Fenn’s & Whixall NNR Shared Nitrogen Action Plan

December 5, 2018

Note: Please be aware that the link on this page will take you to a third-party website.

Shared Nitrogen Action Plans are a new approach to tackling atmospheric nitrogen pollution and its effects on sensitive habitats. Fenn’s, Whixall, Bettisfield, Wem & Cadney Mosses – collectively known as the Marches Mosses, has been identified as a site where local measures are likely to make a difference to the issue of atmospheric nitrogen pollution.

PhD student Tim Dixon will be leading on the SNAP and has just joined the team at The Marches Mosses SAC at Fenn’s and Whixall NNR.

The Mosses have levels of unwanted nitrogen in terms of air quality and farm run off. A healthy bog – and at 996 hectares the Marches Mosses form the third largest lowland raised bog in the UK – needs low nutrient rainwater in order to maintain a viable ecosystem.

To develop a coherent approach to the issue of excess nitrogen a SNAP Workshop was held on 25^th October at the offices of Shropshire Wildlife Trust. This gathered together the various stakeholders from public bodies, organisations and researchers with the intention of scoping objectives, reviewing existing evidence, recognising knowledge gaps and identifying the external stakeholders.

Shared Nitrogen Action Plans need to be just that – shared. A transferable methodology is vital if the knowledge is to be pooled for use at other sites, and among all the identified stakeholders. Included in this will be a site specific communication and engagement plan.

It is recognised that each site will have unique characteristics; these will need to be defined and allowed for. For instance, the Marches Mosses sit in an area where there has been a rapid expansion, in recent years, of the poultry industry. Immediate action will include the prevention of further deterioration of existing sites, which can then be followed by long term sustainable restoration, linked to an understanding of prevailing farming methods and their impact on habitat.

Once the sources of nitrogen emissions are determined mitigation options will be documented against a review of current methods and their effectiveness, with an evidence base centred on habitat studies – weather, air quality, butterflies, birds, vegetation and soil as well as previous studies. Emission sources will be examined using planning applications, the NRW cumulative emissions register, Environmental Health Officer reports and ad hoc information on nutrients and emission sources in Wales, the Befesa Aluminium plant is located next to the Site of Special Scientific Interest, Environment Agency Permitting Register and the Diary Farm Register.

A major part of the communications plan depend on identifying the stakeholders. It is likely that these will include the NHS, through an interest in respiratory disease and diet; landowners, agents and developers; local councillors and industry; farms and diaries; supermarkets; consumers; utility companies; the NFU; DEFRA/Welsh Government; Local authority planning teams; EA/NRW; LEPs; Public Service Boards in Powys and Wrexham; Shropshire CC Public health; Chester University; Shropshire Wildlife Trust; Parish and Community Councils; Canal and River Trust; Country Land and Business Association; Natural England; British Lichen Society; Shropshire Botanical Society and SEDN local surveyors; Other EU LIFE projects.

You can learn more about the SNAP programme here.

Drone footage of cleared scrapyard

December 7, 2018

You can get a bird’s eye view of the work that was done to transform the former scrapyard on the Marches Mosses in this video.

Note: Please be aware that this link will take you to a third-party website.

https://youtu.be/Qs8ZZH9Ld20

Harvest mouse haven at Whixall

November 29, 2018

September 29^th and a fine Autumn morning found us carefully making our way through a wet meadow recently acquired by Shropshire Wildlife Trust, to check our “catch and release” small mammal traps. Despite being into my sixth decade, there is still a child-like excitement in anticipating what might be found and there was no doubting that my fellow Natural England co-workers, Rachel, Cam and Drew felt the same – you could sense it. We had been thorough, the 20 tube-traps had been carefully placed, grid-referenced and pre-baited, un-set (so free offerings) and in situ for 24 hours, important for good results. The previous day had revealed 4 Bank Voles but now the traps had been left overnight which is when small mammals really come out to play and this was our first early morning check…

We approached carefully and parted the covering vegetation – fantastic, the door was shut – a catch in our first trap! The tube-trap was picked up but felt very light and there was no discernible movement from within; oh no, please, not a slug! The whole trap was placed into a clear polythene bag, the two lugs pushed in, the trap opened and the contents gently emptied into the bag. Nothing obvious but wait, is that a tail? The bedding was carefully removed and the most wonderful little creature was revealed. It was small, totally endearing, with a russet coloured coat (reminiscent in colour of a Fox) and a slightly pointed but blunt-ended muzzle twitching continuously, dark eyes and visible but not prominent, hairy ears. The underside was pure white, no sign of a yellow chest-spot or streak. Well, it can’t be a Wood or Yellow-necked Mouse then – but that only leaves Harvest Mouse… and they don’t come to traps do they? We transferred the little creature into a tub to photograph it; as we did so, the mouse gripped a little of the bedding that remained in the bag with its tail – a prehensile tail! It must be a Harvest Mouse – a live, wild Harvest Mouse, Micromys minutus, something rarely seen except in books or on the TV (even all the recent Autumn Watch footage looked to have been shot in captivity). We weighed our prize, a dizzy 4.5g and released it, none the worse for its examination.

Four very happy and surprised people went on to check the remaining traps. The next two were empty, the third contained a Pygmy Shrew and incredibly the fourth and fifth traps also both held Harvest Mice, fully grown specimens at a fighting weight of 6g! – three in one session, surely something very special.

Nonetheless, there is still an element of doubt or disbelief when you discover something unexpected and nobody wants to look silly so this is where the excellent system of the County Recorder kicks in – real experts on specific taxa,  generally unpaid, who will voluntarily confirm (or otherwise) your sightings for you. Shropshire has an active Mammal Group and the SWT website has links to this and many other groups along with their relevant County Recorder who confirmed our discovery.

Our live-trapping revealed that the site, wet meadows just South of Morris’ Bridge, Whixall, now owned by SWT, holds a good variety of small mammals and Bank Vole, Field Vole, Common Shrew, Pygmy Shrew and Wood Mice were also all caught and released and the overall trapping success rate was remarkably high, indicating a rich site indeed.

These peaty meadows, adjacent to Fenn’s/Whixall Moss National Nature Reserve, are well-known to bird-watchers and in Winter when the water levels rise, hold good numbers of wildfowl and geese and can be good for migrating waders. Previous years have turned up Shropshire rarities such as Spoonbill, Water Pipit and even Glossy Ibis and the area can be good for raptors owing to the availability of prey. SWT/Natural England in co-operation plan to manage the site so that the level of standing water and exposed mud can be controlled for birds but also mindful to safeguard neighbouring properties, whilst retaining Willow coppice around the periphery to provide habitat for perching birds. However, apart from bird surveys, little, if any, surveying of the flora and fauna has hitherto been done and it is important to have some knowledge of what exists before making and implementing any management plans.

In the end, 15 Harvest Mice from 10 trap locations were recorded. Harvest Mice are thought to be in decline and are designated a Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) species but are also undoubtedly under-recorded since they spend most of their time living in the tops of tall grasses and reeds with little need to come down to ground level.  Historical records indicate that this adaptable little creature was once far more common in traditional cereal fields but has moved away from intensively farmed land to rushy or wet pastures that are only lightly grazed if at all, or cut once a year for hay. They have even been found in reed-beds over water. The traditional survey method is to look in Winter for their tennis-ball sized, spherical nests, woven from grass and hidden between (not around) stalks of robust grasses or reeds, up to 1m above ground level, a somewhat hit or miss survey method and without the pleasure of seeing the animal. September and October offer the best chances using live-traps at ground level but recent studies have shown that traps raised off the ground among the canopy of taller grasses in suitable habitat have met with more year round success and are more likely to attract Harvest Mice than other small mammals, so may be a more targeted way of surveying for them. We intend to try this method as the next stage in trying to learn more of the distribution and abundance of this secretive but captivating little creature.

At present there is no public access onto the site but the birds can be seen with binoculars or a telescope from the road or from the canal towpath at the site’s edge preventing disturbance. Limited parking is available over the canal swing-bridge in a small car-park which is locked at 5pm and visitors are asked to have consideration for the nearby residents.

I must place on record my thanks to my fellow helpers Sam King and Cameron Martin from Harper Adams University; Drew Ganley and Phil Bamber from North Shropshire College and Rachel Irving from Natural England. I owe a special thanks to Cameron for rescuing me from the gargantuan and athletic Vole that ran up my sleeve and proceeded to actively explore most of my body and apologise to the residents of Whixall for the eventual stripping that ensued!

Thanks to Mike Sokolowski for preparing this article.

A new way to record to record wildlife

November 6, 2018

Note: Please be aware that the links on this page will take you to third-party websites.

When you walk around Fenns, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses NNR, hopefully you will see birds, butterflies, dragonflies and other wildlife. Whenever and wherever you see wildlife on the NNR, we would love to know about it. This might be the rare Argent and Sable moth or it might be something more common, like a Reed Bunting or a Red Admiral butterfly, either way, we need your wildlife records!

Why do we need your wildlife records?

Without knowing about your incidental sightings, we might be unaware of the presence of a species on site or we might not know if it is in decline or actually doing rather well here. With your wildlife records, we can inform our management to benefit rare or declining species such as Curlew or Adders. Without your records, we would know much less about species on our site and therefore we would struggle to manage the site in a manner that is sympathetic to rare and important species.

How should you record your wildlife sightings?

We would really like you to use our iRecord ‘Activity’ to record your sightings. iRecord is an national online recording database for all UK species, which is set up and hosted by the BRC (Biological Records Centre) and the CEH (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology). We have set up an ‘Activity’ on iRecord; this allows you to enter all your wildlife records for the site via a portal that allows us to access your records for the site, while also ensuring that they are safely stored on a UK-wide database. This is a safe and free online wildlife recording system that can be used at home on your computer or on site with your smartphone.

How do I start using iRecord?

For those of you who already use iRecord, you simply have to ensure that you join our activity on the iRecord website and record your wildlife sightings through our activity.

• A direct link to our activity can be found here; https://www.brc.ac.uk/irecord/join/nnr-fenns-whixall–bettisfield-mosses

If you are new to iRecord, we strongly suggest you read the guide by clicking here to help you get started with iRecord. It is simple and reasonably quick, but reading the guidelines will ensure you quickly get to grips with it.