Fencing, gates and swift tower

Hi All. An update you on some exciting projects we are currently working on/ have coming up:

Lichen heath - If you have ventured this way in the last week, you will have seen new fencing has been installed to keep people off the heath and prevent trampling of the sensitive vegetation in this area. Several gates have been installed for staff and surveyor access. We haven't put locks on the gates yet (due to extra cost and faff issuing keys) but will put up some signs and do some communications work to explain why it is important this area is protected. Some species of interest include common cudweed, autumn ladies tresses, slender bird’s-foot-trefoil, sea stork’s-bill, blue fleabane & birdsfoot. It is also home to a number of scarce and rare lichens and bryophytes. 

Hanson electric fencing - The former Hanson gravel processing plant was relandscaped following the withdrawal of the company some years ago and has been left relatively unmanaged since. This large area of bare ground, with patches of low lying vegetation and small ephemeral pools, is perfect for little ringed plover which breed here with relative success each year. Low numbers of lapwing attempt to breed here too, however being much larger and more conspicuous birds, they have had much lower success resulting from predation. Electric fencing this area to exclude fox and badger has long been talked about, and this year (with the help of Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust), we have made it happen! With fencing left over from previous projects, Mike Short and Lizzie Grayshon of GWCT kindly lent us enough materials to fence this area, approx 700m in circumference. We will be setting up a monitoring station on the top of the bund to help us locate nests and will be deploying trail cameras to monitor breeding success. As this is year one, there is a lot of learn and we may find that avian predation (gulls, corvids etc) is a key factor affecting success. But of course, our hope is that the fencing will give waders a helping hand at Blashford and aid their recovery.  

Swift Tower - I believe I have briefed most of you on this, however for the benefit of those who I haven't spoken to recently, we are getting a new swift tower installed on site! This exciting new feature will not only be a great enhancement for wildlife, but also great for public engagement. We were successful in applying for a Hampshire Ornithological Society (HOS) grant who are kindly funding the tower and accompanying interpretation board. The tower itself will comprise 24 swift boxes and 12 house martin cups mounted on a 5m metal pole. Solar panels on the roof will power a caller to help encourage the birds to adopt the structure. The roof will boast several bat roosting features and ventilation ducts between the boxes will prevent overheating (an increasing problem for young swifts on the continent which leap out of the nest before fledging when temperatures exceed 40c). After consultation with Hampshire Swifts, Blashford bird ringers Kevin and Brenda, and Bob Chapman, we settled on a location near Goosander hide. 'Peak Boxes' will be supplying and installing the tower on 5th March. 

If you are asked about any of the above work, please do share this information. I expect most people will be interested and pleased to see this work go ahead, however if you receive any queries or complaints that you aren't sure how to deal with, please do pass them on to a member of staff. We will be posting information on the Blashford Facebook page shortly too.