Superb summer

The past few months have been another level of busy, I've had to look back over photos again just to remember what has been happening one day to the next!
   We've had various site meetings with airport project supervisors for habitat assessments along some new infrastructure...

Westfield Stream diversion

Grass Snake habitat enhancements

We've been catching ups with our biodiversity partners, plus Gatwick's two Biodiversity Action Plans have now been updated to 2017...

There has been continued reduction of the invasive plant species Himalayan Balsam, with thanks to Tom Simpson's volunteers and JSA Group, Gatwick's ground maintenance contractors...

Gatwick Airport staff volunteers

Balsam-conquering

JSA Group operative Lauren

I recently spent a few days airside with trainee airport operatives on a birdstrike course, run by Birdstrike Management Ltd. It focused on airside bird identification and the prevention of collisions with aircraft...

Airside and Gatwick's Control Tower

Group exercises in bird identification

There have been regular check ups on our thriving Gatsbees colonies and sample collecting for the Sentinel Apiary Project...

Gill checks the health of a newly collected swarm

I also visited the nearby National Trust site at Leith Hill, to learn about the bird ringing and monitoring carried out by lead ranger Sam Bayley.

Tree Pipit, waiting for it's new bling

The coded language of bird ringers

We've had bat surveys coming out of our ears with Laurie and Martyn on our sites...

Twilight along the River Mole

Bat poop-sampling

Bats ∞ infinity

And finally (the bit I like best), biological recording on our sites with a fantastic bunch of volunteers...

Back of the net

A Hoverfly - Sphaerophoria scripta 

(I.D. by Ryan Mitchell)

Ryan and Elliott collect materials for a new bee hotel

Original bee hotel - currently occupied by male Leafcutter Bees

Brown Hairstreak Butterfly - Thecla betulae

Assessing newt habitat suitability (Helen, Elliott & Me)

Emperor Dragonfly - Anax imperator

Wasp Spider - Argiope bruennichi

(Photo by Elliott Lloyd)

Dormouse box checks

Small mammal identification: Yellow-necked Mouse - Apodemus flavicollis

Brown Argus Butterfly - Aricia agestis

Our volunteers always give me an incentivised-boost with biological recording and species monitoring, so a massive thank you to all who have been involved this summer, particularly Helen, Elliott, Ryan and Mark!

Ground Support

(Pretty chuffed with myself whenever I get an aviation reference into a blogpost.)
  This is all about the good work of JSA Landscape Group, Gatwick's team of grounds maintenance contractors. The past few years they have proved invaluable in our larger-scale habitat and conservation project works.

Goat Meadow stag beetle loggery; withstands clambering human test

These guys and gals achieve a lot in no time at all with their heavy-duty kit and know-how. I hesitate to call them 'the big guns', only because that sort of terminology doesn't go down well round these parts.
   The only problem with handling all this big equipment is how it requires another level of logistical innovation for otherwise straight forward habitat enhancements...

Fred creates grass cutting piles for Grass Snake breeding areas 

In terms of access, Ashley's Field in the Land East of the Railway Line is no problem for Fred and his big ol' tractor 'n' trailer. Goat Meadow however is a remote piece of grassland in the middle of some boggy woodland, so shifting materials and equipment here presents a much greater challenge...

Moving large deadwood through Upper Picketts Wood

Transporting grass cuttings to Goat Meadow

Our sincere apologies once more to Tom S. and his volunteers for the state of their once carefully edged steps and footpath... Lucky we were able to supply you with all those extra wood chippings eh! 

Mick and chainsaw vs. Willow in the North West Zone

In the depths of winter I like to take Mick and his team to all the best places, including trench-foot-inducing boggy grasslands to the west of Brockley Wood. It's hard to imagine right now, but in the height of summer-time these areas are alive with butterflies, bees and burnet moths, blissfully unaffected by the airfield just a few hundred meters away.

Gradual reduction of the Willow scrub to maximise the grassland area

These neatly staked brash-piles got the Thomas Simpson seal of approval (phew)

Hay cut along the River Mole, 2014

The cut-and-collect of our grasslands is our final job for the summer. By cutting around late September, we will minimise disturbance to any grassland species such as Harvest Mice, as well as allowing the maximum amount of meadow flower seed to drop.

Invasive species management

Lauren might be the smallest member of the JSA team, but it doesn't stop her from taking on forests of Himalayan Balsam growing along Gatwick's waterways (actually she's not that tiny, she's just very far away).

Nick uses a brush cutter to keep the woodland rides open. Horleyland Wood

Scrub management along the south bank of Man's Brook.
 This allows more sunlight to hit the banks, increasing floral diversity

Scott T. from Per Hire is another fella I've been fortunate to work with, providing us with his skills and experience in operating the 360 excavators. He has bags of energy and is an excellent problem solver; much appreciated when it comes to the difficult habitat works such as these... 

Dredging out a blocked channel along the River Mole to improve flow

Massive hibernaculum creation - North West Zone

Another hibernaculum in Goat Meadow, Land East of the Railway Line

Scott T's experience with almost every kind of digger means that nothing is too big or too small to stack...

Beginning a Stag Beetle loggery 

On occasion he's allowed to show off.

Unsubtle bag theft

Many thanks once again to all of the JSA's staff, getting these trickier habitat works 'off the ground'!

Behind the scenes...

Last Friday, Gatwick was officially presented with the Biodiversity Benchmark Award from The Wildlife Trusts. It resulted in a rare gathering of all the main players behind Gatwick's biodiversity project. Here's a run down of the key organisations involved, a sort of extended version of 'who we are':

On Friday Tom Simpson led the walk through Upper Picketts Wood, demonstrating the coppicing works which have been carried out by Gatwick staff along with external volunteers

Steve Bates Photography

Gatwick Greenspace Partnership

(Part of the Sussex Wildlife Trust and funded by the Airport and local authorities)

Represented by Peter Crawford, Kevin Lerwill, Tom Forward and Tom Simpson, GGP educates and engages the local community through coordinating conservation tasks, forest schools and bushcraft, wildlife walks and events. They have been working in and around Gatwick under various different names for over 20 years and in 2014 alone 45 task days were run, totaling about 351 volunteers! A melting pot of practical abilities and local wildlife knowledge (plus of course dashing good looks), these guys happen to be the first people I volunteered with after graduating back in 2009. 

Gatwick's first official Bee Hotel, now complete and open for business in Ashley's Field

The Wildlife Trusts: 

The central charity which works hard to promote wildlife awareness throughout the UK, linking up our landscape via 47 different regional Wildlife Trusts. The charity is responsible for giving out the country's only exclusively biodiversity-centered business award. Peter Dorans is the Benchmark Manager who traveled all the way from Nottinghamshire to visit Gatwick and present us with the certificate. He tells me that since the award system was set up, there are now collectively over 9,000 hectares of land managed by businesses for wildlife. Now I might have misheard, but I think that is the equivalent of all the wildlife reserve land put together in a large county such as Sussex!

  

Ashley's Field: part of a green hay strewing project to increase botanical diversity

(Steve Bates Photography)

Martyn Cooke of Surrey Bat Group, James Webster and Phil Milham of JSA, heckling at the back

(Steve Bates Photography)

JS Agriculture and Landscape Group 
These are the specialist grounds maintenance contractors (and my employers) who manage Gatwick's landscape both airside and landside. They carry out work in huge grass areas, shrub and flower borders, trees, hedgerows and footpath maintenance, all in an ecologically sensitive manner. With the kit and the know-how, they carry out heavier habitat works such as hay-cutting the River Mole grasslands, chainsawing and brushcutting plus transporting materials to and from our sites. James Webster is the fella who originally set up the Biodiversity Action Plans for Gatwick; now working for Ecology and Habitat Management Ltd, he consults in biodiversity at other airports as well as with us.

Tom Simpson, myself, Peter Dorans of The Wildlife Trusts, Ian Chalk and Hannah Deacon

 of Gatwick Airport Ltd (Steve Bates Photography)

Gatwick's Environment, Health and Safety Team

Ian and Hannah (pictured above on the right) along with others on their team, oversee our biodiversity project and this work comes under Gatwick's many other environmental commitments. Their team's knowledge of the airport operations and business, plus their enthusiasm and commitment to the local environment helps our project to run smoothly, ensuring we maintain a tight ship. These guys work really hard for the airport and along with Gatwick's Communications, their department has been great at backing what we do.

The Gatsbee Hives (Steve Bates Photography)

(Steve Bates Photography)

Gatsbee honey with Gill's handmade labels

The Gatsbees

A small collection of bee hives were installed in Ashley's Field in early 2014, to be maintained and monitored by local mentor Gillian Sentinella of  Central Sussex Beekeepers Association. Tom Simpson and myself are Gill's avid students, learning about 'natural beekeeping' and maintaining colonies in balanced harmony with the surrounding environment. We hope to register in the near future as a Sentinel Apiary for monitoring Honey Bee health, watching out for pests, invasive species and other environmental concerns which Honey Bees can act as indicators for. We do take a little of the honey now and then but without overly depleting their hard-earned stores!

(Steve Bates Photography)

Although not everyone could make it on the day, it was great to have this fantastic bunch get together and share in the achievement over a generous amount of food, drink and honey tasting.

We would also like to say a special 'thank you' to the Parson's Pig pub on the Balcombe Road, who in the threat of stormy weather came to our aid providing last minute shelter for mingling and refreshments. The pub has a lovely homely atmosphere and they even lit the fire for us especially! You guys rock.