Spring time spectacle

Work took me on a trip to Snettisham RSPB reserve last week to do some filming. Situated on the Wash, it's not somewhere I know very well so I was rather looking forward to it.

The first 3 hours involved standing in the p*ssing rain and it was also very cold, especially given it was the end of April. Pretty miserable. The rain eventually cleared and we were treated to some exceptional 'big skies' and spectacular cloud formations.

There was also lots of wildlife. Med Gulls and Short-eared owl were nice to see but it was the waders that really delivered. Thousands of Knot, Dunlin and Black-tailed Godwit interspersed with several other species gradually amassed as the tide came in before making the hop over our heads on to the safety of the pits to roost.

The following video doesn't quite do the spectacle justice!

Enough grousing

You may have noticed lots going on in the media recently around banning driven grouse shooting. For me the thing about it that needs reform (as well as the stopping of illegal raptor persecution) are the land management practices that tend to **** up the environment: the draining of blanket bog, excessive burning, soil erosion and loss of stored carbon into the atmosphere.

The question is once these moors have been shagged to within an inch of their life, is there any coming back from this.

The answer seems to be.......probably.

Earlier this year I spent a day visiting RSPB's Dovestone reserve in the north west Peak District to see how they are reversing the effects of this bad management and restoring not only blanket bog but the nature that thrives there.

The land is managed by United Utilities and the reservoirs provide drinking water. The most amazing fact I learned was that a third of the reservoir capacity is taken up by peat that has run off from the moor after being drained. This means these reservoirs can store less water for drier times and probably ultimately means we have higher water bills as the water is so brown that it has to be cleaned before going out to customers!

Blocking drainage ditches means that water drains more slowly and allows the peat sediment to sink, so stopping it from entering the reservoir.

This ditch had been blocked with hay bales which are slowly rotting. Behind them bog is being reformed. Plugs of sphagnum moss are planted in suitably wet places and allowed to take hold. Over time these spread, holding water and reestablishing the blanket bog. There's a lot of work being done and much of it has to be done by hand. There are some amazing volunteers who have made alot of this possible.

There were lots of the rather beautiful Wood Tiger moth disturbed from the vegetation. It was a spectacularly bleak and beautiful place, with breeding Dunlin and Golden Plover out on the moor and I got to tramp around for a few hours taking it all in. Must get back there again soon.

NB: Just under a year ago Dovestone featured in a mystery death that has never been solved. The police investigation that followed is fascinating and worth reading about

It's oh so quiet...

...and I'm hoping that like the Bjork song there will be a large eruption of noise (read moths) at some point. God I need that. Some pugs would be good.... some micros....

Moth trapping has been rubbish over the last week or so. Most mornings have seen only one or two individuals and most of them aren't in the trap but hiding at various points around the outside of the house, so take a bit of finding. The Early Thorn was found on a patio bench in the afternoon as I'd failed to notice it when checking the trap...

An Early Thorn doing it's best to look like a dried leaf

Pebble Prominent found on brick wall away from the trap

I did manage a very quick trip to Lakenheath RSPB reserve on Sunday with the family. It was a bit rushed but saw and heard my first Cuckoo of the year plus lots of other summer migrants. A booming Bittern was also nice.

I used to visit a lot about 7-8 years ago and what I noticed this time is that the RSPB have changed and landscaped things so that you are pushed towards the visitor centre rather than up onto the bank to overlook the washes and thus onto the public footpath. I can see why but I got confused as I wanted a view to scan for Garganey and it took me a while to find the right path.

Maybe I'm getting old but I preferred it in the old days!