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.

Exciting Sighting on Fleet Pond

Yesterday while walking around Fleet Pond the Countryside Ranger team sighted 10 snipe near the new scrapes in Coldstream marsh

Coldstream marsh scrape sightings.

10 Snipe
1 Green Woodpecker
2 Pied wagtails

If you see any exciting wildlife on any of the HART District Council countryside sites that you would like to share please e-mail me on louise.greenwood@hart.gov.uk or phone the workshop on 01252 623443. Any pictures would be much appreciated.

Harvest Mouse on Hazeley Heath

Recently a small mammal survey was conducted on Hazeley Heath to ascertain what we have both living on the heath itself and the rough grassland as a mammal survey has never been done before here. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust set up 80 longworth traps, baiting them with cereal grains, carrot, casters and hay bedding over the course of three days. When a mammal was discovered the traps were carefully emptied into survey bags and the age and species of each small mammal found was recorded.

No small mammals were found on the heathland, though we suspect that we just did not succeed in trapping any on this occasion. Three species of mammal were found on the grassland and 15 animals were found in total. Woodmice were the most prevalent species found, reflecting national population trends. A Field vole was also found but the most exciting find was that of a Harvest Mouse, as they are believed to be declining nationally and are listed as a UK Biodiversity Action Plan Species.

The Harvest mouse, Micromys minutes, is Britain’s smallest rodent and the only Old World mammals to have truly prehensile tails. They have yellow/brown fur, with a white underside, a blunt muzzle and small hairy ears. Harvest mice inhabit hedgerows, reedbeds, and other areas of tall, dense vegetation, such as can be found on Hazeley. They feed mainly on seeds, fruits and bulbs, but a tiny proportion of their diet is made up of insects, particularly in the summer, as well as roots, moss and fungi. Some food is cached underground for the winter. Spherical nests are made from woven grass and are built in stems high above the ground. (Picture taken by Deborah Whitfield).

We are very excited to have confirmation of the presence of these rodents on Hazeley Heath. There has been a 71% decline in their numbers over the past 18 years because they are vulnerable to impacts of landscape change, habitat loss and fragmentation. Place of particular importance are field margins, wet habitats and hedgerows as refugia.

Fugelmere Marsh

While walking around the pond you may have seen a lot of work going on in Fugelmere marsh and lots of logs in the main car park. The marsh area had become encroached by trees and scrub, these were cut down, and the timber is going to be sold locally as firewood.

If left unmanaged the habitat is lost due to the encroachment of trees and scrub from the surrounding woodland, these create shade as well as drawing up the water from the wetland. The scrub and trees were cut down and removed and then the ground mulched and scraped.

Livestock are going to be grazing Fugelmere marsh as of next year. Now the encroaching trees and scrub have been cleared, we are installing a new grazing enclosure this week which will include Fugelmere marsh, Fugelmere wood and Alder wood. Grazing maintains a mosaic of vegetation this is important to provide a wide range of habitats for wetland species.

Brookley Reedbed Restoration

You can see the reedbed from Chestnut grove boat launch. With help form the rest of the countryside ranger team, Fleet Pond Society and volunteers we have nearly finished clearing the reedbed. The reedbed was getting very overgrown with willow and alder scrub, and all of the reed was in poor condition. A reedbed is a successional habitat which always wants to turn into woodland, so to keep it as a reedbed it must be managed by removing the scrub and cutting the reedbeds on a rotation (every 5 years).

The reedbeds at fleet pond are designated as a priority habitat in the UK and are home to important plants and animals. Bird species such as the reed warbler and reed buntings are known to nest in the reedbeds every year in good numbers. However over the years if left unmanaged the habitat is lost due to the encroachment of trees and scrub from the surrounding woodland, these create shade as well as drawing up the water from the wetland. Reedbeds are maintained by reed cutting, the reed is cut to encourage the new growth and to reduce the accumulation of old dying reed within the reedbed.

Since the reedbed has been cut the heron has been seen perching on it and so have 2 snipe.

Enjoy the new viewpoint at Fleet Pond from The Bog Myrtle Glade Boardwalk

You may have seen us working next to the Bog Myrtle Glade boardwalk (near the Westover rd entrance) on Fleet Pond over the past couple of days we have cleared the scrub which was encroaching on the marsh and shading out the Bog Myrtle. By clearing the willow and birch scrub we have opened up the view across the marsh and you can even see the pond. This has also created a corridor between Wood Lane heath and Fugelmere marsh allowing passage of insects and birds. Connectivity between habitats is important, allowing the spread of species.

23rd October 2011 - Heron at Hartley Wintney

During a visit to Hartley Wintney, a Heron was seen fishing in the Causeway, next to the no fishing sign (picture below).

Hartley Wintney Ponds - 1 Grey Heron, 6 Egyptian geese, 16 mallards, 2 Moorhen.
Fleet Pond - 36 Redpoll sp., 16 Siskin, 9 Woodpigeon (on migration), 1 Little Egret, 1 Kingfisher and a Grey Heron (at the new boat launch). Also 3 Common Darters (picture below) and a Migrant Hawker.