Medway and Coastal Wetlands Volunteering Update - December 2022
To start the winter work season, the volunteers had their summer outing – a joint visit to the Blean with the Medway Wetlands, Roaming Wednesdays and Nashenden volunteers. We were given by a great guided walk by Louise Kelly before having a picnic. Little did any of us know that a baby bison, less than a week old, was also there.
Cutting reed and rush around the edges of the ponds at Peters Pit is the first set of jobs for the volunteers in the work schedule. This is to take advantage of the water levels being at their lowest to be able to reach the reeds in the middle without getting wet feet. As the weather had been so mild, there were still dragonflies laying their eggs in the ponds.
Due to the hot summer, the ponds in the pit itself had completely dried out, so we could walk across the bottom of the ponds to reach areas we hadn’t been able to cut previously. Plus we were able to do a thorough litter pick, removing old tyres, bottles, clothing in various stages of disintegration and a scientific calculator! Willow was also cut from sections of the pond edge to reduce shading for the great crested newts that breed in the ponds. The scrub has been left in ready to be chipped in the new year and the larger logs left in piles to be used as hibernacula.
At Holborough, the volunteers started by doing some routine maintenance – cutting footpaths, brambles and in front of the viewing screens. The volunteers have also been working in the northern fields, cutting back large areas bramble to reduce the “predator shadow” on the fields – places for predators to hide/perch from any lapwing trying to protect their nests/chicks. The wader scrape in front of one of the viewing screens was also cut to provide a safer place for lapwing to nest and to allow a better view into the marsh.
At Wouldham, the volunteers cut the path down to the valley as well as the ride connecting the valley to the goat field. This stops the scrub from encroaching and helps the livestock checkers to be able to check the sheep and goats without being snared by low growing brambles. The volunteers will also cut an area of chalk grassland called Beekeepers, making sure there is plenty to burn so we can cook jacket potatoes for their Christmas party.
