John Walker wrote:
I should not be suprised at some of the comment here from rare bird seekers not
recognising that Saltfleetby is far more than a bird reserve, various grassland butterfly species have had one of the best years since the transect began in 1978, marsh helleborine numbered a few hundreds at best in the 1980s over 7000 were
counted in 2012, and 32000 this year,Marsh Pea a national rare species has expanded and accounts for over 50% of the national population on this nnr, it also supports the largest extanct population of marsh moth and cruxifix beetle both national red data species, the dense scrub zones hold some of the densest populations of breeding whitethroats with over 140 territories cuckoos still breed 23 butterfly species 16 odonata species overs 300 plant species,
68 species of bee and wasp, natterjack toads breed, etc
Its is one of the finest natural dune systems on the east coast and the reserve is internationally recognised for this
notified as sssi, spa, sac as well as nnr, many of the visiting naturalists recognise this because they understand
the wealth of special fauna that occurs, and whether a rare bird occurs or not is of no consequence.
Rabbits were controlled during the 1980s and 90s because adjacent landowners were threatening legal action for crop
damage non have been shot for 9 years as the LWT now has ownership of 110 acres of adjacent land removing much of that requirement.
The total area of scrub on the reserve was reduced by 40 acres through 2005 to 2008 under the favourable condition assessment, a form of assessment applied to all SSSIs/ NNRs throughout the country.
Grahame hits the nail on the head in his last post, The population of Africe has trebelled over the past 40 years and many of those people are pasturalists with goats that have ravaged thousands of square miles of wild habitas degrading them and the populations of birds that depend on them, having travelled large parts of Kenya during the 1970s and again in 2009 i was staggered at the huge numbers of people and goats in areas that had almost non 36 years ago with new roads and towns
where previously it was wilderness and this occurs across much of the continent.
The lack of migrants on this nnr applies to much of the east coast and has nothing to do with people or management,
rare birds can turn up in almost any location, remember the american robin in Grimsby as an example
Comments such as Geoff Williams are typical of a bird twitcher and pay no regards to what the NNR is about
and even the RSPB are now focussing on Wildlife conservation as well as birds ,see there national TV adverts..
John.
It was good to see John's reply to the debate, but first I would like to say I'm not a twitcher and I didn't even bother going to see the Short toed Lark. I do like to see orchids/wildflowers, butterflies and dragonflies etc. and generally if a place is good for birds then it's also good for other things.
I used to enjoy visiting Rimac when you could walk the track near the fresh marsh and cross the wooden bridges, looking for Crakes, Bitterns and Bearded Tit but they were closed off and now you can only walk boring paths with not much to look at. It looks like I'll be leaving the place to the dog walkers, at least they enjoy it.
Regarding the Sea Buckthorn along the coast, it may be a native species but it's about as useful as Rhododendron to wildlife apart from the berries it produces. If you look closely at an old Buckthorn bush you will see that 90% of it is a dead plant with no leaves and no insect life apart from the occasional moth caterpillar and because it's so dark inside nothing else grows. If controlled then it can be a useful species but it is so invasive.
Geoff
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