January Newsletter
Farming and land management
Happy New Year all. In contrast to the poor souls up North we are just beginning to receive large volumes of rainfall and so the marsh is gradually filling. We are almost a foot below usual levels in the middle of the marsh – good for grass growth and the cows but not so good for migrating fowl. In addition to the recent rains we are pumping stored water into our ditch network to help raise levels sufficiently to retain water through the Spring. The exceptionally mild weather has allowed many birds to stay further north until it really chills. So we expect many more to visit in the coming month or two as the mercury inevitable falls from balmy December.
Over the next few weeks the cows will leave the marsh for their winter barns and our ewes will help eat of the extraordinary amounts of grass remaining. This in turn sets the best conditions possible for our breeding waders in the Spring (only 12 weeks away!!). We are now looking forward to enjoying the peak few weeks of huge numbers of waders and wildfowl on the Swale and marshes – with an average 62000 wetland birds over-wintering the Swale is 13th best area in the UK.
Lastly, thank you to Rod for his enlightening talk on 13th December and to all those who made it along on a filthy day for a Christmas drink.
Thoughts of a Regular by Richard P
December turned out to be pretty quiet bird wise, along the entrance track. I’m sure entirely due to the unseasonable temperature. We had one coldish snap just before Christmas, when masses of Lapwing (000’s) Curlew (00’s) Black Tailed Godwit (00’s) and Golden Plover (00’s) returned to their usual haunts trackside, they have since moved further out into the marsh.
It was good to see that the usual small flock of Ruff have rejoined the Lapwing flock, 9 so far, my count last year peaked at 17.
All the the usual Raptors were in evidence, the female Sparrowhawk was the star of the show for me! (Ruff & Common Buzzard by Richard).
WeBS – Wetland Birds Survey Volunteers Needed
The name is self-explanatory but the WeBS counts, a vital information gathering exercise, has waned on the Swale after many years of dedicated work by a small band of volunteers. We are attempting to coordinate with several very experienced counters to provide new volunteers with the opportunity to join the team of surveyor and help ensure Sheppey contribute to the central BTO figures. The Swale is divided into survey six areas on the northern and six on the southern side. In December 2015 we counted 17 444 birds on Elmley NNR alone!. All areas are surveyed on the same day around the high tide to minimise double counting the same birds, which move around the coast regularly. If you are interested in joining this hugely worthwhile effort you will need to have a free day each month, usually a Sunday or Monday, and preferably a good base knowledge of waders and wildfowl please do get in touch,info@elmleynaturereserve.co.uk. Rod Smith, can help with ‘on the job’ training. (Wigeon, J.Whitting)
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