Conservation Course Update 2
Hopefully you’ve been waiting for me to post about my progress on the Environmental Conservation course so I won’t keep you waiting any longer.
It’s going really well I’m pleased to report. The new nature reserve I’ve been surveying is providing some really positive results. It is only small so I was a bit sceptical about finding any decent wildlife on it. But after carrying out a number of breeding bird surveys on the reserve it is obvious that this reserve provides the perfect habitat for a number of species. The birds that were consistently present on the reserve (and therefore breeding there or near by) included: Reed and Sedge Warbler, Blackbird, Whitethroat, Reed Bunting and Greenfinch. Not bad eh?
The flora is quite impressive too. Over the last couple of years, since the reserve was developed, a large variety of wildflowers have been sown and are flourishing which, no doubt, has benefitted the nectar feeding insects. I have seen a variety of bees, flies and moths whilst doing my surveys of butterflies which, surprisingly, hasn’t thrown up that many results, yet. Orange-tip, Small white, Green-veined white and Peacock are the butterflies I’ve recorded so far. I’ve also been keeping my eye out for dragon and damselflies since there are a few pools and the River Sowe forms the southerly border. I’ve seen 3 species of damselflies so far, single individuals so I can’t yet confirm if they are breeding on the reserve. I’m feeling a bit doubtful about seeing any breeding dragonflies as the pools are really small and dragonflies usually prefer large open bodies on water. I’ve still got at least 2 more butterfly and dragonfly surveys to do so fingers crossed I’ll see some more species in the next couple of months.
For my other module (wetland habitat management) I’ve still been doing mostly river cleaning but now that the summer’s here there’s plenty of vegetation that can be managed too, including the dreaded Himalayan Balsam. I don’t mind clearing the stuff; its quite easy compared to other tasks. I guess the issue most people have is that the task can be monotonous and with there being so much of it the task can take days or even weeks.
On the paper work side of things I’m still documenting about all the practical work I’m doing including the health and safety aspects of the work. I have started on my wildlife report of the nature reserve which has involved doing some research about the development of the reserve and any wildlife recordings in the area. The next stage will be to present my findings when I have all my data then write a conclusion of what this data means. I’m already starting to get an idea of what to write so I’m actually looking forward to writing it up once I’ve completed all the surveying.
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