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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO THE ELEVENTH REPORT

OF THE MOOR GREEN LAKES GROUP

Peter Scott

The group enters its second decade in good shape, with around a ten-fold increase in membership compared with the time of its formation. The input that you all make, even if it is just the subscription fee, places the group on a firm basis that enables forward plans to be made with some confidence. An annual round of site maintenance work and wildlife surveys has become established over the period. We are especially grateful to all the volunteers who have contributed their time, labour and observations to this work, the results of which are summarised in the separate chapters of this report.

With the passage of time the vegetation of the reserve has become well established. Unfortunately this applies not only to such desirable features as the wildflower meadow and the planted woodland, but also to some invasive weeds. Perhaps the most pernicious of these is the aquatic alien Crassula helmsii, which was particularly conspicuous in the scrape by Colebrook hide during last summer’s long dry period. A double dose of ‘Roundup’ last autumn will, we hope, keep it in check, but eradication is too much to hope for. Dealing with some unwanted plants, such as the Willowherb on Tern Island, is made difficult by the fact that they grow most vigorously during the bird-breeding season, when we try to limit human presence on the reserve.

Some of the infrastructure is showing its age, notably the sluice in Colebrook Cut. RMC are examining how best to control water-flow through the reserve during the remaining life of the gravel workings at Manor Farm. We hope that the solution will give us more control of lake levels than we have had in the last couple of years. Numerous fence posts have rotted and broken, so an increased effort will be needed to keep the reserve perimeter intact.

Steve Farmer, our site liaison officer and newsletter editor of the last few years, resigned from the committee in February. We are very grateful to Steve for the enormous contribution he has made. Simon Weeks and Colin Wilson are welcomed as the new incumbents of those two posts. In addition, the growth in membership has increased the task of communication, so we have created a new post of postal secretary. Irene Draper has kindly agreed to fill that role.

Finally, I must repeat our frequent request to members to lock the viewing hides carefully when leaving. Grove hide was broken into twice in February, the vandals entering by simply kicking in one of the viewing slots. We have therefore decided that the rotating catches are not strong enough: they will all be replaced by bolts. Please make sure that all bolts are engaged, no matter how much of a hurry you are in to leave. This is essential if they are to resist strong-arm tactics. Also ensure that all four dials of the combination lock are given a twirl. Having said all that, enjoy your wildlife watching!

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CHAPTER 2

MOOR GREEN LAKES GROUP NATURE RESERVE SITE MANAGEMENT REPORT

April 2003 to March 2004

Sue Dent,

Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership

A combination of the Management Plan, good organisation and, most importantly, willing volunteers produced a remarkable year for the practical management of the Reserve. All the jobs indicated by the Management Plan were completed. The Plan itself has been revised after its first year and will now run until 2006, thanks again to Ken Crick for all his hard work on this.

Volunteers.

As always a huge thank you to the volunteers who come out rain or shine. There is no doubt that we couldn’t manage the site as we do without their help. This year there were 7 Sunday and 7 Tuesday tasks with an average of 14 and 12 volunteers respectively. With a couple of extra work-days there was a total of 195 volunteer days.

I would like to say a particular thank you this year to Peter Scott for his help with planning and scheduling tasks, it has contributed greatly to the amount of work that we achieved. Also to Peter, Tony Elston and Simon Weeks who have led the Sunday tasks this year. We are sorry to report that Adrian Douglas, the Blackwater Valley Countryside Ranger who led the Tuesday tasks at Moor Green for the last two years, left in November to head back to his native Lancashire. The new ranger, Tim Mockridge, started in March 2004 and is looking forward to getting to know the site and volunteers.

Conservation Tasks

• Winter site maintenance. As usual the winter work has concentrated on keeping the islands clear of vegetation and stopping scrub from invading the grassland areas. This has meant our usual round of bashing bramble, and cutting willow and alder on the grasslands. Thanks to Ken Crick for coming out to stump treat the trees that have been cut. Being able to do this regularly has had a definite impact on the levels of scrub around the grass areas. A contractor was used this year to tackle the larger bramble patches on the north of Colebrook and Grove Lakes. We hope that having cut them down to size we can keep on top of them now with the regular volunteer tasks. We have been lucky with the weather this year and have managed a full round of work on the islands.

• Grazing. This year there were 4 cows and 4 calves on site from September until December. With the dry weather they managed to reach parts they hadn’t reached before, but did their usual effective job of clearing the grassland areas.

• Hedge laying. A 50m section of hedge was laid by a combination of the Moor Green Lakes and Blackwater Valley Volunteers. This was run as a training task by the BTCV.

• Viewing slots. Peter Scott has devised a new schedule for cutting the viewing slots which should produce a 10 year coppice cycle for the plantation around the south of the reserve. It should also gradually reduce the size of viewing slots to 10m, which should allow bird watchers to see through to the lake while providing shelter for the birds at the same time.

• Crassula. We had our first serious attempt at tackling the Crassula on site this year and we seem to have made some progress. The tremendously dry summer and low water levels gave us ideal conditions for spraying and we concentrated on the scrape outside Colebrook Hide. The treatment certainly seemed to have killed most of the weed. We are waiting now to see how quickly it recovers.

Finally, thanks to everyone who has kept us in touch with news from the reserve, and given us a call or dropped us an email when there is something that we should know about or need to sort out. It is a great help to us and much appreciated.

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CHAPTER 3

REPORT ON BIRDS 2003

Recorder: Ian Brown

During the year 129 species were recorded of which 66 were present in suitable breeding habitat in the summer, including one new breeding species. One new species was added to the site list, Pectoral Sandpiper bringing the total number of species recorded to 203 

In the early winter period there was a site record count of 237 Tufted Duck plus moderately good numbers of surface feeding duck, with a peak count of 576 Wigeon. As in recent years there were average numbers of Goosander roosting on the site. There were numerous highlights during this period with pride of place going to a Bittern that was present in January and February, invariably elusive but occasionally went walkabout around the Colebrook lakes on sunny afternoons! Other birds included up to 3 Jack Snipe (the first multiple occurrence), a pair of Pintail (briefly) and one observer was fortunate to see a Firecrest.

Spring opened with an obliging summer-plumage Water Pipit (only the fourth site record) followed by a pair of Garganey for one day in April. Wader passage was patchy, with some good records including three separate records each of Oystercatcher and Whimbrel, plus a single Wood Sandpiper and more Jack Snipe. Black Terns put in a brief appearance and there were two separate sightings of Red Kite (how long before they are breeding on the site!?).

Generally for most species it was a moderately successful breeding season. Little Ringed Plovers again bred successfully on the reserve, but Redshank, although present, were unsuccessful. However, Lapwing had one of their best years in the last decade. The most notable breeding record, however, was of Black-headed Gull that took up residence with the Common Terns. Eight pairs nested successfully constituting the first breeding record of this species. Although Black-headed Gulls are very common locally, breeding inland in this region is very uncommon so this represents a remarkable record. Fortunately the Common Terns were undeterred by their new neighbours and had yet another record year!

Nineteen pairs (cf 16 in 2002) reared a record total of 30 young, all of which were ringed. Mandarin continued to thrive in nestboxes and natural holes, whilst Tufted Ducks were successful for the second successive year, as were Gadwall. Barnacle Geese bred on the reserve, with Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail successful in their traditional sites on the river. Buzzard and Hobby were seen regularly on the site during the summer and both probably bred nearby. Amongst the passerines there was little change apart from Sedge Warbler, whose numbers doubled compared to last year. There were a number of interesting June records, including a summering immature male Peregrine (first summer records) often to be found in the pylons near Mill Farm, a single record of Grey Partridge (the first since 1994) and a remarkable record of 14 Black Tailed Godwits (site record count) after heavy rain in early July.

Late summer/early autumn was generally very quiet, but a Black-necked Grebe took up residence on Grove for over two months from mid September, and during October a record count of 20 Egyptian Geese was logged. The highlight of the year, however, was a Pectoral Sandpiper that was present on the newly excavated pit adjacent to the main footpath on the Manor Farm site during the first week of November. This was the first record of this North American wader and it performed for the majority of the many visitors during its stay.

The year closed with good numbers of surface feeding duck including a record site count of 204 Gadwall, a promising sign after several years of apparent declining numbers. In addition, there was another record of Red Kite, a record Cormorant count (80) and up to 3 Little Egrets were present on the site in late December relating to birds wandering the valley.

Last but not least, many thanks to the growing band of observers who submit records, including those who provide observers names on the log sheet.

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CHAPTER 4

BOTANICAL SURVEY 2003

Dr Delphine Hoyle 

Since 1997 quantitative surveys of the meadows on the North and West sides of Colebrook Lake North have been undertaken using the method based on National Vegetation Classification Methodology. Ten random samples (1 x 1 m) were taken on 24 July 2003 at the sites indicated on the accompanying plan.

In each of the sample squares the species present were identified and quantified on the abundance present -

In addition the frequency of occurrence was also recorded -

Table A gives the frequency and abundance of the species found in the samples areas while Table B lists other species noted in the immediately surrounding areas. The annual survey is usually not carried out until July in order to avoid the nesting season. This year this was a disadvantage as an early season meant that some species were difficult to find and identify as flowering was over and grasses were particularly abundant. As cattle were on site only from 2 August to 15 October 2002 this may have contributed to the predominance of the rank vegetation.

As in previous surveys Centaurea nigra, Leucanthemum vulgare, and Plantago lanceolata were the dominant species together with the grasses. Nineteen species from the original seed mix were still present. There was little evidence of new species appearing or much tree or shrub invasion in the sample areas. However bramble is spreading in surrounding areas. To improve the biodiversity of the meadows a more intensive grazing of the areas is suggested.

Thanks are due to Marjorie Trendall, Doreen Dye, Lettice Tanner and Steve Farmer for their help with this survey.

Table A

Note:  S = Sown species

Table B

Other plants recorded outside the sample squares

  S = Sown species

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CHAPTER 5

REPORT ON BUTTERFLIES 2003

Recorder Sue Proudley 

Butterfly records for 2003 started early with a Red Admiral recorded on 27th February. It was seen again in March along with Brimstone, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Peacock and 3 Comma butterflies. Brimstones and Orange Tips showed well in April and May, but the Large White, Small White and Green-veined White numbers were well below 2002 records.

Skipper numbers were half those recorded in 2002. Speckled Wood butterflies did well again this year with 36 recorded in September and 21 in October. However, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet numbers were disappointing.

Despite seeing Peacock caterpillars feeding on nettles in June, very few adults were recorded in the following months. It is possible that the exceptionally hot weather dried out their food plants.

A single Green Hairstreak was recorded in May and 2 Purple Hairstreaks and a Grayling in August. A few Small Copper and Common Blue butterflies were seen in May and in each month throughout the summer. It was good to see Small Tortoiseshell numbers reaching double figures again in July.

1 Clouded Yellow and 7 Painted Ladies visited in June. 1 Painted Lady was seen each month until September.

June was a remarkable month with 10 bright new Comma and 10 Red Admiral joining the 7 Painted Ladies. One Dark Green Fritillary was recorded on 18th June. Unfortunately I did not see this butterfly and normally I would not have included it, as Dark Green Fritillaries are more chalk downland butterflies, living in colonies where there are plenty of violets for their caterpillars. However, as there were so many new arrivals in June it is just possible that one early fritillary strayed in too.

The last butterfly record was of 3 Speckled Woods on 21st October.

The list of species observed on the reserve in 2003 is as follows:

I would like to thank all the people who have taken the trouble to record their observations. Please keep up the good work and remember to print your name at the bottom of record sheet so that I can give you the credit.

The following observers contributed to the records in 2003:

Sue Proudley may be contacted on tel: 01252 875536 or

by e-mail: c.proudley(at)btopenworld.com

MOOR GREEN BUTTERFLIES