Barton Area Group Newsletter No.1

The Harrier Newsletter of the Barton-on-Humber Area Group On-line Edition No.1 - April 2022 CONTENTS Pp 1-2 Pp 2-6 Pp 6-8 P9 P9

Message from the Editor

Dates for your calendar Warden's report Trip report Contributions Children's activities

It's so good to be getting out and out again, so you will be looking forward to taking advantage of the fantastic range of visits that have been arranged. Everybody is welcome!

I hope you enjoy receiving your Harrier digitally. Seeing the pictures in colour has to be an improvement, so thank you to the photographers!

Sandi

Saturday Field Trips Meet at Ness End Farm ready for a 9am departure.

Car sharing can be arranged.

Full day trips – bring a packed lunch – return time about 3.00-4.00pm.

Half-day trips – return time about noon to 1.00pm unless stated.

You will need boots or wellies, warm clothing and waterproofs (especially in winter).

It is advisable to contact the Trip Leader ahead of the event. If there are any health concerns that we should know about please contact the leader prior to the trip.

Directions: To get to Ness End Farm from Barton-upon-Humber, travel west along Far Ings Road, go past the brown signs for Far Ings visitor centre and past the turning for the hotel. The road narrows and after 300 yards Ness Farm car park is on your right (satnav post code DN18 5RG).

EVENTS CALENDAR 2022 Date/Duration 16 April Full Day

Event Name Top Hill Low

21 May Full Day

RSPB St Aidan’s

Event Description A visit to Top Hill Low Nature Reserve – 2 reservoirs with 12 hides spread over 300 acres.

Note £3.50 entrance fee. to RSPB St Aidan’s looking for breeding Black Necked Grebes

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Leader/Contact Details Vernon Chapman 01652 660957 07939 347373 Simon Wellock 01652 634507

17 September Full day 15 October Full Day 12 November Half Day 3 December Half Day 25 June Full Day

Gibraltar Point

A full days birdwatching at Gibraltar Point in the middle of the migration season.

Filey Brigg A stroll down Filey Brigg looking for coastal migrants including Purple Sandpiper.

Alkborough Flats Staying local at Alkborough Flats Nature Reserve for winter waders and wildfowl.

Cleethorpes/Tetney Annual trip to look for winter Marshes waders and Snow Buntings along the Humber coast.

Thorne/Hatfield A visit to largest area of Moor lowland raised peat bog in the UK. Hoping to see Hobby and possibly Crane

Alex Cawley 07722 55 Simon Wellock 01652 634507 Maureen Douglass 01469 530143 Vernon Chapman 01652 660957 07939 347373 Simon Wellock 01652 634507

INDOOR MEETINGS 21 September

Winter in Japan

Geoff Trinder

19 October

Volunteering in Antarctica

Alex Dodds

16 November

Cyprus in Spring

Graham Catley

WEDNESDAY WANDERS 2022 Date 18 May 7 pm 2.5 hours 22 June 7 pm 2.5 hours 13 July 7 pm 2 .5 hours 24 August 6.30 pm 2.5 hours

Event Name Bird song identification at Far Ings

Event Description A stroll around Far Ings identifying birds and their song.

Flowers at Far Ings

The Warden will show us the wonderful flora at Far Ings

Leader/Contact Details Vernon Chapman 01652 660957 07939 347373 Simon Wellock 01652 634507

Elsham Quarry for wild flowers

A visit to a local chalk quarry for wild flowers.

Simon Wellock 01652 634507

North Killingholme pits

Looking for migrant waders Vernon Chapman including large numbers of Black 01652 660957 Tailed Godwits.

07939 347373

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REPORTS WARDEN’S REPORT 2020-2022 My last ‘The Harrier’ report covered the summer of 2019, but with all the disruptions of Covid I’ve not been able to communicate to you all the vast amount of exciting Far Ings work and news. It’s difficult to know where to start.

A major part of the work programme for the last few years has been the recreation of the ditch system and wet edge so essential for successful Bittern nesting. A fully functioning reed-bed ditch system is a habitat in its own right, it is important as a fish nursery and for aquatic plants and invertebrates, and is integral in the effectively movement of water around the reserve. But, most importantly, as wet edge for Bitterns.

Research has shown that about 30% of a Bittern home range is open water (ideally consisting of connected meres, pools and ditches), and that the reed/water interface should be around 250-400 metres of wet edge per hectare.

The project began in January 2019 with the digging of 1255m of ditch in West Pit, Ness Pit and East Pit. This was funded by a generous donation and a top up from the Barton Area Group, and North Lincs Council kindly loaned us their Truxor to rake up the floating debris from 550m of it.

In November 2019 we started work restoring the wet edge in Barton Reed-bed, thanks to a GoFundMe appeal that raised £1500 in just a few weeks.

Photo 1 – digger creating new ditch / wet edge in Barton Reed-bed, November 2019

Photo 2 – drone image by Calvin Taylor-Lee of the 1,200m of new ditch / wet edge in Barton Reed-bed, November 2019

The success of this work, and the obvious need for more, meant that in January 2020 we were very grateful to receive substantial funding from BIFFA to see the project through to the end. And so, I brought the digger back in and excavated 950m of new ditch / wet edge in West Pit, Ness Pit and East Pit. I then brought in a brilliant company called Aquatic Solutions, and their Truxor raked the floating debris from the 700m remaining from the January 2019 excavations, the 1200m in Barton Reed-bed from November 2019 and the new 950m from January 2020.

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The work continued in December 2020January 2021. The absence of causeways from which to work meant that this was more complex than the previous work and became essentially a four stage process:- clearing encroaching scrub to create safe access for the excavator; digging the core of the ditch, including a 1.5m deep central section; using the longreach excavator to create scalloped edges and embayments; then raking and removing floating debris with Truxors. In Ness Pit and East Pit we created a total of 550m of new ditch / wet edge, 110m in Hotel Pit, and then finishing the job in Barton Reed-bed with a further 750m.

Photo 3 – Truxor raking floating debris left behind by the digger work, January 2020 The work continued in December 2020-January 2021. The absence of causeways from which to work meant that this was more complex than the previous work and became essentially a four stage process:- clearing encroaching scrub to create safe access for the excavator; digging the core of the ditch, including a 1.5m deep central section; using the long-reach excavator to create scalloped edges and embayments; then raking and removing floating debris with Truxors. In Ness Pit and East Pit we created a total of 550m of new ditch / wet edge, 110m in Hotel Pit, and then finishing the job in Barton Reed-bed with a further 750m.

Photo 4 – Long-reach excavator creating new ditch / wet edge, December 2020

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Photo 5 – Truxors raking floating debris left behind by the digger work, January 2021

Photo 6 – Completed restoration works in Ness Pit and East Pit, January 2021

Photo 7 – Completed restoration works in Barton Reed-bed, January 2021

We finally completed the work in January of 2022 with the creation of 160m of completely new ditch along the southern edge of Bridge Pit, and enhancing the scalloped edge / embayment in 450m of the West Pit ditches.

The BIFFA funding also the opportunity to carry out some creative reed-bed management, and so, in addition to the 5.2km of new perimeter ditches around the reserve, we also created over 1km of temporary channels using the Truxors. This not only increases the availability of wet edge and open water within the reed-bed, but also enhances the visitor experience by allowing people a view in to the secret world of the reed-bed.

Photo 8 – Using Truxors to create temporary channels / wet edge within the reed-bed, January2021 5

The BIFFA funded work was not confined to Far Ings. In January 2020 the combination of digger and Truxor recreated over 1km of ditch / wet edge at our Pasture Wharf reserve. At Dawson City we used Truxors to create over 400m of new temporary reed-bed channels in the wet reed-bed and bed-lower about 15% of the dry reed-bed.

Photo 9 – Recreating over 1km of ditch / wet edge at Pasture Wharf, January 2020

Photo 10 – Creation of 400m of temporary channels / wet edge within the reed-bed, Dawson City, January 2021

Of course, the usual annual management continued on top of all this extra work, and since I last wrote and update we have cut or burnt almost 6 hectares of reed as part of the 12-year rotation.

The meadow restoration work in Ness Meadow and North Meadow has continued and is reaping great rewards, both botanically and entomologically, but I’ll talk about that next time.

As ever, volunteers have played an integral role in the success of the site and new volunteers are always welcome. I run work parties every Tuesday and Wednesday 0900-1530, and every Sunday 1000-1230. If you are interested in joining the team please contact me. It’s a great way to keep physically and mentally fit, good fun, and of course a fabulous way to make a difference for wildlife.

As I write, there are Marsh Harriers hunting and Bitterns booming. Let’s hope for another successful breeding season. Onwards and upwards. : Simon Wellock LWT South Humber Warden

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TRIP REPORTS VISIT TO WYKEHAM FOREST, FORGE VALLEY, FILEY DAMS, SATURDAY 19 MARCH 2022

Nine o’clock on a bright, sunny morning 14 keen birdwatchers set off in FOUR cars to visit Wykeham Forest. Simon was leading the group and took us on a scenic route through previously unvisited villages, along dusty ‘B’ roads, over cattle grids and finally called a halt on a high ridge overlooking a sun-bathed valley in Wykeham Forest. The view was beautiful and we soon saw Buzzards circling high above the valley and opposite ridge. We stayed a while, hoping for a sighting of a Goshawk but no Goshawks could be seen.

Walking back to the cars we spotted Grey Wagtails on a mound of earth in a nearby field.

Having seen our target birds, Crossbills and Goshawk, and chilled to the bone, we decided to leave Wykeham and move on to the more sheltered woodland of Forge Valley where a small car park has feeders on three sides of it. Here we were almost bombarded by small birds flying in from all directions to take seed and then return to the trees. Four species of the Tit family, Blue, Great, Coal and Marsh, darted on to the top of the fence post where seed had been placed and darted off again.

Chaffinches and Robins were numerous and Nuthatches made frequent appearances too. On the other side of the road a Tree creeper moved quietly up and around the rough bark of an old, ivy-clad tree.

We moved to the other side of the valley and whilst walking through woodland to the edge of the ridge heard the “Gyp – gyp” call of Crossbills and saw several females (green), feeding in the Scots Pines by the side of the path. It is a larger bird than I had expected but distinctive, skilfully sourcing the seeds on the young trees. We saw a few small birds too, mainly Robins, Chaffinches and Siskins.

On to our final destination, Filey Dams, where there are two hides over-looking shallow stretches of water. From these we saw a variety of waders and ducks.

Oystercatchers were lined up along a narrow sandbar, Teal and Widgeon, Coots and Moorhen preened on the mudflats or swam lazily along whilst a Heron watched from the bank and Tree Sparrows rested in the bushes near the hides.

This side of the valley had the same spectacular views and though the sun shone brightly the wind was chilly and in our faces. We watched more Buzzards over the ridge and valley, spotted more, larger groups of Crossbills and, eventually, saw a Goshawk soaring high above the forest but identifiable with binoculars or ‘scopes, its white under-tail clearly visible.

We have enjoyed many outings with the Barton Group over the years but I think this one ranks as one of the best. It was further than we normally go, the bird count of 55 is not as high as we have sometimes achieved but the scenery and the variety of bird life in very different locations made this special.

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: Report - Andrea Cawley : Photos - Alex Cawley

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CONTRIBUTIONS Here are some of the photos Trust member Ann Taylor has taken on her walks around Far Ings. If only creatures would keep still like that for me! [Always pleased to receive contributions from readers, so don't be shy! email sandijohn43@gmail.com]

Baby Owls

Canada Goose

Otter

Little Egret

EVENTS FOR CHILDREN AT FAR INGS Wednesday 6 – Sunday 24 April (Wednesdays to Sundays 10am-4pm only) Easter Ladybirds Trail at Far Ings. Collect your trail leaflet from the visitor centre, follow the trail and along the way find the ten different species of ladybirds and find out about their amazing lifecycles.

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