The law requires us to test our cattle for Tuberculosis every four years and that time has come around again. On Monday 6th volunteers helped us round up the Water Buffalo and herd them into our corral where, one by one, the veterinarian from The Isle Veterinary Group could administer two shots of inactive TB. The first shot was Avian Tuberculosis which is used as a control and the second was Bovine Tuberculosis, which is what we were testing for. The principle being, if the site of the Bovine shot is larger than the site of the Avian then they have contracted Bovine TB.
On Thursday 9th March, three days later, the results were read and I am pleased to announce that our cattle are all clear for another four years! Have a look at some of the pictures below.
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On the 21st February the Met Office named 'Storm Doris*' issuing yellow and amber warnings for wind, snow and rain. The 23rd February 2017 saw Storm Doris move across the UK bringing gusts of up to 94 mph accompanied by heavy snowfall across Scotland. Overnight and into the morning of the 23 February, Storm Doris underwent explosive cyclogenesis labelling it a weather bomb.*NB. Storms are being named as a pilot project by the Met Office and Met Éireann which aims to increase awareness of severe weather and ensure greater safety of the public. During 2016/17 wind storms with the potential to affect the UK and/or Ireland will be named to help effective communication of the storm and its impacts (Information from the Met Office website 2017). 13.08hrs Westerly Winds across the Lake at Kingfishers Bridge!The Poplars (along side the River Bank) begin to fall!As the Westerly Winds 'hit' the North Westerly corner of Kingfishers Bridge it created devastation bringing down almost 230 Poplars, having a 'domino' effect. Unfortunately the trees were falling onto the nearby perimeter fence causing much damage.
The following morning of Friday 24th February, the destruction caused by Storm Doris was extraordinary, with whole trees up rooted, and the destruction caused by the storm was very apparent. The first week of March saw Contractors come in to deal with the massive task of clearing the whole woodland of Poplars... Day 1 Clearance Begins...Day 2 Clearance continues...We were blessed with a dry, sunny day indicative of the start of Spring, although towards the end of our walk a cold wind prevailed on the Mount. There was a gathering of approximately thirty friends and it was a first visit for some! A Warm Welcome!Guests were welcomed with hot drinks on their arrival, and Mr Green made a brief introduction, followed by the assembled group each announcing themselves! An eclectic mix of people! Some of whom, with very specialist knowledge of the project, conservation and ecology, and those of us who are relatively new but keen! Introductions!We then proceeded on our guided walk from the Visitors Centre stopping at the Limestone Mound, the Bat Cave, Kingfishers Cliff, through the Reed Beds, to the Lake and Wader meadows and lastly up to the Mound with the magnificent view of Ely Cathedral. Ely Cathedral - Ship of the Fens!White-fronted Geese! We had a very exciting viewing of ten White-fronted Geese! They have been sighted regularly here at Kingfishers Bridge during the last fortnight. The Reed BedsOn our return to the Centre, we were greeted by very welcome liquid refreshments, and kindly served with a selection of hot and cold victuals! A sociable atmosphere ensued! Gradually the friends departed, and with the help of faithful volenteers we tidied up. It was a very interesting and enjoyable day! J.R.Long We have been asked to advise on the management of Pauline's Swamp in Burwell. The area was gifted to the Burwell Parish Council some years ago and has had a variety of management since then. The new Trustees are looking to maximise the potential of this fen meadow which is of particular interest due to the calcarious springs which rise in the Swamp and adjacent areas. Today we took our tractor over to top (mow at a high level) the rank fen vegetation which was a mix of mostly Sedge, Soft rush and Willowherb. This had overgrown after a couple of years with little management and trapped more delicate vegetation underneath. Whist not the ideal time of year to cut vegetation like this we avoided damage to delecate new growth comming through below the sedge which would have failed without the dense layer above being removed. Following the cut we have had to rake the 'litter' (cut vegetation) off to reduce the nutrients available. Over time this management will reduce the vigour of the rush and sedge allowing more delicate fenland plants to establish across the whole area. The litter piles are important for wildlife in their own right, providing a safe winter refuge for small animals. The piles also generate heat as they rot down which is the perfect incubator for animals such as Grass Snakes to lay their eggs in.
The springs run down the site through a shallow open ditch which has become choked with sediment over time, we intend to remove some of the vegetation and silt from this ditch and widen it into shallow pools in a couple of areas, to provide more areas for invertebrates and amphibians. The calcarious water is perfect for numerous aquatic invertebrates which require the calcium to form their exo-skeletons. Yesterday saw the first ringing session by our newly formed bird ringing and monitoring group for Kingfishers Bridge. Jed, Vivian and Tim caught a total of 135 birds across 8 species, with 105 new birds ringed and 30 Re-traps in just a few hours from one site by our Visitors Centre.
Bird ringing is becoming an essential part of our ongoing wildlife recording on the Reserve, complementing a new approach to wildlife recording and interpretation for the project. A Great Grey Shrike was first identified here at Kingfishers Bridge on Sunday 11th December 2016 by one of our regular Bird watchers. It has subsequently been seen every day since (today being the 16th December 2016!). In the above picture the photographer has also captured a Gold Finch.
As part of the local limestone’s quarry’s planning conditions preceeding the extension and landfill, they will have to carry out water monitoring of the adjoining SSSI and groundwater to generate a record of the water levels and the quality as an indicator of whether their activities are having an effect on the local environment. Preceding the installation of water level recorders, we have installed mounting points within the SSSI and feed ditch from the River Cam. The pools were originally created by lime extraction by hand and the base of the pool follows the strata of hard lime. This was more difficult to break through with picks, resulting in a pool with an almost flat solid bottom. These are very rare features in water courses. The primary pool is actually much deeper than it appears with the visible vegetation floating over a pool between 1.5 and 2 metres deep. This environment is extremely dangerous and buoyancy aids are essential when working in this area.
In the first week of December we finished our annual clearance of the Water Germander (Teucrium Scordium) pools in the SSSI North pit. This is one of only two original populations of this Red Data Species in Britain and consequently the North pit has been designated a ‘Site of Special Scientific Interest' (SSSI). The main population of Water Germander grows on a floating mat of vegetation over the old lime pool beneath. Each year we have to cut the reed back low to a few inches to enabling the Water Germander light and space to grow the following spring. Then again in early summer the reeds are cut to 18inches allowing sufficient light to reach the Germander. Whilst we now know that this site does not present the best habitat for the Water Germander, this management does allow the original population to survive and it is now stable at around 800-900 stems a year. The main population is on the draw down zones on the main project where stems are now numbers in excess of five million each year. The above video shows how the vegative mat moves on water surface!
Sun rise over the Reed Bed The pentultimate day of November saw the start of winter with the first proper frost of the year whilst here at Kingfishers Bridge we recorded temperatures of -4 degrees; which coincided with the coldest November day for six years nationally! The Bat Cave at Dawn The bat cave is steaming which is indicative of trapped warmer air; baffles help limit such movement. Viewing the Lake to the North The Lake was partially frozen, with a small open area of water drawing in large numbers of wildfowl. Overnight saw 20 wild Swans arrive, and also several hundred Duck. With the onset of winter we can expect to see duck numbers greatly increase due to cold weather movement, which could include Goldeneye, Gosander and ocassionally Smew. The Washes The Washes attract good numbers of Snipe in the winter.
The lowering of the earth mound is to stabilise it for the future, as a Sand Martin cliff is now finished. There will be more to do next year as part of larger projects but we now have a wide track to the top of the bank to allow access for recording Sand Martin breeding. It was deeply satisfying when we finally broke through the end of the bank after days of battling the mud!
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James MossReserves Manager at the Kingfishers Bridge wetland creation project in Cambridgeshire. Archives
February 2021
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