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lowing different cycles and may switch on to wader chicks in those years predators also learn where the food resources are at different times of the year a reliable hot spot of wader eggs will be noted in the predator memory in a complex natural system lapwings will move around in response to habitat food and predation we don t give them this option at many of our reserves and they suffer for it a more dynamic and resilient management approach typical of a natural wetland and with the understanding of ecological cycles is required we need to improve overall ecosystem integrity rather than focusing on the status of a single or a few species this should involve measures that allow or simulate natural processes of distructive creative change such as flood or drought varying water regimes varying grazing patterns turning areas on and off targeted rejuvenation through various disturbance measures one study showed that managers can almost double the area of suitable habitat by more dynamically managing water levels and managing invasive vegetation we should aim to create and manage habitats that are more resilient and sustainable in the face of climate change than engineered channels and narrow focussed targets so how do we improve our wetland creation and management more to follow posted by grumpy ecologist at 11 49 no comments wednesday 5 april 2017 preparing for another spring spring is an exciting but critical time of year on nature reserves a test of whether various management tweaks put in place over the winter period have been successful there is a sense of anticipation as the season advances and for the reserves ecologist a flurry of site visits to check progress on the ground firstly and perhaps most excitingly how will the various rare and colonising species fare in the coming season plans have been put in place to facilitate success the great white egret breeding season is already underway and under a detailed monitoring regime additional measures have also been put in place to help black winged stilts and the early arrivals are being tracked so that protective measures can be put in place when they settle it is probably still a while yet until the little bitterns return but we amuse ourselves by trying to predict where they will set up territories this year food remains one of the key factors influencing the success of many bird species at ham wall in the avalon marshes we have undertaken electro fishing surveys in some of the key areas of the reserve to try and understand the distribution of bitterns little bitterns and egrets in the coming season the results were interesting large amounts of fish in some areas very few in others one of the findings at ham wall is the presence of the non native sunbleak also known as the motherless minnow see video below this fish species from continental europe was patchily abundant and no doubt provides easy pickings for fish eating birds it is assumed that its arrival and spread in the uk is related to the stocking of fish for angling the first count of booming bitterns in the avalon marshes has produced a total of 46 with the 20 on ham wall showing some interesting comparison with the fishing results the steady march of natural succession is a key issue on many sites looking at the scrub development on warton crag in lancashire it is clear that the habitat has changed markedly over the last few decades the crag is noted for its populations of butterflies notably the high brown fritillary a species that does not tolerate shading of its breeding habitat following the re start of coppice management in the early 1990 s high brown fritillary numbers substantially increased having been fairly stable up to 2010 there has been a clear decline in recent years but with the warton crag trend appearing to mirror the regional trend however w eather plays a key role in the butterfly s fortunes and the latest decline is thought to be related to several mild wet winters which contribute to increased parasitism and mortality of larvae ex tensive opening up of the site by removal of scrub to create more rides and open features with the aim of to create microclimates and better connectivity is being undertaken photos above this determined effort to roll back the scrub encroachment will hopefully bring some results this year perhaps some of the greatest challenges come with ground nesting birds and not least waders on wet grasslands a manager once allegedly said even a monkey can manage wet grassland a statement that couldn t be further from the truth although the factors influencing success are largely straightforward principally vegetation structure water regime and predation the influences on these factors and the relationship between them can be highly complex i have seen too many sites with declining wader populations where the site managers proclaim little or nothing has changed but invariably it has at this time of year sward conditions and water levels need to be near perfect however this year has been difficult with a dry warm winter influencing both vegetation and available water many sites will need to conserve every drop of water this year predation is perhaps the toughest issue bringing with it some difficult decisions predator management is a hot topic and we have delivered a couple of workshops to bring sites up to speed with the latest thinking increased monitoring has helped clarify the issues but the key question remains h ow do we maximize the productivity of species of conservation priority whilst managing the impact of predators primarily through non lethal means another spring will help us move towards the solution posted by grumpy ecologist at 14 28 2 comments wednesday 21 december 2016 the golden wellies 2016 as another year comes to an end the results of the rspb s internal competition to find the best passage wader site the golden wellies have just been announced the rules are simple monthly counts of waders are recorded they have to be feet down no fly overs on a managed fresh brackish scrape or flood not tidal the idea behind the competition is also simple you may not be interested in rare waders on your site but they tend to indicate a well managed site a well managed site will attract many common breeding and passage birds rare birds will also tend to arrive at such sites the better the feeding conditions the more likely they are to stay extra elements to the competition test good wetland management throughout the year and also the accessibility of good birds to weekend birders by having a rare bird saturday bonus the premier league champions are yet again frampton marsh frampton recorded 34 species narrowly pipping titchwell 33 who were top of the league for most of the year the highlights of frampton s year included long billed dowitcher black winged stilt broad billed white rumped and pectoral sandpipers as well as peak counts of 258 curlew sandpipers and 50 little stints titchwell could only muster a feeble great knot pacific golden plover and a couple of pec sands frampton had an average monthly peak of 4 856 waders of 25 1 species compared to titchwell s slightly higher knot fuelled monthly average of 5 267 waders of 23 4 species minsmere s much lower monthly average of 526 waders nether the less still maintained a monthly diversity of 24 0 species if only they could record a temminck s stint snettisham records the most waders monthly an average peak of 39 300 birds but only averaging 15 3 species a month the golden wellie also includes a breeding wader productivity award won this year by burton mere wetlands on the dee estuary middleton lakes 27 species the aire valley 26 and the ouse washes 26 species all again demonstrate that well managed inland sites can compete with the coast in terms of wader diversity if not numbers a new entry this year wallasea gained immediate promotion from league 1 with a notable 23 species what will it get when the site is completed in the north and west loch of strathbeg conwy and belfast lough all perform well given they struggle to record the southern certainties of avocet and lrp in all 43 species of wader were recorded during the year with a peak monthly count of 111 719 birds being recorded across rspb wader scrapes in september monthly peak counts included 399 whimbrel in april 22 black winged stilts in may 12 red necked phalaropes in june 228 green sandpipers in july 16 800 black tailed godwits 334 ruff 411 curlew sandpipers and 123 little stints in august and 3 151 avocets and 40 jack snipe in september although the golden wellie has 48 competing sites across three leagues the top performing 15 sites in 2016 were as follows site wader spp final score incl bonuses 1 frampton marsh 34 72 2 titchwell 33 62 3 minsmere 31 53 4 cliffe pools 28 46 5 snettisham 28 44 6 saltholme 26 42 7 south essex 27 41 8 dungeness 29 38 9 arne 26 37 10 exe 27 36 11 ouse washes 26 36 12 loch of strath 24 34 13 middleton lakes 27 33 14 old hall marshes 28 32 15 lodmoor radipole 26 32 posted by grumpy ecologist at 13 55 no comments labels golden wellie waders tuesday 22 november 2016 lakenheath fen crane powerhouse the fact that lakenheath fen rspb reserve was a carrot field some 20 or so years ago is often repeated the detail that has gone into the design of the site and the management for key species is less often appreciated this is no airy fairy lets see how it develops type of reserve beloved of some sections of the conservation community this is a targeted and planned development that now delivers for bitterns cranes bearded tits marsh harriers water voles otters and a range of specialised wetland and breck plants and invertebrates this week i attended the ecological review for the year and undertook the annual audit there were a minimum of 5 booming bitterns with at least 3 successful nests we reviewed the results of the fish survey throughout the reserve and discussed the habitat management the detailed management undertaken for bitterns that has led to a remarkable recovery in the uk is well known but perhaps the work for cranes less so cranes have also had a good year at lakenheath fen with three chicks fledged from the 2 nesting pairs but this is no chance event rather the result of considerable effort by site staff the case of cranes is an interesting one recently released figures show a total of 48 pairs in the uk this year a combination of 27 pairs of mainly wild birds in 4 population centres and 21 pairs of the ongoing re introduction scheme in somerset at least 16 young were reared this year the population in the fens is doing well contributing 7 of these fledged youngsters whilst the broads contributed 4 and somerset just one there have been several re introduction schemes of various species of cranes around the world none have been totally successful they have suffered from various problems such as imprinting on humans lack of migratory instinct poor productivity and the cranes generally failing to think and act like wild cranes particularly when it comes to predators the well publicised nesting attempts of some of the released birds where they clearly fail to recognize good nesting habitat or exhibit typical crane behaviour is a good example lets hope these issues can be resolved so how has lakenheath become the uk crane powerhouse the birds first appeared in 2007 dna analysis of feathers suggested a finnish russian origin over 10 years 23 clutches of eggs have been laid with 11 chicks fledging an average of 0 55 young per pair the fledging rate was poor at first but is increasing in recent years the last 5 years average 0 8 and a remarkable 1 5 for the last 2 years detailed study of the cranes by site staff since they first appeared at lakenheath notably by norman sills has led to a good understanding of their requirements habitat management seeks to create ideal conditions for both nesting and chick rearing however it is predation mainly by foxes that poses the major threat to the youngsters habitat manipulation can help with this but ultimately some control of foxes is required to ensure success the latest technology of trail cameras and thermal imagers is used in conjunction with a skilled marksman the reedbed management aims to create structural diversity for the benefit of the key species cutting and grazing are the key management tools and also aim to enhance viewing opportunities for visitors no airy fairy stuff this rather it is determined and targeted conservation effort that brings results photo below dartmoor ponies eating reed and typha rhizomes posted by grumpy ecologist at 12 23 no comments labels cranes habitat creation reedbeds older posts home subscribe to posts atom blog archive 2017 2 october 1 building resilience into nature reserve design and april 1 2016 13 december 1 november 2 september 1 august 1 july 2 april 1 march 1 february 2 january 2 2015 10 december 1 september 1 may 3 april 2 february 1 january 2 2014 19 october 2 september 1 july 4 june 1 may 2 april 3 march 3 february 2 january 1 2013 30 december 1 november 3 october 1 september 2 august 2 july 2 june 4 may 4 april 1 march 4 february 3 january 3 2012 34 december 3 november 1 october 3 september 2 august 3 july 3 june 4 may 3 april 2 march 3 february 3 january 4 2011 56 december 3 november 1 october 4 september 5 august 6 july 5 june 5 may 5 april 5 march 6 february 4 january 7 2010 65 december 3 november 6 october 8 september 5 august 6 july 5 june 2 may 4 april 3 march 22 february 1 grumpy ecologist a grizzled old ecologist birder usually to be found roaming around the lee valley and occasionally further afield fortunate to be involved in the management of some of the uk s finest nature reserves and always looking for ways of improving them for birds view my complete profile american sandwich tern amwell avocets baillon s crake bearded tit beaver berry fen birding bitterns black necked grebes black winged stilts blue zone bowers marsh broxbourne woods buckenham and cantley butterflies cape may china chough cley climate change colonists cormorants corncrakes crakes cranes cuba cyprus dingle disturbance donana dragonflies ducks dungeness dynamic management eagle owl ebro delta egrets essex feeding fen drayton fish flood defence food frampton france freezing garden geese godwits golden orioles golden wellie goshawk gravel pits gullfest gulls habitat creation ham wall havergate island hawfinch hides hilfield park res india inverts islay isle of man isles of scilly kp lac du der lakenheath lee valley leighton moss little bitterns little tern lwg managed retreat mexico minsmere nature reserves nazeing nene north uist north warren old hall marshes old moor orchids ouse fen ouse washes owls passion pond predation radipole rainham re introductions redpolls reedbeds reservoirs rye meads saline lagoons savi s warbler scotland scrapes seabirds sewage works spain spoonbills stone curlew syria terns the gambia the netherlands titchwell tower 42 t...