Sunday 26 February 2012

Crane on Fleet Pond

A large mechanical crane (not the bird) was seen on Fleet Pond on Saturday. In order to dredge the lake pontoons must be used so enable the excavators to access the whole lake and dredge the hard to reach areas. Dredging can be done in 2 ways from the bank using a long reaching excavator or from floating pontoons. At Fleet Pond dredging from the bank side is not an option as this would involve tracking the excavator over several important and rare habitats.

The pontoons were craned over into the lake from the Fleet Train Station
car park in several pieces and then fixed together expertly by the dredging company. In addition a tugboat was craned onto the lake, this is very important as it is used to move the pontoons and excavators around the lake. Once this was done finally the excavator was craned on top of the newly completed pontoon.

Thursday 23 February 2012

The sun comes out for the large excavator!

Today was a very warm welcome to the arrival of a 20 tonne excavator to Fleet Pond. It was delivered on a low loading lorry and then expertly manoeuvred through the Fleet Pond car park height barrier (as shown in picture).
The excavator has a very long reach on it which is perfect for dredging/digging up the silt from the bottom of the pond. We also had a large de

livery of wooden stakes, these will be used to reinforce the new island sides which will support the recycled silt (mainly sand).
Today we had a great sighting of a Red Admiral butterfly which sat in the car park to bask in the sunlight, which enabled
me to get quite close and take some nice photos. This is the first
butterfly I've seen so far this year! Have you seen any while about the pond?

Looking forward to seeing you around the pond

Louise Greenwood
Fleet Pond Countryside Ranger

Wednesday 22 February 2012

The Dredging begins!

This morning some of the dredging equipment arrived at Fleet pond.

Over the years, the ecological and physical condition of Fleet Pond has declined due to the build up of silt in the lake brought in from the Gelvert and Brookley Streams. The build up of silt is causing key habitats to deteriorate and the lake is now in an unfavourable and declining status. The Fleet Pond Restoration Project aims to recreate lost habitat and improve biodiversity value within the lake.

The dredging is going to start from Sandy Bay to deepen the lake around this area, the dredged lake sediment (largely sand) will be re-used to create a sequence of islands in and around the lake shore.

The new islands will not fully enclose the edge of the lake area. Gaps will be left between the islands to enable water to flow freely, to provide wildlife and rowing boat access, and to keep valuable views across the lake.

The islands will provide sheltered marginal areas which will provide positive benefits for a range of valued species, including the recovery of the lake’s plant and insect life for which it was renowned.

For Heath and Safety reasons we have had to temporarily close off the waters edge of Sandy Bay, but the benches are still accessable. Why not take a seat when your next down at Sandy Bay and see whats going on?

See you around the Pond

Louise Greenwood
Fleet Pond Countryside Ranger

Monday 20 February 2012

Bird Boxes are not just used by Birds!

At the weekend I went out to survey the Bird boxes around the pond and was accompanied by Richard who maintains some of the boxes.

While cleaning out the nest boxes as the weekend we discovered a family of Wood Mice using the box. If you clean out your nest boxes during the Autumn and put some woodshavings in the bottom, it is sometimes used by birds as a winter roost or small mammals may use it to hibernate in.

Cleaning out bird boxes during the winter period is important as the nests of most birds harbour fleas and other parasites. It is recommended to remove the old nests in the Autumn once the box is not in use. Avoid inspecting nest boxes in use. Only open it up if you've got appropriate skills and experience and are taking part in a monitoring project, such as the BTO's Nest Recording Scheme.

Monday 13 February 2012

Brand New Bridges at Phoenix Green Common


If you go along to Phoenix Green Common near Dilly Lane in Hartley Wintney you’ll find three new bridges in the woods.

These new structures have been put in over ditches in the woodland to make the pathways safer and more user friendly.

Two of the old bridges have been taken out over shallow ditches and replaced with culverts which are safe and easy to maintain, and over one of the deepest ditches on the Common a proper bridge has been put in place with strong Oak sleepers and wooden hand rails. The Oak sleepers used are strong and sturdy and should last for many years to come, but they also stay in keeping within the woodland setting.

The new bridge is also wider than the previous one, meaning we have better access when we are doing any traditional woodland management such as coppicing or haloing Phoenix Green’s beautiful old Oak tree's.

Three more bridges are due to go in on the opposite side of the A30, in the woodland off Grange Lane. The old structures will be removed and better, safer bridges will be going in. So look out for these new editions to the Common in March.

Monday 6 February 2012

Elvetham Heath Management Works 2012

Habitat Management winter 2011/2012

HEATHLAND MANAGEMENT
will be undertaken to help restore the valuable Heathland habitat we have at the nature reserve, we will be clearing several areas of scrub from the site. The removal of mainly birch will prevent this scrub from out-competing heather and other Heathland plants.

We will be carry

ing out turf scrapes with machinery. A thick layer of organic matter has been laid
down mainly from Pine needles and other leaf matter. This prevents the Heathland plants from regenerating.
It is therefore essential to remove this layer of organic matter to expose the old seed-bank of plants such as heather. Heather seeds can survive for more than 80 years in the soil and can quickly germinate and re-establish themselves once exposed to favourable
conditions. These areas once removed will produce a connected arrangement by providing a corridor for which flying invertebrates especially, can migrate from one area to the next and therefore increasing their distribution.

Also swathes along the edge of paths and through the heath, which is part of our Heathland wildfire manage
ment, will hopefully
minimise the impact of wildfires if one was to happen and prevent a total loss off wildlife, these buffers also encourage grassland species to flourish, increasing biodiversity.



These works will be concluded before the end of March, Prior to germination of the
seed bank, nesting Birds and the cattle arriving around mid April – end of May.

Duke Banfield - Elvetham Heath Ranger

Friday 3 February 2012

Fleet Pond Car Park

Over the winter works have been carried out in partnership with Basingstoke & Dean to tackle Fleet Pond car park. The car park is a major area for fly tipping and anti-social behaviour in the local area so the hedgerows were flailed to increase visibility. Another benefit in reducing their height is that they will bush up come the spring, offering better nesting for a variety of birds, such as Robin, Chaffinch and Blackbird.


By clearing the scrub and gorse from the centre of the islands we hope to encourage the heather to grow more vigorously, returning the area to heathland to match the surrounding dry heath and to encourage heathland species. The islands will be managed by mowing to maintain this heathland to keep the heather and grass short and prevent scrub from taking over again. Hopefully come the spring there should be a bloom of colour as dormant and repressed plants take advantage of the new increase in light.