CEMEX greatly welcomes the publication of this 14th Annual Report and remains committed to the support of the Moor Green Lakes Group and its continuing management of the company’s nature reserve, It looks forward to the expansion of the Group’s activities into the adjoining mineral workings as their restoration nears completion.   CEMEX UK Materials Ltd CEMEX House Coldharbour Lane Thorpe, Egham Surrey TW20 8RA Tel.0193258383600                                                                                                  July 2007   CEMEX UK Materials Limited CEMEX House, Coldharbour Lane, Thorpe, Egham, Surrey TW20 8RA, United Kingdom. Phone: +44 (0) 1932 583600 Fax: +44 (0) 1932 583611 www.cemex.co.uk Registered in England and Wales: Company Number 4895833 Registered Office: CEMEX House, Coldharbour Lane, Thorpe, Egham, Surrey TW20 8TD, United Kingdom

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO THE FOURTEENTH REPORT OF THE

MOOR GREEN LAKES GROUP

 Peter Scott

Our wildlife recorders have once again produced, here, a thorough overview of the reserve during 2006. On the whole it indicates that habitats on the site continue to attract large numbers of most animal groups, decreases in some species being balanced by increases in others. An exception is reptiles, which suffered a marked decrease last year. However, a single year’s data is insufficient to confirm a problem, especially for animals which are not seen in large numbers at any time. A second ‘poor’ year would be a little worrying.  

In addition to the ‘usual’ chapters, our annual reports sometimes include extras describing surveys that are not made every year. There are two examples in this edition. Steve Farmer describes his observations of bumblebees made last summer. It is always encouraging to find that we host species that we are, perhaps, not usually aware of. Kevin Briggs, in one of his final contributions to the group’s work, carried out a common-bird-census-style survey of birds’ breeding territories. Chapter 4 describes his findings. This is a survey that, ideally, should be made every 5 or 6 years. It was previously done in 2000, and comparison of the two years’ results is, again, quite encouraging.

Kevin has now left the area, retiring to his native Lancashire. His varied contributions to the group since its foundation have been enormous and it will not be easy to fill all the gaps he leaves behind. Certainly no single person can match the combination of skills and experience that he brought to his tasks: we can only cover them to the best of our joint abilities.

Another founder member who has stepped down this year is Delphine Hoyle, and the botanical report (chapter 5) will be her last. Fortunately Delphine has agreed to assist with future plant surveys, so her expertise will not be completely lost just yet. As nobody has yet offered to act as plant recorder, I am filling the role for the time being. However, it is bad policy (for the group) to allow a situation to develop in which one person does several jobs, as replacing them when they eventually retire becomes extra difficult. So we are in great need of one or more people to take over as plant recorder or reptile recorder.

Controlling the water level in the lakes once again proved difficult. CEMEX’s clearance of the blocked outlet pipe in the south-west corner was unfortunately only temporary. That pipe has now been converted to an open culvert over much of its length, making future clearance easier. However, by the time this was done the water had been very high for several months. Not only did this reduce the area of exposed mud (beloved by wading birds), but it was also a probable cause of the fence on Tern Island being undermined by wave action. The fence has been repaired, but the ‘treatment’ may not be effective in the long term, so we may need to install further protection. Although the effectiveness of the fence is not certain, we believe that it should be maintained: the loss of so many gulls and terns last year through predation (see chapter 3) may have been at least partially a result of the fence failing.

Developments at Manor Farm, to the west of the current reserve, are gradually increasing in their effects on our work. In chapter 2 Sue Dent mentions some of the manual tasks carried out there, not least some initial planting of reeds to get the proposed reed bed started. Ian Brown’s bird reports have included that area for some time, of course. In fact, many of the rare visitors that cause so much excitement seem to prefer the ‘dereliction’ of the gravel workings to the habitats we work so hard to provide! Of the two barn owl boxes installed in autumn 2005, the one on Manor Farm has so far been the more successful.

CEMEX have continued their input to the work, notably by paying for the coppicing of the perimeter woodland and by copying this report and our newsletters for us. We hope that their commitment will continue after they have finished quarrying in the area.

Finally I would like to thank one other person for her efforts. Although she no longer appears in the list of committee members in appendix G, Chris Rose has once again collated this report, including a certain amount of retyping after my editing.

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CHAPTER 2

SITE MANAGEMENT REPORT

APRIL 2006 TO MARCH 2007

 Dr Sue Dent

Countryside & Access Officer

Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership

General Site Management 2006/7

Plantations to southern edge of reserve

The rotational cutting of the plantation has continued, including some blocks that have never been cut and which were beginning to create a significant woodland edge to the reserve. For the second year some newly cut trees have been protected with mesh tree guards to prevent grazing by deer, and occasionally by straying cows. This seemed to work well last year and re-growth has been strong.

Scrub control

The annual scrub and bramble control has been carried out. Stump treating the scrub around the lake edges help to keep the job manageable. The bramble remains an issue and we are considering some limited spraying next year. This will concentrate on Tern and Plover Islands where a total clearance of vegetation is ideal. This will free up the volunteer work parties to tackle other tasks around the reserve.

Grassland management

Cattle have grazed the reserve again this year from September until December. They do an excellent job of grazing off the vegetation, but it can be very difficult to get them moved on when their job is done and before they start to poach the ground. However, the balance is still very much in favour of grazing as a method of managing the grassland areas.

Islands and scrapes

The management of Long Island has been a priority this year with a lot of bramble and scrub being cut back right across the island. A survey of the six scrapes around the island in August 2006 found that the 3 northern scrapes were quite acidic and contained little invertebrate life while the overgrown scrapes to the south supported were very diverse and provided very good invertebrate habitat. A management plan for the scrapes has been written which balances the value of the scrapes both as invertebrate habitats and as feeding places for birds.

Tern and Plover Islands have been mostly cleared of vegetation. After the major re­working of the Colebrook and Grove Scrapes in 2005/6 the main bunds have been cleared of vegetation to maintain them as bird feeding areas.

Himalayan Balsam

This invasive species has now extensively colonised the river corridor but not the main reserve area. Pulling and cutting the plants before flowering does seem to give an element of control and this will be continued.

Water level management

A combination of high rainfall and a blocked outlet pipe from Colebrook Lake meant that for most of this year it wasn’t possible to control water levels in the lakes. However the pipe has now been opened up into a culvert and it is hoped that this will give better control next year.

Other reserve matters

Two stag beetle buckets were installed as part of a project being run by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species. The buckets are filled with wood chip and provide a way of monitoring the presence of stag beetles. They will be dug up again and checked for the presence of larvae.

There is a new notice board on the path down to the hide. It was funded jointly by Wokingham District Council and Cemex.

There was some unauthorised use of the lakes for swimming in the summer but the group was eventually deterred by being regularly told that they were not permitted.

Conservation Volunteers

As always the management of the reserve is only possible because of the hard work and support of a dedicated band of volunteers, both from the Moor Green Lake Group and the Blackwater Valley Countryside Volunteers.

The Moor Green Lakes Group has been out for 7 Sundays from September to March. Overall they have done 70 person-days of practical work, with an average of 10 people out on the Sunday Tasks. Special thanks to Peter Scott, Simon Weeks and Tim Mockridge who have led the Moor Green Lakes Group tasks this year. This has been backed up by the Blackwater Valley Tuesday group, who has done 7 tasks and 139 person-days.

Which all comes to 209 days of volunteer effort, or over £11 thousand pounds worth of work.

Extra thanks to Peter Scott who plans the practical work, and makes sure that the volunteer teams know what needs doing each month, and to Simon Weeks, the Site Liaison Officer, who keeps an eye on the site on a day to day basis, and checks on cattle while they are on site.

Manor Farm

The current working site to the west of Moor Green is now being restored and much of the eastern side of the site, adjacent to Moor Green, now has it’s final levels and land form, including much of the new reedbed area. Two task days have been spent carrying out planting trials of reeds to find out the best way of colonising the new reedbed area. A variety of methods have been used including stem cuttings, rhizome cuttings and planting out rooted cuttings. The new plants have been surrounded by low mesh fences to protect them from feeding by geese.

Moor Green Lakes, Volunteer Tasks, Apr 06 — March 07

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CHAPTER 3

 REPORT ON BIRDS 2006

Recorder: Ian Brown

During the year 142 species were recorded (a site record) of which 67 were present in suitable breeding habitat in the summer. This equals the previous best year (1996) for breeding species and is the second highest annual recorded total equalling the number of species recorded in 1997. These figures partly reflect habitat improvement and increased habitat diversity. Two new species was added to the site list, Red Footed Falcon and Ring Necked Duck, bringing the total number of species recorded to 207.

In the early winter period waterfowl numbers were generally good although Wigeon were present in significantly lower numbers than usual whilst site record counts were made of Gadwall (262 in February), Pintail (10 in January), continuing the recent trend as a regular wintering species, and Shoveler (117 in March). Tufted Duck numbers also increased. Little Egrets were again regular visitors, whilst a flock of 40 Golden Plover was a site record. Barn Owls regularly used the boxes and good numbers of Brambling were present on stubble to the west. Other records included an unseasonal Redshank, and a leucistic Red Crested Pochard.

Waders began to move in early March with Curlew and Dunlin before arrivals of Little Ringed Plover and Ringed Plover (with a good showing of spring records). March ended with a flurry of good records including the first record of Sanderling for that month, a fine summer-plumage Mediterranean Gull, Little Gulls and Common Tern (second year running with March arrivals). Good birds continued into April with Osprey, several Red Kites, a singing Grasshopper Warbler, a few Whimbrels, more Little Gulls, two Arctic Terns and an exceptional passage of Wheatear with numbers peaking at nine. A winter-plumage Bar Tailed Godwit was notable since it lingered for more than a day and was seen by a number of observers, only to be surpassed in May by a fine bird in full summer plumage that frequented the pools to the west of the bridleway for four days! May is traditionally a very good month and this year was no exception with the main highlights being a short-staying Little Tern, the first for twelve years, and a Short Eared Owl for the second consecutive year, but both birds were only seen by single fortunate observers. Other birds included three Arctic Terns, a Black Tern, Whimbrel, Turnstone, two Sanderling, Nightjar and a record count of 94 Common Terns.

Overall it was a very good breeding season with waders and waterfowl in particular moderately successful, including Redshank (3 young), Lapwing and Little Ringed Plover. Tufted Duck enjoyed one of their most successful seasons with at least ten broods, whilst Gadwall, Mandarin and both grebe species reared young. Egyptian Geese were successful for the third year running rearing 14 young. Black Headed Gull and Common Tern largely failed due to predation, with mink the chief suspect. Other species that had a good breeding season either on the reserve or nearby were Little Owl, Buzzard, Hobby, Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail and Skylark. Breeding may have been attempted by Sand Martin and Red Legged Partridge, in the case of the latter the first possibility for 12 years.

Consistent with recent years July was an excellent month with bird of the year being a Red Footed Falcon (first for the site) that stayed for at least five days. The bird entertained many observers during its stay and was entirely unexpected, initially providing an identification challenge as a first year female. Other records during the month included a pair of eclipse Garganey, a party of four Black Tailed Godwits and singleton Wood Sandpiper and Oystercatcher. August’s highlights were a long-staying Spotted Redshank (most records relate to one day visits), a site record count of 12 Green Sandpipers, Ruff and Redstart. Notable autumn records were record counts of Greylag (101) and Egyptian Geese (69) at roost, a party of five Little Stints in October and a late Osprey in November.

The year ended with another site first; a female Ring Necked Duck was present for a single day in November. This duck a vagrant from North America, spent time either side of this sighting on nearby Yateley Gravel Pits. Other records included Peregrines, Red Kite, two Smew and a site record count of Little Egret (7).

Again my thanks go to the growing band of observers who submit records, especially including those who provide observers names on the log sheet. In particular I would thank the small band of stalwarts covering the site on a daily basis irrespective of weather!

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CHAPTER 4

ORNITHOLOGICAL MONITORING 2006

Dr K B Briggs

Ten field visits were undertaken from mid-March to mid-July, totalling 33.30 hours, to record the status and position of all birds on the reserve in 2006, using standard BTO Common Bird Census methodology. Supplementary data was added from the nest box recording visits. The field information was transcribed to species’ maps, cluster analysis undertaken, territory maps were drawn and a report produced totalling 72 hours.

The results are given in Table 1, which also gives comparable figures for the 2000 survey. The conservation status of each species is also given and the change in population at Moor Green and for the southeast of England, based on the national BBS Survey. In total, 85 species were recorded, 62 were breeding and 1001 territories located and 53 definitely bred within the reserve fence.

A closer look at Table 1 shows that 13 species present in 2000 were not recorded in 2006, of which Hobby, Little Owl and Spotted Flycatcher were territorial. The converse is the addition of 12 new species for 2006, of which Greylag Goose, Egyptian Goose (both feral), Black Headed Gull (most territories), Barn Owl, Reed Warbler and Treecreeper are territorial.

Eleven species present in 2000 have changed status to territorial in 2006 (Gadwall, Teal, Snipe, Buzzard, Collared Dove, Lesser Whitethroat and Goldcrest), whilst Snow Goose, Hybrid Goose, Skylark and Starling are demoted from territorial in 2000 to present in 2006.

The report highlighted the reserve management to maintain the red and amber listed species populations, which are currently stable or increasing. Habitat management and facility provision (nest box and artificial feeding) are working well.

Table 1

Bird Species and Number of Territories of Breeding Species recorded in 2006 and 2000