Roving Records - North West Zone: 28/03/13

On Thursday I had a cold and muddy trek about the North West Zone while replacing our reptile mats. My mood and expectations reflected the weather, but the resulting number of species was surprisingly high!

My meandering route

Firstly while standing at the airside fence by the River Mole, I got a birding first for me at Gatwick… A male Wheatear which was poking about in the mud at the edge of the airfield (the airfield operatives have little to fear from tiny birds like this). A Meadow Pipit was also sitting on the fence calling loudly and a couple of Skylarks were singing hard.

   Walking through the Solar Panel field I flushed a couple of noisy Snipe. Pied Wagtails were performing aerial acrobatics and I found this Common Toad at the base of the hedgerow under a reptile mat.

Disgruntled toad (they all look disgruntled)

I then checked the Mink raft and found some vague tracks and some droppings...

Mink spraint with bone fragments

Mink spraint with undigested fur

A flock of about 14 Fieldfare took off from the River Mole and a couple of Reed Bunting were calling to each other. I wandered up the ridge and took in the panoramic of the river and runway. From the hedgerow bordering Brockley Wood, loud chattering and the beginnings of a descending song marked the presence of over 40 Redwing, so our winter thrushes are still hanging about!

The 2^nd worst picture of a Reed Bunting ever taken

Walking north of the hedgerow I entered the scrub and marshland to the west of Brockley Wood. Plenty of activity in here, 3 more Snipe and a Mallard Duck made a lot of noise as they took off. Blue Tits and Great Tits were zipping about, about five Meadow Pipits foraging and a few Goldfinches flying over. Wandering back to the Mole I disturbed a Grey Heron as I walked around the north of Brockley Wood, then witnessed an aerial battle between two Common Buzzards and four Carrion Crow.

   In the ruts of a vehicle track was a load of frogspawn. This happened last year too and the constant wet meant that some tadpoles actually made it to adulthood.

I then came across what looked like the possible remnants of a rabbit in the form of masses fur in the grass. I wandered back to the Mole and disturbed a juvenile Grey Heron. A Little Egret then flew over, a first for me on this section of the Mole although they have been seen before at Povey Cross.

Rabbit detonation test site

I walked back to Man’s Brook and heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling. I dipped into Brockley Wood, heard a Green Woodpecker, two Jays, a Wren and Longtailed Tits all sounding off. The large Redwing flock had all resettled north of Man’s Brook. Wandering to the southern part of the woodland I came upon what looks like a Wood pigeon-plucking post. Sparrow Hawk perhaps or Buzzard, anyone?

Wood Pigeon detonation test site

Back along the netted section of the River Mole parallel to the runway, a cheeky Grey Heron was casually winging its way past me under the netting back toward the opening... slow they might be but perhaps not as dumb as they seem!
   And so I am cheered and reminded that the cold will not win out, soon there will be even more to see. In Brockley Wood, the Hawthorn is poised and ready for that warm weather to hit...

Here is the resulting species list: NWZ March 13

Gatwick’s habitat mosaic: The science stuff

The names of our two conservation sites reflect the (sometimes infuriating) tradition of airport acronyms...

NWZ: situated just above the western end of the airfield

 LERL: to the south-east of the South Terminal

However they are usefully descriptive names and 'ell', 'ee', 'arr', 'ell' (LERL) rolls off the tongue after a while. These two areas are made up of mixed habitats containing their own related niches of wildlife. Our aims are to conserve all of these habitats and enhance them. Were it not for the airport then these buffering pockets of land would probably not be here, instead being given over to housing development or agriculture.

Brockley Wood’s south-eastern edge

I am often asked why we go in and carry out such heavy duty habitat management; it can seem counter-productive hacking back the brush and young woodland instead of just leaving it up to nature. In the simplest terms, changes in land use and development by people have caused our landscape to become very fragmented. Ecosystems no longer function in the usual way and the isolation of habitats such as woodlands, lakes and grasslands tends to result in their containing fewer species and a less diverse structure. For example, if the last remaining field maple in a small woodland fragment died out, there would be less chance of re-colonisation from the surrounding area if there is no other nearby woodland. A few dominating species in a small area are also more likely to take over and out-compete others. So we intervene to maximise the diversity of the land we have left and prevent a few species from becoming overly dominant (in the context of the wider landscape).

Bankside coppicing along Man’s Brook, North West Zone

Recently we have begun rotational coppicing of shrubs and trees (ie. cutting back to ground level) to provide a range of different-aged scrub as it regrows. A richer variety of habitats is beneficial for biodiversity as it will suit a wider assortment of species. However, if coppice stands are neglected they can grow up again into tall canopy cover, shading out the smaller ground flora. If hedgerows are left uncut, they can grow out and become straggly, dying off in the centre and eventually becoming lines of large trees. Coppicing helps to keep the integrity of a habitat and maintain it in a medium-aged state.

Coppicing can affect environmental conditions such as ground temperature and light levels

With conservation pressures ranging from small scale to large, our best course of action is to maintain a high level of structural diversity in a dynamic system, so that these many small havens will make up a healthier whole and as many organisms will benefit as possible.

There are many very good reasons for preserving the biodiversity of our planet … I am not going to list them all here, instead I will refer you to this link (though I honestly don’t mind if you want to skip over point no.9): http://www.natureserve.org/consIssues/tenReasons.jsp

The thing which resonates the most with me about conserving biodiversity is Aldo Leopold's statement in ‘A Sand Country Almanac’:

   “ - if a missing cog or belt can render a car’s engine useless—how much more might a missing organism affect the health of an ecosystem whose complexity is overwhelming?”