; perhaps I can pack away the thermals at last…

Bird watching at Cley Marshes: February and March

 Barry Madden, Volunteer Bird Guide at NWT Cley Marshes

The cold weather of late has certainly retarded breeding activity on Cley Marshes. Avocet numbers built up during late February and early March, but there are still no serious nesting attempts. I watched some birds today from Bishop’s hide half-heartedly prospecting muddy sections of the islands, but it didn’t come to much. Most of these elegant summer visitors were still huddled together, face to wind, eyes closed and probably wondering what on earth they were doing spending their days being buffeted by the relentless, biting easterly wind when they could be jetting off to Mallorca for the Easter holidays. Or perhaps that was just me!  A sure sign that the mating urge is not yet strong enough was evidenced when a marsh harrier – a superbly marked female - lazily floated over the scrape, totally unmolested by these normally super-aggressive waders. Things will change soon; a couple of warm days and the sap will rise.

A brief, but ultimately mildly deflating, diversion took the form of a snipe of questionable identity. Jack snipe was pronounced, and certainly the brown and black mottled bird hunkered down between lumps of mud did seem very small. This sleepy bird had its beak firmly tucked away with head markings obscured by dead grasses, and for a little while hopes were raised. But then the bird stretched and yawned, revealing a creamy central crown stripe and a bill of proportions no diminutive jack snipe would ever be lucky enough to possess. Initial disappointment soon turned to appreciation of a very worthy second prize; it is not often you get a chance to have a really good, close look at a snipe of any species. And what a beautiful creature it was. Contrary to expectations the bird began to feed along the dyke edge totally unconcerned by the jabbering of us assembled birders and the staccato clicking of camera shutters. Nowadays occupying hides can feel akin to sitting in an office and being surrounded by bespectacled secretaries furiously grinding out 120 words per minute as myriad trigger-happy photographers try to capture that elusive award winning shot. Not to everybody’s taste, but it does mean that a craft, once the privilege of a few, can now be enjoyed by all – and you can get quite good photographs and put them in things like blogs.

Common Snipe, photo by Barry Madden

A walk around the reserve perimeter revealed good numbers of brent geese still present. Amongst them were a few of the pale-bellied race hrota, and the curious leucistic individual with a muted light brown plumage that has been with us all winter. The reliable purple sandpiper could be easily seen probing in the short grass margins of the pool by the beach, and a few goldfinches were braving the chill to bedeck the shingle ridge with colour. Certainly a charming thing to see.

Whilst I was waiting (in vain) for lapwings to display and fall victim to my own camera lens, a ring-tail hen harrier spiralled past heading swiftly westwards. Of a much slimmer build than the resident marsh harriers, these fine raptors can occasionally be encountered around the reserve. Most are simply passing through, but sometimes one will linger and hunt over the rough grassland. There was once a winter roost on Salthouse Heath, but I believe this has been forsaken. However, they can still be seen regularly at Hickling raptor roost which is a marvellous spectacle and an excellent way to conclude a day’s birding.

I was shown evidence of the continued presence of another bird of prey by Carl Brooker, who has made a welcome return as Assistant Summer Warden. He pointed out a freshly deposited pellet of a barn owl outside Bishop’s hide when we briefly caught up at the end of the day. Barn owls have enlivened many a bleak winter day here, with regular sightings along the coastal path, especially early in the morning. A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be able to creep quite close to one of these delicately spangled creatures and take a few snaps. Is there a more beautiful bird?

Barn owl, photo by Barry Madden

Despite the teeth clenching blasts of arctic air, the day was actually rather pleasantly sunny. It has been an awfully long while since we last experienced anything approaching warmth, but for a few minutes in late afternoon the rays of the spring sun tickled my face and I was able to discard my hat and gloves. Thus liberated I could bask in the glory of only needing three layers of clothing to keep me from turning completely blue. For a short while spring was most definitely in the air. A shallow foundation but one on which my love affair with this wonderful slice of Norfolk’s coastal landscape continues to be built.

Migration News from Holme

 Another desperate day for bird migration, the easterly winds continue and show no signs of abating. No visible migration from Hunstanton Cliffs since 5th March!

 Today at Holme a few grounded meadow pipits (15) most with the Konick and Dartmoor  ponies, not even a pied wagtail! On the marshes at least five different marsh harriers, little egret, peregrine, ten avocets on the pools and a tree sparrow west (NOA). A sad find today was another dead barn owl on Holme Marsh, the third to have been found dead in as many weeks, the relentless cold easterlies have really effected the barn owls hunting success, two were ringed and may well turn out to be local birds.

Help stop this lunacy

David North, Head of People and Wildlife

You would think that the basics of a good education for young children would centre on teaching how to care for yourself, how to care for others and how to care for your environment. 

Photo by Emma Bradshaw

Unfortunately Michael Gove thinks differently and is in the process of removing all references from the new English curriculum for children to be taught ‘to care for the environment’ or ‘ways in which living things and the environment need protection.’

What madness! At a time when it’s becoming more and more apparent how disconnected children are from the natural world and how this lack of connection is damaging both to children and to nature this change to the curriculum is insane. More than ever in human history we need the next generation to grow up connected to and caring for the natural environment both globally and locally. We need these children to grow up knowing more, caring more and living in a more sustainable way if nature and biodiversity are to have a future. If we don’t have a curriculum that inspires these attitudes then what hope that our future politicians and policy makers will make any less of a mess of putting our environment first than the present lot?

Without education of children today that encourages both contact with and caring for the natural environment then conservation has no long-term future. We need more of this not less. More opportunities for children now at school to get outside and learn about why wild places and wildlife matters. More opportunities to learn how we depend on natural ecosystems for our life support system? More opportunities to spend time in nature and gain the well-being and health benefits that time spent in wild places can bring. Despite these now well-recognised benefits to our children research shows that children today spend less time playing outdoors, have less knowledge and first-hand experience of nature than any generation in human history.

It's time to wake Michael Gove up to the crucial importance of more not less education that will help our children care about nature and the environment. If you, like me, feel strongly about this there is still time to reverse these proposals. Please make yourfeelings known by completing the Education Department’s consultation.

Or write to your MP or to Michael Gove MP at the House of Commons.

P.S. Below are some comments from well known naturalist and wildlife film-maker Simon King:

President of The Wildlife Trusts, Simon King OBE, today presses The Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove MP, to:

• Reinstate teaching about protecting the natural environment into the curriculum
• Introduce more education about the natural environment in schools

Simon King “I can hardly believe that anyone would want to make changes to the curriculum that could lead to large-scale human suffering and damage the rest of life on earth. Yet Michael Gove proposes to stop teaching children to care for the environment. 

“A younger generation equipped to understand and tackle the massive environmental problems we have left them is our only hope for the future. We urge Mr Gove to drop these ill-considered and dangerous proposals, to introduce more education about the natural environment in schools and do some intensive training in ecology with his local Wildlife Trust.”

Osprey nest created in the Broads

Paul Waterhouse, Assistant Field Officer Breckland

Thanks to funding supplied by the BIFFA FLAGSHIP project and the help of the Rutland Osprey Project an artificial osprey nest has now been built in a secluded spot in the Norfolk Broads. 

Rutland Water Senior Reserve Officer and osprey expert, Tim Mackrill agreed that the Norfolk Broads was a fantastic habitat for ospreys and it was well worth attempts to encourage them back into the area. 

Tim and the team arrived on a very cold and dull morning, however this did not dampen their enthusiasm for the task ahead. Their vehicle was laden with tools and equipment which NWT warden, Mark Amiss helped us to load into the boat and ferry across. The osprey team had not yet seen the site, which we had chosen last winter. Although, I was fairly confident we had chosen a good spot, if I am honest I was a little nervous as to whether they would think the same. However as we approached the site I was relieved to hear Tim say “I would have picked the exact same spot”.    

Preparing the nest

After hauling all the equipment through the reeds, Tim and Lloyd Park (Rutland Water Assistant Reserves Officer and experienced tree surgeon) quickly decided which tree was most suitable. Both Tim and Lloyd climbed the tree and began to make space for the base of the nest high in the tree top. 

After this a large piece of mesh weld was secured to make the main platform on which they would build the nest. The mesh weld is ideal for this as it allows water to drain through the nest and it is also strong enough to hold the weight of a nest measuring more than a metre across. We then started to gather stick for building the nest from around the site which were hoisted up to the top of the tree. 

These are then arranged to make the nest and secured using wire and cable ties, which can be seen in the picture. The last ingredient is mud and moss which lines the nest and makes it look like the real thing. 

The new osprey nest in the Broads

 I may have made this sound much easier than it actually is, but it takes a great deal of knowledge and skill to make these nests so realistic and convincing. The Osprey Project have now made many of these nests not just in Rutland but in a number of different counties. They regard them as an effective and important method of helping to re-establish this once common species back to its former distribution.

Dartmoor ponies at Holme

Gary Hibberd, Warden Holme Dunes


On 16 February ten Dartmoor ponies arrived at Holme Dunes to help us manage our dune slack habitats. Their job: to eat the larger stands of dry grass left from last year's bumper growing season, and create shorter turfs for the growing season ahead. We have in the past used our "Flying Flock" to try and acheive this but found the sheep a little too fussy grazing mostly the shorter vegetation and ignoring the taller stands.

After watching our Konik ponies on the grazing marshes deal with rank vegetation, and creating wet flashes, it was agreed the Dartmoors might be the answer in the dune slacks.

We first met with Holme parish council to discuss the proposal as it was important we had their support, as the area we wanted to graze was part of the Holme common. We all agreed that the common needed to maintain its open features and not become enveloped in ranks grasses and scrub.

The longest job before their arrival was putting up the electric fence to surround eleven acres, and with begged and borrowed equipment and lots of long days from volunteers and staff we got it up the day before their arrival! At this stage we also took lots of photographs they were going to graze, so we could compare the ponies work before and after they left, we also put in a number of quadrats to carefully monitor the plant life throughout the summer.

The animals arrived after a long overnight journey from Dartmoor and were very happy to walk off the lorry and stretch their legs. They soon settled in, and have done some great work by not only munching their way through lots of dry grass but also by creating some bare ground through digging! Bare ground is an important feature of these habitats so it's great to see it being created in a natural way. The ponies are due to leave us on the 2^nd April to pastures new at Cawston Heath, so if you do fancy having a look at their work pop along soon.

If we are happy with what they have done for the site they will be returning next winter.

February at Upton Broad and Marshes

Nigel Robson, Volunteer Bird Recorder at Upton Broad for NWT

Common Teal, photo by Steve Bond

Cold easterly winds and overcast skies that followed the snow in January continued throughout February. Bird activity in the reserve stayed constant, with waterfowl concentrated in two areas, the river lagoons and Great Broad.

At the lagoons, teal was easily the most abundant duck at some 200. The pair of pintails seen in January continued to appear, and a second drake joined the first at the end of the month. Two pairs of shelducks and a group of eight redshanks arrived early in the first week, and they may be expected to stay to breed in the area. However, no pairs of oystercatchers had come by the end of the month. Four dunlin passed through on the 27th. On the grazing marshes, other than regular visits by cranes, barn owls, marsh harriers and the wintering green sandpiper, there was little activity with no sizeable flocks of lapwings or golden plover noted. In some recent years, Bewick’s swans and a lesser number of mute swans have moved across from St Benet’s Level in February, but this did not happen this year (the Bewick’s at St Benet’s numbered 194 on 10 February).

Great Broad supported a close-knit group of some 50 pochards, mostly drakes, throughout the month. Numbers of tufted duck were consistently around 60. Teal were more mobile, sometimes over 200 and at other times absent altogether. A pair of shelducks settled in and may remain to breed nearby. A few shovelers, mallards and gadwalls were present during the month.

The apparent absence from the reserve of species that might be expected is always worthy of note. Usually one or two stonechats winter on the grazing marshes, favouring isolated patches of vegetation such as bramble, but this winter I have seen only a single bird once. Of less significance, I have not recorded water pipit this winter despite one having occupied the river lagoon area during the last two. Rarely in evidence during February were winter thrushes at the grazing marshes hedgerows, although some redwings were to be found in the wet woodland.

The means to manipulate water levels on the grazing marshes, vital to its conservation management, continues to be improved with alterations and adjustments to the dyke reticulation. In February, levels are normally raised to prepare for the forthcoming breeding season for waders. The objective is to retain areas of standing water (in foot drains and shallow pools) until the end of May, which should allow an adequate supply of invertebrate food to be available when chicks are raised. The unusually high winter rainfall has enabled the levels this February merely to be retained. The extreme wetness of the marshes, particularly when compared with the dryness at the same time last year, leads one to speculate that ground conditions this spring may be the most favourable in years. But with climatic influences so powerful and unpredictable, there can be no certainty of this.