More than just birds: The Wilder, Wetter Caerlaverock Diaries no. 10
Through the Wilder, Wetter Caerlaverock Project, we have been creating various water bodies like ponds, scrapes and channels. These water features are a variety of ages which means they have different vegetation structures. During this winter, the new wetlands have been full to the brim with different waders and wildfowl. This transformation is amazing to watch and we have been tracking the progress of our new waterbodies as we go.
At the back end of February, I was checking some of the scrapes and channels created at Powhillon. They now range from one year to two years old. It’s not a big age bracket but it’s enough to see a difference in vegetation levels. This is a good thing to see, especially as aquatic plants come through. However it’s also good to start monitoring levels of grass or rush in these waterbodies so we can get an idea of what maintenance might look like going forward. Additionally, I’m doing checks of water levels - which scrapes hold water really well, which ones drop in water volume very quickly, that sort of thing. It’s not necessarily a bad thing if a pond dries out pretty quick in the summer as this caters to different species but you would expect most waterbodies you make to hold pretty well in the winter especially if it’s been a wet winter!
As I’m walking around doing my checks and getting a feel for future wetland creation work, I see a bundle of frog spawn in one of the channels we made at the very start of the project! What a great reminder that spring is on its way and a treat to see how the habitats we have created are being used.
frogspawn by Jake Goodwin
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about the arrival of spring and how our wetlands will change with it’s arrival. I've said it before and I'll say it again, in winter our new wetlands are like a Serengeti for bird life, but they aren’t just for birds! This frogspawn shows that.
I hope (and suspect) that we’ll have plenty of wetland loving birds breeding on our old and new wetlands this spring but I can’t wait to see what else comes in. There are so many questions swirling around my head... How much more frogspawn will I see? Will there be an explosion of common toad spawn string? Will the infamous natterjack toads use our new scrapes? Which aquatic plant species will I see for the first time on this part of the reserve this summer? Will we have another dragonfly boom at Powhillon? (You get my drift!).
Although we will have to wait and see what is drawn in to our new habitats, this is the fun part: create fantastic habitats and watch as the variety of species pour in.
This project is supported by the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund, managed by NatureScot.
Words and picture by Jake Goodwin
Feature image of frog by Alex Hillier
