The results show

The end results of habitat management often seem to pass by in a flash in June.  This week offered the opportunity for a bit of speedy site checking to see how target species were faring.  A quick look at North Warren found 40+ spikes of Sand Catchfly, maintained in its favoured bare patches by a bit of raking and over-zealous cyclists.  Who says disturbance is bad?  A whizz by Minsmere produced a distant Savi’s Warbler and, more impressively, a Bittern booming out in the open in front of the Bittern hide, where else?

Fen Orchids are just coming into flower.  The remaining Norfolk plants are found on just four sites, with the majority now under the management care of the RSPB.  Since taking over the management of Sutton Fen, experimental cutting of 80 blocks of fen on a variety of rotations has seen the number of Fen Orchids rise, with an estimated 1,200 plants last year.  Other fen specialists such as the Round-leaved Wintergreen and Crested Buckler Fern seemed to be doing okay.  Shallow turf ponds have also been cut to re-establish early successional conditions and now have the Shining Ramshorn snail in residence.

Cranes are busy at their usual sites, with their usual mix of problems.  One pair had already lost two clutches and have probably given up for the year; others have young chicks in tow but still are a long way to fledging.  The breezy conditions were not ideal for Swallowtails but several were seen briefly at both Sutton and Strumpshaw Fens.  Much better was a ready to emerge pupa pointed out by the warden.

Turf and surf

Fen Orchids

Sutton Fen has been claimed to be one of the most biodiverse and untrodden parts of England. On a sunny June day it seems a fair claim as Swallowtails and Norfolk Hawkers zipped around and exposed limbs attracted a wider range of clegs and mozzies than normal. We were visiting Sutton to review the management for Fen Orchids. A good number were in flower as we wandered around pontificating on the finer points of orchid ecology and realising how little we actually knew. The population is doing well, with an estimated 700 spikes. It seems the orchid may have different strategies for different conditions. In dry years the seed pods may split and disperse the seeds as normal, but in wet years the seeds may be retained, and germinate in the pod the following year, or may be released to be dispersed by water. The role of animals or people in disturbing the ground and moving seeds is unclear. Although few people visit in recent years, this site would have been heavily managed for fen products in the past. This decline in 'disturbance' is likely to have led to the orchids decline. One method of restoring this ‘disturbance’ is to cut shallow ‘turf ponds’ where the fen vegetation is set back to the early succession state favoured by the orchids.

The following day we were down on the Suffolk coast at Dingle Marshes. Standing on the shingle ridge it soon becomes clear this is, as opposed to Sutton, one of the most trodden parts of England. The coastal pools looked good however; 2 Spoonbills, 8 Med Gulls, 7 Dusky Redshanks, numerous Avocets and an early returning Golden Plover were the star birds. However, the few nesting Little Terns are struggling despite the habitat looking good. Although fences have been put up around the colony, there is a conflict; in general people do not like fences on their beaches, and this is a major problem for Little Terns. Numbers are declining all around the coast as they a struggle with a lack of habitat, increased attention of predators, and wave after wave of holiday makers.