Bracken & Cattle

Belted Galloways mashing up a stand of bracken

What with all the current legal difficulty around the chemical control of bracken, it was refreshing to see an old-fashioned management technique being profitably employed on a Galloway hillside. By dropping a ring-feeder on a stand of bracken, the Belties are forced to congregate in such greedy abundance that they literally pulverize the bracken litter. Some of the root rhizomes which make bracken such a hardy and difficult species to manage will have been directly exposed to frost and cold weather by this action, and others will become vulnerable once the layer of dead litter which usually keeps them insulated has been broken up and removed.

Bracken rhizomes are extremely vulnerable to the cold, and the area around this ring-feeder will have much less in the way of bracken when May comes. Rhizomes can descend up to a metre into the soil, so while this kind of control does not guarantee 100% removal of the plant, it does make a difference. Besides, the nature of bracken "control" is not to annihilate the plant altogether; just prevent it from encroaching at the expense of other interests. If the ring-feeder is moved around over the course of the winter, it could clear off quite a significant amount of bracken, and this is a traditional means of keeping the plant in check.

Not everyone can afford to keep hardy native breeds like Belted Galloways, and the number of wintering cows in the hills has fallen dramatically over the last twenty years. This loss is a major contributing factor to the huge proliferation of bracken in many areas, and explains why chemical control has become so vital in the ongoing battle against this invasive species.

Wildlife Estates Scotland

Planning has already begun for 2014's Golden Plover Award, and we are now hosting a Golden Plover Award webpage on the Heather Trust website so that potential entrants can learn more about the award's criteria, ethics and purpose.

New for the 2014 Golden Plover Award is the involvement and support of Wildlife Estates Scotland, an initiative backed by Scottish Land and Estates to encourage and promote the very highest standards of quality and best practice on Scottish sporting estates.

Wildlife Estates Scotland became active earlier this year as part of a Europe-wide scheme to provide estates with accreditation based upon sound wildlife management. Eight estates received their Level 2 accreditation following the WES pilot scheme during the summer (of which Golden Plover Award winner Edinglassie was one), and a total of ten estates have now made the grade.

Accreditation is undertaken by a totally independent body, SFQC, and the process is rigorous and objective. Half of the assessment is based upon a comprehensive desk review of the application along with supporting documents, and the other half consists of a visit to the estate in order to see the management practices "in action".

Two hundred and fifty estates have so far joined the scheme, and forty are currently working on their applications. As part of the Wildlife Estates initiative, regional meetings are taking place to spread

the word to estates across the country, with presentations and information issued so far in Fife, Deeside, Speyside and East Lothian, with more pop-up appearances taking place over the winter and into the New Year in order to engage with an even wider audience.

 

WES will have input to the Golden Plover Award selection process, and we look forward to working with them on this project. In the meantime, there is a great deal more information on the WES website at www.wildlife-estates.co.uk

The Year of the Wader 2014

Redshank are commonly found breeding
on keepered moorland

Last month the Scottish Gamekeeper's Association proposed to make 2014 into the "Year of the Wader", in an attempt to draw attention to the plight of upland waders across Scotland. 

Many gamekeepers, scientists and conservationists are deeply concerned about the decline of iconic waders across Scotland's uplands. The SGA points to the critical situation facing ground nesting waders in Wales, where a shortage of keepers and sound moorland management has led to the local collapses of many well-known wader species. A recent RSPB report identified work by gamekeepers as key to sustaining curlew populations in many areas, and the same report also identified commercial afforestation as a driving cause behind increased predator numbers and a subsequent decrease in ground-nesting birds.

Ground-nesting birds such as lapwing, curlew and golden plover breed up to three times more successfully on grouse moors; a result of careful moorland management and legal predator control by gamekeepers. Scotland has lost 56% of its lapwing and curlew in only 17 years, and while many conservationists blame climate change and habitat loss for these figures, the impact of predation is often under-played.

As part of the initiative, all grouse moors in Scotland will be invited to report counts of wading birds, as well as their productivity at two critical times of the year. These figures will provide an accurate picture of how waders are faring on keepered land and will offer a baseline for similar counts in future years. Officials also hope the data can drive a debate on how sound management for waders based upon legal predator control and heather management can be delivered in areas where populations continue to struggle.

More info can be found on the Year of the Wader 2014 at http://www.scottishgamekeepers.co.uk/content/gamekeepers-announce-2014-sga-year-wader

Water Supplies

Discussing a pond designed for black grouse broods on Moel Famau, North Wales

We have recently been in touch with several Heather Trust members and contacts who have been experimenting with ponds, flushes and wet areas on moorland in a bid to boost productivity and keep birds watered during the dry summer months. Many of these ponds are large enough to provide some valuable biodiversity and insect life, and also serve a useful function in the provision of water to fire crews in the event of wildfire.

These wet areas take a number of different forms, from single ploughed furrows to more substantial ponds of several square metres. Most commonly, the ponds are only small but they do potentially serve a very useful purpose for grouse, particularly hens with young chicks. Grouse chicks can travel several hundred metres to drink even at just a few days old, but the moorland manager needs to question whether or not he wants his vulnerable young birds to have to travel long distances when it is easily possible to lay on a good supply of water across the entire area of the moor by creating ponds or scrapes. This not only avoids possible issues with predation and exposure, but also prevents birds accumulating in quantity, which has been shown to be a driver behind some diseases.

Providing water for grouse is mainly a concern in the drier Eastern counties, but projects in Wales have found that using a wet scrape as a focal point for black grouse broods provides the opportunity to micro-manage breeding habitat, giving birds everything that they need in a concentrated area.

An issue with these pools is the depth required to produce water throughout the year. Even the shallowest scrape will collect water in November, but most puddles will be bone dry by June and July when they are most needed. This creates a tricky problem for the manager, since the pond needs to be deep enough to hold water in even the driest conditions, but also small and shallow-sided enough that it will not become an eyesore and be responsible for drowned grouse chicks.

Whether made by ploughs, diggers or even the blade of an argocat, these new ponds generate a degree of controversy because they involve the physical movement of soil and peat on moorland that is often designated and carefully conserved. On balance, there are huge benefits to be gained by grouse, biodiversity and fire prevention from a network of small ponds, and the Heather Trust is interested to speak to any keepers, managers and members who have experimented with water provision on heather moorland.

Golden ringed dragonfly - 

keen on moorland pond networks