Thinking outside the box

What does my job as an ecologist entail?  Well, I guess it can be summed up as ensuring the nature reserves I have responsibility for meet their objectives.  This would normally focus on the key habitat condition or species targets.  One other area of work that particularly interests me is the management of a reserve to enhance the enjoyment visitors will gain from it.  This may involve ‘tricks’ to pull birds or other wildlife close to viewpoints through habitat manipulation, or the provision of the viewpoint in the right location.  On most reserves, the default option for viewing is an observation hide with its standard rectangular ‘box’ shape and narrow shuttered viewing slots.  Surely it is about time we were thinking outside the box.

A year ago, I was fortunate to visit Varanger in northern Norway and meet Tormod Amundsen and Elin Taranger of Biotope, an architectural business with special expertise in birds and birding.  Their approach to birding architecture is new and inspiring.  To cut a long story short, Tormod and I decided to visit a number of sites in the UK in order to promote discussion about the way we view wildlife and how the design or form of a viewing structure should reflect its specific function.

In a hectic 10 days we toured from Norfolk to Somerset to Dorset to Yorkshire and to Teeside, discovering some great projects in development and hopefully inspiring a few more.  Meetings with birders at Minsmere, Poole Harbour and Flamborough Head were particularly enjoyable.  We even managed a few birds along the way; Bittern, Bearded Tits, Water Pipit, Black-necked Grebe, Great White Egrets, a million Starlings, Woodlarks, Spoonbills, Rough-legged Buzzard, Merlin, Pink-footed and Greenland White-fronted Goose.  Site by site, Tormod’s quadcopter and camera captured aerial images to help plan the projects.

So what is wrong with the standard ‘box’ hide?  Well, in some situations very little, but why should we expect one standard design meet all the needs of an increasingly sophisticated viewing audience?  We may need structures to welcome visitors to a reserve, some for close viewing, some for elevated viewing over a habitat or landscape, some custom-built photographic hides, some to get us out of the wind and of course some to reduce disturbance of wildlife, as after all, there is a clue in the name.  Do many hides reduce disturbance? Or do birds just get used to the presence of people in that particular situation?  Viewing screens are a particular bête-noire of mine. Most magnificently silhouette the observer against the sky from the bird’s eye view. Do you seriously think they don’t know you are there?

The habitat and the viewpoint should form a partnership, each complimenting the other.  This will often involve careful design and management of the habitat as well as carefully chosen viewpoint designs and locations that enable great views of wildlife and habitat. The form of the viewpoint must follow its function.  We need flexibility, diversity and innovation.  Thanks to Tormod, reserve staff and birders along the way, I hope we have generated a whole range of ideas; some of which may be coming to a reserve near you.

Points of view

From the sublime to the ridiculous, or is it the other way around?

Do we need a clearer view about the design of bird hides on nature reserves?   Recently I spent a couple of days with Tormod Amundsen and Elin Taranger, architects and birders from Vardo in Norway. Their account of the visit is here.  Biotope is Norways first and only architectural office with special expertise on birds and birding.  They design bird hides, shelters, nature trails, outdoor amphitheatres and more.   We looked around Bowers Marsh, the soon-to-be-opened next part of the RSPB South Essex Reserve, and considered what sort of hides would be appropriate.

After many years of dominance by the wooden box, with its narrow viewing flaps and dark corners, we are now seeing grander designs with expanses of glass and metal.   However, these new hides seem to be liked and loathed in equal quantities. Many of the new hides are open, airey structures that are liked by groups, families and newcomers to reserves.   And perhaps that is what is disliked by others; watch a birder enter a hide and they will head for the nearest dark corner to hide away in.  There is a clue in the name ‘hide’.

It is usually not that the new hide provides worse views of wildlife, often quite the reverse, but something gets under the skin of these hide-haters.  However many of these new hides are as much architectural statement as state of the art viewing, and critically, they are not designed by the people who use them.

It seems that we need a variety of different types of ‘hide’ that perform different functions.  Hides could provide medium or long distance views, high views, low views, close views, complex views, and above all, something to view.  There could be big hides, small hides, photographic hides and even mobile hides.  You can’t fit everyone in the same box.  Form should follow function.   And this is where Tormod and Elin come in.  We hope to be working with them some more in the future.

We must remember, not everything that counts can be measured, and not everything that can be measured counts.

Parrinder Hide, Shoveler squirting water and Avocet standing on one leg in gale.

I see the RSPB has deservedly won a couple of architectural awards from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The new Parrinder Hide at Titchwell and the Marshland Discovery Zone at Rainham are both exciting new structures that I have commented on before. Excellent, half a job done. The other half is what is outside the window and is the bit (sorry architects) that will entice most of us back into the building time and again.

What is it that makes us sit in the building longer than a quick warming of the new swivelling, plastic seat? A great hide provides a view that reveals more and more the longer you look. Great close-ups of common birds and other wildlife. Or perhaps spectacular flocks of birds. Or an unexpected look at something familiar. Some fascinating behaviour revealed, or an element of surprise, something which just a walk down the path would have missed. Nooks and crannies of habitat or landscape to look into, with new things appearing the longer you wait and watch. The chance of a rare bird! Such things that are stimulating or exalting to the spirit are often difficult to measure and certainly can be even more difficult to achieve.

So I decided to launch a new award: The Grumpy Ecologist’s ‘Most inspiring view from a box’ award. And by chance, I was back at Titchwell yesterday, looking at progress over the last year. The fresh marsh has been rejuvenated, years of encroaching vegetation rolled back and new islands created. Early days yet but 80 pairs of Avocet seem to like it, and this spring has provided good views of birds such as Temminck’s Stint, Red-necked Phalarope and Gull-billed Tern. None there when I visited of course, but I enjoyed close up views (on a lousy day) of feeding Avocets, godwits and Shoveler, wheeling flocks of tundra Ringed Plover and Turnstone, and Marsh Harriers drifting back and forth.

So the first winner of this soon to be prestigious award is: The Parrinder Hide at Titchwell. Nominations for the next award gratefully received.

I love these new hides but it’s what you see from them that counts. It doesn’t take Einstein to work that one out.

A Budget announcement from Rainham

New hide at Rainham - just the most important bit left to do - habitat providing close views.

A worrying line of thinking in reserve management at the moment goes along the lines of: “this is a visitor-focused reserve so we don’t need to worry about the ecology” or similar. Complete tosh, of course. A reserve that delivers on its ecological potential will more effectively deliver on all it’s other functions.

Hence the continuing work to review the hydrology at Rainham Marshes. There is a need to deliver both the ecological and visitor objectives - wintering birds, breeding birds, passage birds. A variety of feeding and viewing opportunities around the reserve throughout the year – and water is the key. Yet this is a reserve in a dry part of the country with a limited resource of water. But the good news is that a ‘water budget’ shows that there should be enough water if it is used carefully and strategically. Wise use of the inputs (rainfall, surface flow), while minimising the outputs (evapo-transpiration, seepage) and ensuring stored water can be moved efficiently around the reserve is a key element in the management plan. Scrape design and location needs to take account of minimising water loss as well as providing close views.

Work undertaken on the Target pools last winter looks good – water is being retained longer and is now drying to create habitat for spring passage waders. Further work will look at re-provisioning for early autumn. With a new hide on Purfleet Scrape, careful thought is now being put into creating a much enhanced habitat that will deliver through the seasons. The existing scrapes require further ‘tinkering’ to get the best out of them.

A reserve warden I was speaking to recently complained that none of his visitors were interested in wildlife any more. Well sadly, the reason for this is that his reserve is managed like a country park – all access and signage, with no thought given to managing the wildlife. Isn’t there a clue in the name ‘nature reserve’? Visitor focused reserves need even more thought on the ecological side to ensure they are delivering on what people want to see – wildlife.

It was a great day to potter around Rainham prodding and poking at sluices, water and soils. A Greenshank landed in front of us, a Garganey flew by in a small party of Teal and Yellow Wagtails, Sand Martins, a Grasshopper Warbler and 10 Wheatears all added to the spring feel.