Essential habitat work on Wader Lake Wed 31 August
After an amazing breeding season on Wader Lake it's time to get it in tip top condition for the wading birds which make it their home over autumn and winter.
On Wednesday 31 August, our reserve management team will be doing some work to cut back the vegetation in front of Paddy Fleming, Diageo and Prince's Trust hides. This is essential for a number of reasons - firstly, it allows the team to identify and control any occurrences of invasive non native species such as crassula which, left unchecked, would degrade the habitat over time. Secondly, they need to cut back the desirable vegetation which has shot up over the summer (when we don't access the lake area in order to avoid disturbing breeding birds). Cutting it back helps to expose the mud so that waders can feed here. The team will leave some tussocks of grasses in place so that the birds have areas of cover which protects them from predation and creates safe areas for them to loaf on between feeds. This work also ensures that visitors have the opportunity to see species such as snipe, redshank and ruff when they emerge from cover.
Low tide on Wednesday is around 10am so the team will start the work then and complete it as quickly as possible in order to minimise disturbance both to the wildlife and visitors.
Thanks in advance for your patience
