The RSPB Community

Notes from the Local Liaison Group meeting - 27 February 2013

Chris Tyas — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:30:46 GMT

Hi there,

The Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project Local Liaison Group draws together members of key groups in the local community. The six-mionthly meetings are used to inform members of progress and to discuss/resolve any significant issues. The constitution of the group is dicated by our planning permission from Essex County Council.

We agreed at the last meeting that the notes should be available to a wider audeince, hence this blog with the output from the 27 February meeting attached.

Best wishes,

Chris

Chris Tyas - RSPB Wallasea Island Project Manager

Record numbers go wild on Wallasea

Hilary Hunter — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:32:51 GMT

Hot on the heels of our official VIP launch, our third annual Wild Coast Weekend drew record numbers of visitors from near and far. As Saturday dawned hot and sunny, three times the previous year's number of people explored the island on bike, bus or boot.

A choice of activities kept families busy, including the wildlife safari trail, creative crafts and close up viewing of lizards, caught on the island that day by our ecologists. Minibuses took the adventurous to the Far East to see the construction site and once they had worked up an appetite walking the seawall, locally-sourced hog roast and real ale went down a treat, or a trip to the W.I tea tent provided home made cake and refreshments. Our favourite musicians played all afternoon, providing the perfect excuse to laze about in the sunshine outside the marquees.
Unfortunately Sunday saw the contrasting arrival of Autumn, with strong winds and cloudy skies. But the RSPB crowds are a hardy bunch and hundreds more visitors turned up - many returning from the first day as they'd had such a good time! To see some pictures of the day check out our Flickr page
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rspb_wallasea_island_wild_coast_project/sets/

If you missed out this time, our Wallasea wanders guided walks are about to start a new season. So if you'd like to hear about what we are doing on Wallasea and have a look at the birds coming through details are available on our webpages at www.rspb.org.uk/wallasea

Wallasea Island Wild Coast Weekend 2012: Come and see what all the fuss is about.

Hilary Hunter — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 15:07:00 GMT

With the new Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson, officially launching the construction of Wallasea Island yesterday, we are now inviting members of the public and the local community to come and celebrate. The Wild Coast Weekend takes place on the 22 and 23 September and is totally free!

For the first time, visitors will be able to see the large construction machines being used to shift the 4.5 million tonnes of soil from the Crossrail site in London to Wallasea Island.

Crossrail has constructed a new jetty and an excavated material handling facility at Wallasea Island. At its peak 10,000 tonnes of material will be unloaded from 4 ships per day.

The Wild Coast Weekend is the chance to really get a feel for the scale of the work happening here. It is such an exciting time to visit the Island and it’s amazing seeing people’s reactions to the work. There will be loads going on over the weekend, with activities, exhibits, food and craft stalls and local refreshments. There is also a nature trail to follow that will give you the chance to take in all the sights and sounds of the big landscape at Wallasea.

The Crossrail earth will be used to create 670 hectares of higher and lower ground to restore the wetland landscape of mudflats, saltmarsh and lagoons last seen 400 years ago. As a result of this, the Island is expected to be home to a returning abundance of wildlife including tens of thousands of wading birds, fish, ducks geese, terns and seals.

Admission to the Island on the weekend is totally free, with free parking and a free ferry from Burnham on Crouch with a bus from Essex Marina to the event. For more information about the Wild Coast Weekend, please contact us on 01621 862621.

McDonald's Big McClean up on Wallasea

Hilary Hunter — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 19:22:00 GMT

Wallasea is becoming known for its unusual partnerships and this week saw a new one develop. No golden arches have sprung up on the island, but thanks to our friends in Rochford Council, a team of young staff from McDonalds spent an afternoon on site.

The teams from four McDonalds' branches in Southend are usually better known for their burger sales, but this week came along on a litter pick very different from those they are used to. Following on from our successful Shoreline Scavenge last year, we invited them to come along and help us clear the shores of some of the flotsam and jetsam that washes up with every tide.

Old boats and lumps of wood are to be expected, but these scavenges can turn up all manner of unexpected waste, which we hope to recycle or reuse where possible.This year's 'treasure' included a fire extinguisher, a wooden bench and one person triumphantly returned with a bicycle wheel! Unicycle anyone?
Many thanks to the council staff who brought the truck along to take away that which could not be used on site and we look forward to working with you all again on another project soon. Maybe you'll bring the picnic next time?

Wallasea starts work for 2016

Hilary Hunter — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 08:45:00 GMT

In stark contrast to the mountain bike excitement at the Hadleigh Olympic venue , Wallasea was a calm haven in the summer sunshine this weekend. However, this time of year is always tinged with a little sadness for me, as the vast crop fields are harvested and the buzz of insects and chirp of the corn buntings is dispersed to the seawalls and further afield.

This year is different though, with the contractors now in full flow preparing for the arrival of the first ship of earth from Crossrail's London tunnels. I am often asked why we need all this material, and I thought this picture, showing huge dumper trucks with the seawall behind them, would illustrate it perfectly!

The island is on average 2 metres below sealevel, having eroded over the years of intensive farm activity, so in order to restore the old marshland the landscape must be built up in carefully planned, natural levels gently sloping up to the new seawall bunds which will eventually provide extensive foot and cycle path access to many areas of the island.
Crossrail's first ship will arrive on Monday August 20th, when the unloading facility - the pontoon which arrived at Easter and the 800 metre conveyor belt which has been under construction since last Autumn - will be tested and seen in action for the very first time.
For now, most of the work will be at the far eastern end of the island, well away from our car park and where most walkers venture, but you may follow the public footpath along the northern seawall and view this amazing partnership of engineering and conservation, cross over the structure on the foot bridge and continue to the north eastern corner to witness history in the making.

Duckling Days at Wallasea Island

Hilary Hunter — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 10:20:00 GMT

Some days you really need an aaahhh moment - and my thanks go to the Wallasea Birder for providing just that yesterday afternoon. This lovely picture of Pochard ducklings with their mum, happily smiling for the camera on the Wild Coast yesterday, are one of several broods enjoying the peace , tranquillity and sunshine in the borrow dyke which runs along the inside of the seawalls.

Another picture provided a talking point and a bit of a puzzler. A tufted duck with what looked like imposter Mallard ducklings in the Tufted brood!

Our intrepid researcher found the answer for us: to be so obviously the same age and evidently associated it is likely they were from eggs laid in the Tufted Duck nest and therefore all incubated together (so they hatch out at the same time - important when your youngsters are so independent from day one). Mallard broods previously spotted on the island were already well grown a week ago. It is not that unusual for more than one female Tufted Duck to use the same nest when you can get apparently huge broods of 14 to 19 or more, but we're not sure how common it is to have imposters from another species! The 8 true ducklings are a pretty standard brood size for Tufted Duck.
The ducklings are probably not more than a couple of days old, but all busy feeding themselves on little shrimp and insect larvae on the surface water with mum just riding shotgun. Dad meanwhile takes the easy option and leaves home once incubation has started to go off and start his moult. The female incubates for about 23 days and then shepherds the youngsters for 2 or 3 weeks before leaving them to go and moult herself. Incidentally, the Pochard similarly has about 8 young in a clutch, so our 6 is modest.
Sadly, for both ducks, only about half will make it to fledging post successful hatching - what with Marsh Harriers, Grey Herons, Stoats, Foxes etc as well as risk of bad weather when they can get chilled. Fortunately on our borrowdykes they don't have to worry about large Pike nor Mink!

Duckling Days on Wallasea

Hilary Hunter — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 08:38:33 GMT

Some days you really need an aaahhh moment - and my thanks go to the Wallasea Birder for providing just that yesterday afternoon. This lovely picture of pochard ducklings with their mum, happily smiling for the camera on the Wild Coast yesterday, are one of several broods enjoying the peace , tranquillity and sunshine in the borrow dyke which runs along the inside of the seawalls.

Another picture provided a talking point and a bit of a puzzler. A tufted duck with what looked like imposter Mallard ducklings in the Tufted brood!
Our intrepid researcher found the answer for us: to be so obviously the same age and evidently associated it is likely they were from eggs laid in the Tufted Duck nest and therefore all incubated together (so they hatch out at the same time - important when your youngsters are so independent from day one). Mallard broods previously spotted on the island were already well grown a week ago. It is not that unusual for more than one female Tufted Duck to use the same nest when you can get apparently huge broods of 14 to 19 or more, but we're not sure how common it is to have imposters from another species! The 8 true ducklings are a pretty standard brood size for Tufted Duck.
The ducklings are probably not more than a couple of days old, but all busy feeding themselves on little shrimp and insect larvae on the surface water with mum just riding shotgun. Dad meanwhile takes the easy option and leaves home once incubation has started to go off and start his moult. The female incubates for about 23 days and then shepherds the youngsters for 2 or 3 weeks before leaving them to go and moult herself. Incidentally, the Pochard similarly has about 8 young in a clutch, so our 6 is modest.
Sadly, for both ducks, only about half will make it to fledging post successful hatching - what with Marsh Harriers, Grey Herons, Stoats, Foxes etc as well as risk of bad weather when they can get chilled. Fortunately on our borrowdykes they don't have to worry about large Pike nor Mink!

Wallasea Island Feva

Hilary Hunter — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 15:38:38 GMT

This weekend , while other sailors watched the wind and waves from the comfort of the clubhouse, some intrepid youngsters revelled in the elements and competed in the Feva Open weekend event hosted by Burnham Sailing Club. The reason for this madness was clearly a love of sailing, but there was an added incentive this year - the shiny new RSPB Wallasea Island Cup, being awarded for the first of what we hope will be many years.

The RS Feva is a two person sailing dinghy, suitable to be sailed by two young sailors or by adult and child teams,or the RS Feva may also be sailed single-handed. Twenty youngsters from clubs near and far, raced each other in their ten tiny boats, over both saturday and sunday, finishing early on Sunday afternoon for a prizegiving and welcome feast. Brothers Chay and Stirling Taylor were the ones who carried the cup away this year, but everyone was a winner with the awards table groaning with goodies from various local sponsors.

The Burnham Sailing Club is a family oriented club which has an exceptionally large and active junior section . Children are encouraged to get afloat and enjoy the river under the watchful eyes of volunteer club members. Many thanks to the club members who all made two landlubbing members of the Wild Coast Project team very welcome and we look forward to seeing you all again soon and presenting the cup for many years to come. For pictures of the day check out our Flickr site on http://www.flickr.com/photos/rspb_wallasea_island_wild_coast_project/sets/

National Volunteers Week - Walvols weather it again!

Hilary Hunter — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 14:31:46 GMT

So how did you spend YOUR Jubilee weekend? While many people went on a serial barbecue spree or joined the royal festivities via the wonders of satellite television, my favourite team of volunteers were once again turning out in all weathers on behalf of the Wild Coast project.
In this national week that celebrates the work of volunteers across the country, our team did us proud. On Saturday, the damp start did not deter our creativity as we joined forces with our old friends The Art Factory , to create a new shelter for walkers to the far flung parts of our public path

Continuing our project's recycling theme, we used miles of remnant, coloured binding tape from a sports apparel manufacturer. Visitors to the Wild Woods Day event at Hockley Woods were encouraged to join in, adding this Jubilee colour-themed coating to create a rag rug effect on a boat-shaped structure. Everyone from tiny tots to grannies were pressed into action, tying on as many strips of cloth as they liked, some becoming quite addicted! Any preferring to spectate were able to peruse our displays or chat to the volunteers taking part.
Then on Sunday, when many would have been forgiven for staying in bed to avoid the cold, wet conditions, yet again the walvols turned out - this time for the second annual Wild Coast Paddle. Despite lower numbers than hoped, this event was illuminated by the enthusiasm of the kayak enthusiasts who turned out with gusto on such an unpromising morning.
This hardy bunch of paddlers, bolstered by bacon rolls and coffee provided by another cheery bunch of volunteers - this time from the Burnham Sailing Club - headed off into the mist and waves to circumnavigate Wallasea Island. Although the RNLI kindly accompanied them, there were no mishaps and they all arrived in great spirits and one piece for RSPB refreshment at the north eastern corner of the island. This no doubt welcome break, provided by our volunteers, allowed them to draw breath before the final hard push against the tide back to Burnham.

The walvols will now catch their breath until the next outings, but can regularly be found wandering the seawalls, collecting litter, chatting to our visitors - or checking out the quality of the ale in the Anchor. New members are always welcome and any new skills a welcome addition to the extensive range already being provided.

OTT about OTD ( that's Operation Turtle Dove to you and me)

Hilary Hunter — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:16:00 GMT

Each summer, walkers and residents round Canewdon village, just up the road from Wallasea Island, often hear the unmistakeable,gentle purring sound of Turtle doves. Some are lucky enough to see them in their back gardens! So you may be surprised to know that this very special summer visitor is a 'bird on the brink', of extinction.
So up stepped some of our local heroes for nature - the Essex Birdwatchers Society, ably steered by our very own Frank Vargas, Essex Farmland Bird Conservation Officer working from our offices on Wallasea Island. These TD champions have been working alongside the RSPB since last year, to find ways of supporting the main key elements of Operation Turtle Dove - with the 'Essex Farmland Bird Conservation Conference' in September, the restoration of habitat for Turtle doves, support of local farmers by providing expensive essential seed mix and recording the birds’ presence around Essex.
Operation Turtle Dove, launched this week by the RSPB, leading sustainable farming specialists Conservation Grade and Pensthorpe Conservation Trust in Norfolk, is a three-year project to reverse the decline of one of England’s best-loved farmland birds.
Turtle Doves are more often heard than seen, and their distinctive song has long been a characteristic sound of summer. From The Bible to the works of Chaucer and Shakespeare, the turtle dove is well known in literature and folklore as a symbol of love and devotion. But numbers have fallen dramatically in recent years and there are now just nine birds for every 100 there were in the 1970s. These birds are on the brink of extinction and many prefer to spend their summers in Essex.
The RSPB is hoping that people in Essex who are lucky enough to hear or see Turtle doves in their area will step up for nature and tell us where their local birds are, to help target the project’s research and advice to farmers and to establish any turtle dove zones around the country. Please report your turtle dove sightings at www.operationturtledove.org or come along to the EBwS conference at Stow Maries in September. - http://www.ebws.org.uk/ebs/default.asp

Pontoon Floats In

Hilary Hunter — Wed, 02 May 2012 12:38:00 GMT

At last! A window in the awful weather allowed the contractors to tug the first half of our unloading facility pontoon into place this morning. It was a bit of a foggy, 'soft' morning fo photos but it was great to see the dark shape coming up the River Crouch out of the mists.

Two 76 metre long pontoons will join to create a single jetty, at which ships will unload the essential ingredient for our new nature reserve. Each ship will carry up to 2.5 thousand tons of excavated earth from the Crossrail tunnels being dug, deep down under central London. Once firmly in place, this jetty will accommodate two ships at a time. The equipment on the jetty will include four unloading machines, two on each pontoon, with conveyors feeding hoppers which in turn feed an 800 metre central conveyor that carries the material across the marsh to shore. On the island side of the seawalls, a radial stacker arm will stockpile the clean excavated material in a carefully prepared part of the site before it is placed in carefully planned areas to recreate the new mudflat and saltmarsh levels.

So as you can guess, its quite a sight down there at the moment! Unfortunately the huge amount of rain has made the site pretty sticky, but the seawall is free draining so walkers may walk along to, and beyond, the crossing point on the seawall. From there you may look seaward viewing the long conveyor belt running down the berm and across the marsh to the pontoon , or landward where the conveyor continues down to the radial stacker. Of course, there is still a good mile or so to walk beyond that to get to the far end of the public footpath, which remains open throughout. For the armchair viewers, there is always the view from the webcam though. (http://www.carnyx.tv/CarnyxWild/WallaseaIsland.aspx.)

Hopefully, the sun is not too far away and it will soon entice visitors to go and see for themselves. Our Flickr site has photos from this morning and will be updated once the second half of the pontoon is also in place. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rspb_wallasea_island_wild_coast_project/sets/)

Wallasea project gets a rocket

Hilary Hunter — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:33:00 GMT

Some days you just have to get out in the sunshine - but not many have as good an excuse as we had today!! After the recent expert confirmation that what we had found on the marsh was actually the motor of a German V2 rocket from WWII, we had a race against time to retrieve it before the contractors cut off our access with the start of development of the construction site for cell 1.

Volunteers swiftly moved into position this morning, ably supervised by Ellen Heppell from the ECC Archaeology Field Team. We soon discovered that there was more of it under the marsh than above so plenty of spades made light work and eventually it was free of the sticky essex mud and our friends from HP Elderton skillfully lifted it over the seawall and transported it to a place of security.

This wonderful find will now require some careful conservation so that we may use it in future as part of our education and heritage display. WWII is just one era which we hope to bring to life for future audiences, as we develop our facilities and events and activities can be more creative.

For the full story check out our Flickr pages on http://www.flickr.com/photos/rspb_wallasea_island_wild_coast_project/sets/

Wallathon 2012

Hilary Hunter — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 11:15:47 GMT

St Patrick's Day ( March 17) turned out to be what the Irish refer to as a 'soft' day, but it didn't deter the entrants to our Wallathon 2012! Our invitation to walk the bounds of RSPB Wallasea went out in all the local papers and on BBC Radio Essex and the enthusiasm with which this was received locally was amazing.
The RSPB Walvol team turned out in force, and in great cheer, with a variety of green hats, shirts, trousers and boots to add a little fun to the day. Health and safety was added to by the sole member of the Wallasea Mountain Rescue Team! Thanks paul.:)

So as you might guess, we weren't downhearted by the dismal weather and neither were the participants. First up were a dozen cyclists, some having travelled by the newly launched ferry from Burnham-on-crouch. Following them were the runners, quite a few of which came from Rochford Council - great to see you guys!

And last but not least we had a surprising number of walkers - all dressed for the occassion in their wet weather gear - bringing the numbers of hardy people to 72! Had it been a day with weather the like of which we have had ever since the event we could have been inundated with energetic people wanting to walk the bounds of Wallasea - so let's hope we are able to run it again next year.

The people problem

Hilary Hunter — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:52:27 GMT

Imagine you have a huge house, which you feel safe and comfortable in and it has everything you need - a warm,comfortable bed, cupboards full of food, space for you to raise your family and in which to see them grow up to be strong and healthy. Then gradually this space is taken over by people. People who don't care that it's your home, don't seem to see you, disrupt your life, your feeding habits and whose dogs scare your children.
This is a problem that the RSPB wrestle with all the time. While we want to bring people closer to nature, share our passion for the wonderful wildlife spectacle in our countryside and encourage people to enjoy the great outdoors with us we also have a duty to care for and protect those unable to protect themselves and who were in those spaces long before we found them. Added to that many of those species, be it animal,insect or flower, are rare and endangered.
RSPB scientists have done quite a bit of survey work on exactly this sort of problem - and I was fortunate enough to be at a presentation about this subject earler this week. The audience learnt how a nightjar population suffered from predation of nests by crows - but only where dogs scared the mother bird off the nests along a track frequented by dog owners. Another island habitat for Chough was visited in huge numbers by holidaymakers during August. It was found that the fledglings and their parents moved to another area, not as plentiful in food during this invasion and as a consequence failed to thrive and became malnourished and unlikely to survive the winter. In another area several metres either side of a public footpath through scrub showed much less dense a population of wildlfe, which given the length of this track added up to a considerable area
This is a sobering thought to those of us who like our walks in the countryside and own a dog who walks at least 4 times the distance when off the lead! I guess the answer is to attempt to explain to our visitors that the shiny new sign with an image of a dog on a lead is not just there for 'other dog owners' or ornament. Between the months of March and September the nature we all love to see is busy in a fight for survival. Adders are coming out of hibernation and warming up on the seawall banks, many birds are building nests on the ground ( not all in trees!!) and wild flowers are attracting insects and eventually turning to seeds both of which are food for many things.
Loving Nature means taking care of it too - so that your kids and mine will be able to show the same things to their kids as we do to them. So sorry Fido, you're on the lead from now on!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Hilary Hunter — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:03:00 GMT

Did you ever notice the inspiration that comes from a good walk? While tramping the field paths of Canewdon with the all-weather dog this morning, I was cogitating about the possible subjects to blog about this week. The sky was slowly turning from pale pink to blue as suddenly something caught my eye. A shaft of sunlight lit up an object, that was coloured gold with tints of pink and blue, perched in the top of the hedgerow . Now even this bad birdwatcher knows the corn buntings currently jangling from every available perch are not the most colourful, so it was definitely not a red-list species that I'd spied!
Alas, it turned out to be another one of our old foes, a shiny balloon - escaped from the clutches of some Disney fan, on a day trip to Southend perhaps? Now I blogged about these before, probably this time last year, so I'll not subject you to another of those rants. But it turned my head to the subject of resources, and the old reduce, re-use, recycle message that has been around since the heady days of Anita Roddick refilling our Body Shop bottles with shampoo and body lotion.
The recycle message is one that permeates the Wild Coast Project at all levels. It helps that we live in Rochford District Council, which is the best in the UK for recycling. The most obvious example of our belief in this ethos is in our beneficial re-use of the material arising from the Crossrail tunnelling under London. This clay, a by-product of Europe's largest engineering project, will allow us to restore the marshland landscape to its former medieval glory. But we employ this recycling mode in other areas of our work too.
Just last summer , we teamed our volunteers up with the Art Factory from Benfleet to create our 'people perches' from flotsam and jetsam washed up from the river tides along the coastline of Wallasea Island. These are now being put to good use by weary walkers along the seawall path - and no doubt more than a few jangling buntings and other perchers!
Most recently, our fledgling Community Learning team have been helping young library visitors to save wildlife by the careful recycling of household items that often cause great harm and suffering to creatures in our countryside. Although to bystanders, it may have looked like a cross between a christmas pantomime and the unpacking of a shopping bag, the youngsters and their families entered into the spirit of this message wholeheartedly and will think twice before dropping litter again, I'm sure.
Looking to the future, I hope that we will be able to develop our facilities with more than an eye to the environmental impact of buildings and equipment used. If any of you readers see any really good, green ideas on your travels that you think might suit the Wild Coast please drop me a line.

The picture below is of 'one that got away' - a people perch which lives outside my office, with assorted other articles retrieved from the island edges!

Thunderbirds are go!

Hilary Hunter — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:38:00 GMT

Any of you who have been watching the Wild Coast Project for a while, may by now be wondering when something BIG is really going to happen - and who can blame you , as it's been talked about for around ten years so far!! So today, as the sun is shining and corn buntings appear to have decided it's Spring ( they are calling from every possible perch!) I thought I'd run over what we can expect to see happen this year.

BAM Nuttall, Crossrail's contractor, will soon be back in action, continuing the construction of the unloading facility which they began last Autumn. This long conveyor belt will reach across the marsh, about half way along the northern coast of the island, running past the webcam mast mentioned in this blog a couple of weeks ago. The temporary jetty is currently being fitted out at Tilbury Docks and will be floated round to the River Crouch when its ready, in time to connect with the conveyor belt and before the first ships arrive. This summer will see the huge Crossrail tunnelling machines churn into action deep under London, and the resulting clay will be shipped to Wallasea for placement in the eastern end of the island - the part known as 'cell one'. The design for the landscape is divided into 5 'cells', roughly following the contours of the original marshland islands which existed hundreds of years ago, before enclosure by man.

Cell 5, the one passed by on the way to our car park,is already under development, though it may not look like it! This area includes the wild bird cover area, much celebrated this winter as it provided food and shelter for so much wildlife, including hundreds of farmland birds who would normally be forced off the island in the cold season. 'Cell 5' , the name of which has caused some merriment to those not 'in the know', will be further developed later in the year, with the construction of a large area of wet grassland ( an area to be grazed), a dog exercise area and a saline lagoon reaching south from the sluice just beyond the by then enlarged car park .This lagoon should attract lots of birds when full of water and will be an extra place for us all to walk round and enjoy. Staff and volunteers will be on site at our forthcoming events over the year, available to answer any questions you might have. But in the meantime, watch the webcam for action, the blog for news and on a good day come down and see for yourself!

World Wetlands Day 2012

Hilary Hunter — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:58:00 GMT

It may have escaped your notice, but yesterday, was World Wetlands Day! World Wetlands Day has been celebrated on or around 2 February globally every year since 1997, and Wallasea Island will eventually be a prime area to celebrate this habitat.
Freshwater wetlands are rich and diverse habitats. Although they were once common in our landscape, a long history of drainage, development and pollution means that only a small percentage still remains. These remnant wetlands may sometimes be small or isolated, difficult to manage or have limited natural ecological functioning. Even so, many still support some of the most interesting and important wildlife and habitats in the UK, and provide opportunities for people to understand and enjoy our wetland heritage.
Wet grasslands in the UK provide valuable habitat for indigenous plants, birds and invertebrates. They develop in land which is periodically flooded or waterlogged and where management for agriculture (grazing, mowing or a combination of the two) promotes vegetation dominated by lower growing grasses, sedges and rushes. They do not include reed-dominated habitats. A large number of bird species of conservation concern are dependant or partly dependant on the UK's remaining wet grasslands, particularly breeding waders and wintering wildfowl. Species such as lapwing and black-tailed godwit are high priorities for conservation action by the RSPB on such habitats, as are other characteristic non-avian species such as water vole, of which there is a significant population here on Wallasea Island.
Climate change and sea level rise will create additional significant pressures (and opportunities) to such habitats in the future, and will require new approaches to wetland conservation.Here at Wallasea, our plans include a large area of wet grassland, towards the western end of the site, on which we hope to graze rare breed sheep, just as the land was managed hundreds of years ago through parish grazing rights.
The World Wetlands Day theme for 2012 is Wetlands and Tourism and is linked to the theme for the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties, COP11: Wetlands, Tourism and Recreation, which will take place in July 2012, in Bucharest, Romania. Wetland tourism has benefits both locally and nationally for people and wildlife – benefits such as stronger economies, sustainable livelihoods, healthy people and thriving ecosystems. At least 35% of Ramsar Sites around the world record some level of tourism activity and this percentage is consistent throughout all regions. Of course it is important to consider tourism in all wetlands – not just those designated as Ramsar Sites – since the Contracting Parties to the Convention are committed to managing all wetlands.
It is worth noting that tourism is one of the many services that wetlands deliver. Ensuring well-managed tourism practices in and around wetlands and educating tourists on the value of wetlands contributes to their health and the long-term benefits that wetlands provide to people, wildlife, economics, and biodiversity.
Culture is an attribute of all the activities of each society, as they evolve through the ages. As wetlands, since ancient times, have been inhabited and used in many ways by human beings, there are strong cultural and spiritual values associated with many of them.
It has become clear in recent years that nature conservation cannot be practiced successfully without regard to the welfare of local populations and without ensuring their active participation. This is the reason to include culture in wetland management activities, attempting thus to reconnect people to wetlands and leading to an integrated approach to the natural and cultural heritage. In addition, such an approach creates highly interesting destinations that may draw visitors and provide economic benefits to local populations through mild tourism activities. Also, some of the cultural aspects incorporate traditional knowledge that may be useful to contemporary conservation and merit to be preserved and to be taken into account.
All of this will be seen as the Wild Coast Project develops, starting with the work on what we call 'cell 5' - the area to the south of the track driven along to reach our car park. Construction of a saline lagoon and large expanse of wet grassland will be among the first 'attractions' witnessed by visitors later this year and we hope to have some interesting livestock grazing there soon, which will be an added attraction in this mainly arable area.

Birds-Eye View - the Wallasea Webcam

Hilary Hunter — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:34:00 GMT

If you are looking out the window at the wind and rain and want to know what is happening on Wallasea Island, or you are separated from us by land or sea ( hello Burnham and Banbridge!), there is a nice dry, comfortable way to see the what is happening on the island.
Regular visitors may have noticed our webcam mast, standing tall about half way ( 1 mile) along the public footpath on the Northern side of the island.This was erected for the original 'Wallasea Wetlands' project a few years ago, when Defra created 115ha of new saltmarsh which RSPB have since managed for them. It originally showed the slowly developing saltmarsh stretching west and east - which lets face it,while interesting to a specialist audience, is not dynamic footage!
Recently the camera has been under repair,due to the elements on the Wild Coast being at times not very friendly to small turbines that power the camera. Now that it is once again fully functional, it is perfectly placed to show the whole island as we turn back the years and recreate the saltmarsh islands of old.
Live images are now available from this camera, thanks to the work of Carnyx TV. The webpages show images in 7 different directions and also show the material handling area and berm upon which the conveyor belt will run from the new jetty. So as construction continues this Spring, and when ships eventually commence delivery of Crossrail material from July, armchair viewers may explore the island and watch progress from the warmth of their own laptops! There is also animations linked from this page, showing a speeded up footage of the construction done last autumn and another of the tide ebbing and flowing ( for those who think the tide always seem to be out!)
To see the images click on http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/casework/details.aspx?id=tcm:9-235089 and then follow the 'useful ink' to the webcam on the bottom right hand side.
Once you have explored this page the time lapse animations may be found on the top right hand corner of this page. Hope this will encourage you to come and see for yourselves once the rain stops...

Wallasea Events 2012

Hilary Hunter — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:30:00 GMT

As I look out of my office window, across the river to Burnham-on-Crouch, it looks like a Spring day - sun shining, grass green and a male blackbird rather hopefully chasing a female around the farmyard. Yes, the sap is rising unseasonable early and signs of a new season are all around us!
With this hope of brighter days ahead come plans for the year's event season and piles of booking forms for marquees and portaloos. 2012 will be an exciting year for Essex , with the Olympics on our doorstep and the world's TV and sporting eyes on the area. But here on Wallasea Island, which is only an hour from Stratford's olympic arena, we could be a million miles away and will have enough excitement of our own .
This year, at long last, visitors will finally see signs of construction of Europe's largest inter-tidal habitat creation project. Contractors BAM Nutall will return in the spring to continue the erection of the unloading facility for Crossrail's material which is expected to arrive by ship from July.
To celebrate and showcase this activity, we have planned a calendar of events to entertain all sorts of visitors. In March, we will hold our first 'Wallathon'; inviting people to come along, with families and friends, to walk, run or cycle round the 8 mile bounds of our site - while they still can. These bounds will be broken in 6 places in years to come, with the flowing tides making much of it marshland and the new seawall paths will not circumnavigate the island.
One event that we hope will become an annual fixture though, is our Wild Coast Paddle. last year 75 kayakers paddled right around the island, and we hope even more will join us in June this year. In July, we will have an official launch event with a variety of key stakeholders and friends of the project which will no doubt begin a long relationship with TV cameras and the media at large.
Our now well established Wild Coast Weekend will be our grand finale for the summer. Brought forward to mid August this year, in the hope of catching the family holidaymakers and good weather. It will include all the favourites such as Woodford's hog roast and George's Wallasea Wench ale plus many new attractions still to be unveiled. Watch this space for regular updates as the season progresses.
If you would like to check out the events in more detail they are all on our events page.

Euro-Wallasea - ecosystem services under the spotlight

Hilary Hunter — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:54:17 GMT

Our Wild Coast Project has recently been one of 5 case studies in an international report analysing the cost benefits of large projects with high biodiversity relevance, comparing traditional engineered approaches with ecosystem-based approaches.
The study financed by the European Commission, has been carried out by the Ecologic Institute, Berlin in co-operation with the Environmental Change Institute (ECI), Oxford University Centre for the Environment and places these projects in a position to potentially contribute to a range of EU, national and regional policies within the area of climate change adaptation and mitigation. Countries analysed included statements that show their acknowledgment of the inevitability of climate change.
In response to growing climate change pressures, ecosystem-based approaches such as ours have emerged as a promising strategy to increase the resilience of ecosystems and support sustainable livelihoods. These creative approaches address the crucial links between climate change, biodiversity and sustainable resource management and thus provide multiple benefits.
Highlighting the multiple benefits provided by ecosystem-based approaches (as compared to traditional engineered solutions) and providing evidence on their cost-effectiveness can boost the uptake of such approaches. In the case of the Wallasea Island Project, an important benefit of using ecosystem-based approaches was that the project could draw on waste material produced in urban transport excavations that would otherwise have to be transported and disposed of in another way, possibly incurring greater costs.
The main benefit provided by the vast majority of ecosystem-based projects is the potential to mitigate climate change by increased carbon sequestration. Some of the investigated ecosystem-based projects aim at regulating flood events by providing additional retention areas along rivers and coasts. In general, ecosystem-based projects protect the local ecosystem and often lead to an increase in biodiversity and ecosystem resilience. Landscape amenities were reported to have lead to a better quality of space and to an upward revaluation of the neighborhood due to the aesthetic value of protected wetlands.
Projects using ecosystem-based- approaches also provide employment opportunities either directly (through management, administration and construction) or indirectly through jobs that are being created in tourism and landscape management. In addition to the above findings, this study has produced lessons and recommendations for implementing ecosystem-based approaches in Europe and for integrating such approaches in policies and strategies relevant for climate change at different spatial levels as well as for supporting the EU 2020 Biodiversity Policy and work on the planned EU Green Infrastructure Strategy.

The report is available for download at http://ecologic.eu/files/attachments/Projects/2345_eba_ebm_cc_finalreport_23nov2011.pdf

Christmas Goose from afar for Wallasea Island

Hilary Hunter — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:41:54 GMT

Most people are thinking about birds at this time of year - but more of the cooking and eating variety! Well we haven't got turkeys on the island, but we have got geese! We are talking dark-bellied brent geese here, or if you like latin, Branta bernicla bernicla, the smallest goose in the country. They started to arrive in their family groups a month or two ago and it was lovely to hear the familiar honking as they flew up the Crouch Estuary.
Not everyone welcomes them though - to our local farmers they are a pest, eating the crops and even worse paddling all over what they don't eat with their big webbed feet, damaging the young crops. However, as they are a species of European Conservation Concern and protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act , they should not be on anyone's table next weekend. Farmers must resort to ever-inventive methods of scaring them from the crops.
Those of us that are not protecting crops welcome them here each year . Brent Geese breed in the extreme high Arctic in all northern countries. The range extends from Greenland to Svalbard and northern Russia, continuing through Alaska to the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. having had their breeding season in the north, as the winter sets in they fly south to feed and shelter along our coast and estuaries. As wintering Dark-bellied Brent Geese in Britain are concentrated in relatively few areas,wider countryside conservation measures are not ideally suited to the conservation of the species. Many important grazing marsh and saltmarsh areas used for feeding are protected within nature reserves, such as nearby Old Hall Marshes RSPB Reserve in the Blackwater Estuary, where the grassland is managed specifically for Dark-bellied Brent Geese through appropriate grazing regimes.
These birds fly thousands of miles each year, often in family groups, following each other in the familiar loose formations.This winter our keen-eyed birders spotted that two of these geese had been ringed, and subsequent enquiries revealed that it was a mother and daughter; the adult female had been caught and ringed last spring on Terschelling, Netherlands,with a young female (born in 2010),still together after more than one year.
Although the weather as I write is forcing them to take shelter behind the seawalls, the mudflats of the developing Allfleets Marsh are a popular place for all the overwintering ducks and geese on Wallasea Island. Hopefully, over the coming holiday break we will get brighter days to entice us out to see them!
Wishing you a happy christmas and merry new year.
Normal blogging service will resume in January :)

Water, water everywhere...

Hilary Hunter — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:15:10 GMT

There seemed to be a watery theme to last weekend...
Firstly, we had flood warnings and high tides along the Essex coast. While Working on wallasea island one forgets that it's an island sometimes, as the causeway is not covered regularly. Then out of the blue, along comes a high tide to remind you Mother Nature is still in charge!
I was planning to nip off to a meeting in Benfleet, mid morning on Friday, when I heard the tide was lapping at the edge of the road over the causeway. A quick check of the tide timetable told me that I wasn't going to make that meeting on time! However, I was in the fortunate position of being able to postpone. Others stuck on either side of the causeway had their days disrupted - not least the poor driver who tried to make a run for it, but ended up stuck in a ditch with the tide rising round him, having left the road.
Our managed realignment of the coast round Wallasea is a response to the threat of rising sea levels, increased storminess and climate change. Once in place, our intertidal habitat will provide a buffer zone for tidal surges and reduce the risks of flooding in years to come.

From too much water on friday, it was water shortages and the water conservation message we received on Sunday. Our volunteer team, the WalVols, had been working hard with us all summer, so by way of a small thank you, we took them to The London Wetlands Centre which was created on the site of a Thames Water reservoir. Apart from my first bittern, fifty bird species were spotted by the birders in the group, while the rest of us enjoyed a wander round the wetland paths,hides and educational exhibits. This south west central London nature reserve is only a couple of hours from Wallasea,yet is a different world! We had a lovely day, but I think we were all glad to return to the peace of our wild coast at the end of the day.

Wallasea's welcome grows wider - access for all

Hilary Hunter — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 09:07:00 GMT

Access for all is something very dear to our hearts here on Wallasea Island, so it has been a constant bugbear, and not a little embarrassing, to admit to our shortfallings with regards disabled access. Our kissing gate access from the carpark has been for pedestrians only, so wheelchair users and children in buggies have been excluded unless by prior arrangement or a struggle over the gate!
However, thanks to the joinery services of our local carpenter, kissing gate users may grab a kiss from a wheelchair or buggy on their way to the northern seawall - as long as they have a motor or a strong pusher! The path is a little bumpy, but all terrain wheels should manage it with a bit of oomph behind them. Anyone needing help should contact the office and we'll be happy to lend a hand, so that no-one should be denied the pleasure of sitting on the edge of the river Crouch, taking in the view and the sea breezes.

Once the development of our facilities begins, this accessibility will , of course, be a strong focus for us. We have already given a guided tour to a representative of Disability Essex, who have a state of the art, award winning, 'green' centre in nearby Rochford,of which we are rather envious!! Paths, gates, toilets, hide and viewpoints will all be designed with the varying needs of differing abilities as we develop, so Wallasea Island may be enjoyed by all who may wish to.

No doubt there is a lot of work in the research, design and build in years to come. I am already trying to persuade friends with disabilities to be my guinea pigs. If you have specific requirements, or would like to be involved in the planning of our future visitor facilities, we would love to hear from you, so we can do our best to get it right. Perhaps we could have a disability panel to keep us on the right track? It would be great if we could be recognised eventually as a centre of excellence in this area, so please let me know if you have particular requirements.

SEOs, Mipits and Barwits

Hilary Hunter — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 13:55:11 GMT

Every industry has its own jargon and acronyms and anyone working for the RSPB soon discovers the bird version. Having recently been immersed in web design meetings, I might be forgiven for confusion at reports of record numbers of SEOs on Wallasea ( Short-eared owls not Search Engine Optimisers) and many non-birders would perhaps refer to me as a barwit or mipit for this! And all this rambling has been brought about by the success of a large wild bird cover area here on Wallasea.
I first blogged about this space, sown with a pollen and nectar mix in late June, when it was full of wild flowers and buzzing insects providing food for the chicks of our farmland birds. Our friendly farm manager, Robert, has been most concerned that this area just inside the gate of our site would reflect on his housekeeping and bring accusations of poor land management. So let me put the record straight right now. At this time of year, when the rest of the farmland is fairly inhospitable to birdlife, this conservation patch is a magnet for birds. Seed eaters are having a feast, staying here when they would normally have moved off the island,and these seed eaters are not all feathered - the mice and vole population is also enjoying the extra rations.
It is this small furry larder that is bringing the most spectacular visitors. A wide spectrum of birds of prey are flocking to this space to hunt, from haughty harriers to miniscule merlin. But it is the short-eared owls that have caused most excitement lately. Last year we were privileged to provide a roost for up to four of these marvellous birds, but this year has seen an incredible increase, estimated at ten birds at the time of writing!
Short-eared owls are medium sized owls with mottled brown bodies, pale under-wings and yellow eyes. They are commonly seen hunting during the day, preying mainly on small rodents such as voles, along with the occasional small- to medium-sized bird. They hunt using a slow 'flap and glide' flight as they search low over vegetation. Each winter, there is an influx of continental birds (from Scandinavia, Russia, Iceland) to northern, eastern, and parts of central southern England, especially around the coastal marshes and wetlands. They are of European conservation concern and so are an Amber List species, so we are lucky to see them.
If you, like me, count these birds as a new addition to your list, pause on your way to the wetlands car park and take in the bird spectacle by the gate. Huge flocks of corn buntings and finches are swirling around and sitting on the overhead wires and it shouldn't take too long a watch to be treated to a view of some of our larger visitors too. If you are lucky enough to get some good pictures, please add them to our gallery for everyone else to share .Here's one that Wallasea Birder Jeff Delve was kind enough to send me.

Dogs - man's best friend or wardens nightmare?

Hilary Hunter — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:44:00 GMT

Walking the dog is a pastime that not only gets many of us out of doors daily, but keeps us fit and allows us to indulge in a spot of 'bad birdwatching'and general nature-watching. Research has shown that this also helps to keep a lot of us mentally healthy - though I can't speak for myself on this one! However, unfortunately for those of us who keep to the rules and clean up after our pooch, there are a minority of our number who let us down and get us all a bad name!.This week I was lucky enough to attend an access countryside management course, aimed at helping landowners influence walkers behaviour, encouraging and helping them to 'do the right thing', but also giving us great ideas for the development of dog exercise areas and a fresh approach to this key audience for projects such as ours.

The Wallasea Island wild coast will eventually have 15km of new tracks along which to explore the island. However, dogs( apart from assistance dogs) will not be allowed on all of these paths, due to our conservation aims and duty of care to other visitors. However, as an office of dog-lovers, the staff are keen to welcome dogs and their walkers and want to develop an area that will be attractive,useful and cater for the needs of this important group of visitors ( and their chauffeurs!)
The Wallasea Walkies area will be a large fenced area, beside the wild bird cover area as you enter the reserve, bounded by a mixed native hedge which will also be great for the local wildlife. Paths around the area will provide a choice of secure, sheltered walks and we hope to include some benches and other useful additions to the area to make it an attractive choice of exercise area. This space will also be large enough for dog-orientated events; perhaps a dog show or agility contest.

In the meantime, dogs and their companions are welcome to use the seawall footpath as long as the dogs are kept on a lead. This is as much for the dogs' safety as that of the wildlife and other vsiitors in the area. Soft mud in the area can be treacherous - birds can happily paddle around on it, but heaven help the dog or owner who try to copy them. Our overwintering birds have travelled here in huge numbers from distant northerly places to feed and rest - if they are regularly disturbed they will not only struggle to conserve enegry and survive the winter but move off the habitat we create for them. In Spring and Summer a different set of birds come here to nest and raise their young and disturbance makes that difficult and may lead to abandonment of the nest and young. Our island is also home to many mammals whose scents may be irresistable to active dogs, leading to a much longer than anticipated walk if dogs are off lead!

If you are a regular walker in the area and have suggestions or ideas that you'd like to contribute we'd love to hear from you or your dog. Just call by the office in Grapnell's Farm - Ellie the cairn terrier will be happy to chat to the canine visitors and humans may ask for Hilary. Woof!