CEMEX remains committed to the future of the Moor Green Lakes Nature Reserve and is greatly appreciative of the work undertaken by the Group in its continuing role in managing the land. This annual report, which marks the 15th anniversary of the publication, is testament to the enthusiasm and commitment of the Group and we are delighted to continue in its support.   CEMEX UK Materials Ltd CEMEX House Coldharbour Lane Thorpe, Egham Surrey TW20 8TD                                                                         August 2008   CEMEX UK Operations Limited CEMEX House, Coldharbour Lane, Thorpe, Egham, Surrey TW20 8TD, United Kingdom. Phone: +44 (0) 1932 568833 Fax: +44 (0) 1932 568933 www.cemex.co.uk Registered in England and Wales: Company Number 658390  Registered Office: CEMEX House, as above.

[Previous Year]       [Previous Section]       [Contents List]       [Next Section]         [Next Year]

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO THE FIFTEENTH REPORT OF THE

MOOR GREEN LAKES GROUP

 Peter Scott

Welcome to our annual report on the wildlife found on the reserve and the maintenance work carried out there during the last year. Again the numbers of species seen was generally good: even reptiles returned to their usual numbers after the disappointing picture in 2006. The main exception was dragonflies, for which the poor summer weather was a factor in their reduced numbers.

For the first time since 1995, moths have been surveyed. As Colin Proudley reports in chapter 11, the numbers found are very encouraging. Colin intends to continue his observations and we are grateful to him for joining our team of recorders to fill an important gap in our knowledge.

Another new contribution is a chapter on the ringing of birds on Tern Island by Tim Ball, Paul James and Karen Tucker of the Reading and Basingstoke Ringing Group. Their efforts in doing this and in producing this report are greatly appreciated, as are those of Bruce Archer in arranging the work.

Having contributed an initial set of bumblebee data last year, Steve Farmer has repeated the exercise in 2007, as reported in chapter 10. He and his wife Shelia have also supplied a report on flowers found along the riverside footpath beside Manor Farm, included here as an addition to the chapter on botanical surveying. As the restoration of Manor Farm continues, we may wish to extend most of our surveys to cover it, though this would be a considerable increase in workload in some cases. Ian Brown's bird reports have always included it, of course, and several of the nest boxes examined regularly by Bruce Archer are located on Manor Farm.

On the administrative front, two members of our committee resigned their posts at our AGM in February 2007. Robert Godden relinquished the role of committee secretary and Keith Littler withdrew from that of membership secretary. They have been replaced by Roger Murfitt and David Bishop respectively. We are very grateful to Robert and Keith for their past services and to Roger and Dave for stepping into the vacancies.

[Previous Year]       [Previous Section]       [Contents List]       [Next Section]         [Next Year]

CHAPTER 2

SITE MANAGEMENT REPORT

APRIL 2007 TO MARCH 2008

 Dr Sue Dent

Countryside & Access Officer

Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership

General Site Management 2007/8

Islands and scrapes

Long Island is beginning to show real signs of improvement now that the pontoon is available to get volunteers and equipment across to the island. The increased management is gradually reducing the cover of scrub and bramble and encouraging a shorter grass sward.

On Tern Island the control of bramble and perennial vegetation has gradually become more difficult over the years. As an experiment the island was sprayed this summer with a general herbicide and this certainly made it much easier to clear the island in the winter work programme. The impact on the re-growth next summer will be monitored to see how well it works. The fenced enclosure on Tern Island is beginning to deteriorate and was reinforced with sand bags to stop predators getting underneath. Some shelters for the terns to nest under were also put out over the winter and these will hopefully give them some protection from the gulls. 

Plover and Sandpiper Islands were also cleared of vegetation. If the spraying of Tern Island is successful it may be extended to Plover next year.

Grassland

Controlling scrub on the grassland is an on-going commitment and is mostly done by volunteers both by hand and with the help of some machines.  As usual the meadows have been grazed this year.  We have changed to a grazier who can provide native breeds of cattle, which should be more suitable to the type of poor grazing we have at Moor Green and may be more likely to graze the scrub and bramble.  This year we have had Irish Moiles and a group of Belted Galloways which seem to have settled in well and we hope to use them again next year.  The FMD outbreak meant that grazing started later than planned, but we were very lucky to be able to go ahead at all.

Plantations to southern edge of Reserve. 

The rotational cutting of the plantation has continued, as well as thinning of some blocks that are to remain as wooded areas.  It is hoped that this will encourage a diverse ground flora to develop. 

Other reserve matters

Path to Colebrook Hide.  MGLG successfully applied for a grant to resurface the path to Colebrook Hide from SC Johnson and the Blackwater Valley Countryside Trust.

The path from Lower Sandhurst Road car park was repaired after it was damaged in the storms last summer which turned it briefly into a stream and left some large gullies in the surface.

A new Map Board has been installed close to the bridge across the River Blackwater in collaboration with BVCP and Bracknell Forest BC.  It shows the main circular walks around the area, including Horseshoe Lakes.

Conservation Volunteers

Conservation volunteers make an enormous contribution to the management of the reserve. The tasks are made up of Sundays by the MGLG and a regular monthly Tuesday from the BVCP volunteers. 

The Moor Green Lakes Group have been out for 7 Sundays from September to March and several extra tasks to pick up special jobs such as transporting sandbags to Tern Island. Overall they have done over 80 days of practical work, with an average of 11 people out on the Sunday Tasks. Special thanks to Peter Scott, Simon Weeks, Tony Elston and Tim Mockridge who have led the Moor Green Lakes Group tasks this year. There have also been two special tasks, including a BBQ, aimed at encouraging newcomers and in total 13 new volunteers came along this season.

This has been backed up by the Blackwater Valley Tuesday group who have done 9 tasks and 178 days, with an average of 19 volunteers per task. This has included two days working on the new Manor Farm workings. Altogether this adds up to a minimum of 256 volunteer days or over £14 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 BVCP Tuesday group has started to carry out work on the new Manor Farm site.  This year they have carried out more trial planting for the new reedbed.  The results from the planting done last year have been mixed, but the most successful method seems to be simple root/rhizome cuttings.  To date there have been sufficient reeds on Moor Green to provide material for transplanting. 

The Tuesday volunteers and a BTCV-run group have also been thinning the established plantations adjacent to Lower Sandhurst Road and managing some newer planting.

[Previous Year]       [Previous Section]       [Contents List]       [Next Section]         [Next Year]

CHAPTER 3

 REPORT ON BIRDS 2007

Recorder: Ian Brown

During the year 136 species were recorded of which 67 were present in suitable breeding habitat in the summer. The latter maintains last years equal highest annual recorded total. Barn Owl was gained as a breeding species but Barnacle Goose lost. The number of species recorded was boosted by an exceptional year (the best on record; see article by Bruce Archer in newsletter) for waders, with 24 species recorded (cf previous high, 21 in 2006). These figures overall partly reflect habitat improvement and increased habitat diversity but especially the fact that large areas of the Manor farm workings were maintained in drained state for most of the year. One new species was added to the site list, Mealy Redpoll, bringing the total number of species recorded to 209.

In the early winter period waterfowl numbers were generally good despite relatively mild weather. Wigeon numbers continue to increase year on year and 2007 was no exception with a site record count of 597 in January. A male Peregrine remained faithful to the pylon by Mill lane and two male Ruddy Ducks graced Horseshoe lake for several weeks. Little Egret’s were again regular visitors and a handful of Golden Plover were recorded. Dunlin and Oystercatcher were particularly noteworthy in February.

Returning waders began to appear in mid March with Ringed Plover, Redshank and Little Ringed Plover recorded before the months end. Also in March were Barn Owls taking up residence in the west owl box. Arrivals of passerines was much later this year with for example House and Sand Martins not being recorded until the latter half of April. Nevertheless there were plenty other birds in the early part of April with another Oystercatcher, a good passage of Yellow Wagtails, five Little Gulls, two Greenshank, only the second site record of Avocet and Spotted Redshank. This however only proved to be the appetizer for May that proved to be an outstanding month especially for waders. It began on 1st with a Little Stint, 2 Wood Sandpipers together and a Whimbrel! These were followed mid month by a party of 11 Dunlin, another Spotted Redshank, good numbers of Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, the third site record of Knot and a party of 7 Sanderling, comfortably the largest group of this species recorded. These birds were interspersed with an Arctic Tern, the first site record of Syke’s Wagtail (race of Yellow) and of course all the returning breeding birds.

Overall it was another successful breeding season. Waders fared with mixed success with Redshank and Lapwing successfully fledging young but Little Ringed Plovers had a poor year despite good numbers of birds present only one young was definitely reared. Amongst waterfowl Tufted Duck and Mandarin did moderately well as did both species of breeding grebe and Gadwall successfully reared two broods, now a firmly established breeding species.  Egyptian Geese go from strength to strength and despite early broods in January not surviving, still reared at least one brood. Black Headed Gull and Common Tern largely failed for the second year in succession with Tern Island again being abandoned prematurely, Mink? The major successes were the first confirmed breeding in the recording area of Greylag Goose and of course successful occupancy of the west owl box by Barn Owls rearing four young and providing good viewing opportunities for all as the adults feverishly hunted for prey. Other species that had a good breeding season either on the reserve or nearby were Little Owl, Hobby, Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail and Skylark. Breeding may have been attempted by Grey Heron for only the second time.

The flow of notable wader records continued in July (which can often be a quieter month) with three records of Black Tailed Godwit, up to three Turnstone, four Whimbrel, a Curlew and another Oystercatcher. August continued in the same vein with five Greenshank, a party of eight Black Tailed Godwits, plus a Little Stint and a Ruff both of which lingered for several days.  Other records during the month included  a Garganey on three dates,  Red Kite (scarcer this year) and Peregrine. September began with probably the highlight of the year which unfortunately was only witnessed by one lucky observer who saw a single group of 28 Black Tailed Godwits on the Manor Farm site. This will be a county record if accepted by Berkshire! However for those who missed out there was plenty of additional fare with another long staying Ruff, three Curlew Sandpipers, another Little Stint, a Grasshopper Warbler, more Curlew, Whinchat and a Rock Pipit. Wader species number 24 occurred in late October with a Jack Snipe. Other notable autumn records included the customary good geese counts with site records for Greylag (103) and Egyptian Geese (108) at roost.

The year ended with another site record, a remarkable influx of Golden Plover to the Lapwing flock on the works. Good numbers were seen over a period of several days finally peaking at 630, approximately 15 times higher than the previous best! The year ended with returning Little Egrets, Goosander, a Caspian Gull, Brent Goose and Peregrine. Finally, but not least the only addition to the site list during the year was Mealy Redpoll, when one of this former subspecies was sharply detected in the alders near Longwater sewage works.

Again my thanks go to the growing band of observers who submit records especially including those who provide observers names on the log sheet (it is helpful if there is a need to follow up on any record). In particular I would thank again the small band of stalwarts covering the site on a daily basis irrespective of weather!

[Previous Section]       [Contents List]         [Next Section]

CHAPTER 4

Moor Green Lakes Ringing Project, 2007 Report

Tim Ball, Paul James, Karen Tucker

(Reading and Basingstoke Ringing Group)

1          Black-headed Gull

Black-headed Gulls have been nesting at Moor Green Lakes since 2003. All the chicks which fledged in the first year were ringed by Kevin Briggs. In 2007 the Moor Green Lakes Group asked us to ring the Gulls and any Terns that nested on Tern Island on Colbrook Lake North. No Terns nested this year and only Gulls were ringed.

In the last couple of years most of the Gulls have nested inside the fenced area of the island and only a few have nested on the unprotected areas. Since birds first bred here in 2003 the colony has grown significantly - however productivity has dropped:

• 2003 - 8 pairs raised 21 young

• 2004 - Approx 80 pairs reared in excess of 130 young

• 2005 - Approx 122 pairs reared in excess of 125 young

• 2006 - Approx 180 pairs reared only about 100 young - a predator of some kind got inside the fence and killed a lot of young

The first ringing trip in 2007 was carried out on 4 June and 52 chicks were ringed. There were a large number of nests with eggs still being incubated and about 20 or 30 young that were too young to ring. Unfortunately it was also clear that the very wet weather at the end of May had taken a significant toll and there were between 20 and 30 dead small young present. A complete nest count located 124 nests.

A second trip on 15 June proved how disastrous the bad weather over the Bank Holiday weekend had been - it was clear that all the un-hatched eggs have failed, although some adults were still attempting to incubate the dead eggs. No new young had hatched since the first trip and we ringed all the remaining young - there were another 27 making 79 ringed in all. But the continuing unsettled weather had led to more young dying - including 4 of those ringed on 4 June. A further dead bird was found during maintenance work on 30 August – this had probably died at around the time it would have fledged. The final productivity of 74 birds from 124 nests is well below normal Black-headed Gull productivity.

There have been no subsequent recoveries of the ringed birds.

2          Little Ringed Plover

Little Ringed Plovers at Moor Green were monitored with assistance from Chris Gent and Bruce Archer as part of a wider project across a number of sites in Berkshire and Hampshire. All approaches to nests and breeding birds were carried out by Tim Ball under the appropriate Schedule 1 license. The results were submitted to the BTO’s Little Ringed & Ringed Plover Breeding Survey.

Colbrook Lake

One pair apparently attempted to breed but probably failed before any young hatched.

New Workings

Three pairs bred with a fourth possibly present

Pair A: Pair seen changing over on a nest on 9 May. 1 young was first seen on 29 May and was still present on 15 June when it was very well grown and may have already fledged. Generally occupying the northern central part of the New Workings.

Pair B: 4 young first seen on 5 June, only 3 young were seen on 8 June and were still present on 15 June when 2 were ringed and had primary feathers sprouting about 3 or 4 mm out of the pin so were 10 to 14 days old. Generally occupying the western part of the New Workings.

Pair C: 3 young first seen on 9 June, reduced to 2 young on 10, 12 & 14 June. The parents were behaving as if they still had young on 15 June. Generally occupying the north eastern part of the New Workings.

One adult seen occasionally at the extreme west end of the New Workings may represent an extra pair.

Adults seen occasionally on the restored part of the New Workings were thought to be birds from the main New Workings pit.

There were very few records of young after 16 June and it is thought unlikely that more than 2 fledged successfully – one from pair A and one from pair B or C.

[Previous Year]       [Previous Section]       [Contents List]       [Next Section]         [Next Year]

CHAPTER 5

BOTANICAL SURVEY 2007

Peter Scott

Quantitative surveys of the meadow areas on the north and west sides of Colebrook Lake North have been undertaken since 1997. The method used is based on the National Vegetation Classification. Ten one-metre-square quadrats are identified, five on each side of the lake. In 2007 two visits were made, in May and July.  All ten quadrats were surveyed each time.

In each of the sample squares the species present were identified and quantified by the area of the quadrat they covered -

In addition the frequency of occurrence was also recorded -

Table A gives the frequency and abundance of the forty-five species other than grasses (which were not surveyed) found in the quadrats. This is more than in any previous year.  However, previously each quadrat has been surveyed once only, so the increase is probably a result of more intensive surveying and is therefore more apparent than real.

Table B lists, in column B1, other species noted in the immediately surrounding areas. Two other sites were also surveyed. These were the Colebrook Cut Wood and the Corner Wood (near the river). The additional species found at these two sites are given in columns B2 and B3.  Species listed in Table A are repeated in Table B only if they were found in one or both of the two woods.

The most frequent and/or abundant species were mostly the same as in 2006: Black Knapweed, Lady’s Bedstraw, Cut-leaved Crane’s-bill, Oxeye Daisy, Lesser Stitchwort, Ribwort Plantain, Clover (both Red and White) and Smooth Tare.  The north side of the lake seems to have a more diverse flora than the west side.  The north bank, of course, receives more direct sunshine and this, together with the steeper slope to the lake and the fact that the soil is rather thin in places, creates rather dry conditions. This makes it more difficult for species which become dominant in ‘richer’, damper soils to thrive.

When the reserve was created, the meadow area was planted with a wild-flower mix of 24 species. In 2007 seventeen of the original sown species were found in the quadrats and a further three were noticed nearby. 

This indicates that the botanical diversity of the reserve is being maintained.  However, a full list of species present on the reserve, for comparison with the surveys carried out up to 1994, is overdue and will be attempted in the next couple of years.

I am grateful to Pauline Crick, Irene Draper, Doreen Dye, Steve and Sheila Farmer and Delphine Hoyle for their help with the survey. 

Table A.  Quadrat Surveys