Dwarf gorse in flower at Hazeley Heath

The dwarf gorse at Hazeley Heath is in full flower at the moment and it looks great. Dwarf gorse is quite rare but we are fortunate enough to have a lot at Hazeley.

Redpolls at fleet pond

Lesser redpolls and siskins can be seen and heard in large numbers around fleet pond at the moment. They are small finches that mainly breed in Scandinavia and spend the winter in the UK feeding on alder catkins. Due to a poor year there is a lot less food for the birds in Scandinavia this year so the birds have come over to the uk in large numbers and a lot earlier. So while walking around the pond have a look out for large flocks of finches feeding on the alder.

Marsh and reedbed restoration

While walking around Fleet pond you will see that we have been carrying out not only restoration of the pond with dredgers but also in collaboration with the fleet pond society and many volunteer groups we've been clearing the scrub and reeds in hemalite reedbed (by the train station) and clearing scrub in Coldstream marsh ( near the picnic area).

This scrub and reed clearance is really important for the Wildlife at fleet pond. Reedbeds are a successional habitat and if left unmanaged they will scrub over the trees will dry out the reedbed, drop leaves which will compost and enrich the ground. Eventually the reedbed will be completely lost and replaced by poor quality woodland.

However we are clearing the encroaching scrub and removing it from the site this will allow the reeds to grow back strong healthy and dense this provides a great habitat for lots of wildlife including reed warblers

Dredging at Fleet Pond is in full swing

The dredging is going really well W M Longreach (contractors) have created 6 new islands already!

Fleet Pond Autumn Bird Walk - A Great Success!!!

We had a great turn out on Saturday for a stroll around Fleet pond looking out for our feathered friends. We started off the walk with a ringing demonstration by our local bird ringer Gary Clewley, who explained why ringing is important and we got to see 2 great tits (Parus major) close up.
Next we wandered over to sandy bay looking at birds along the way, we had a great view of a kingfisher which perched on heron island and caught a fish for everyone to see.
We saw lots of birds along the way including treecreeper, nuthatch, teal, siskin and chiffchaffs. We finished off the walk by visiting Gary again and he had an adult male siskin which was great to see up close as not everyone had good views previously.
Siskin (photo below) are winter visitors and often seen on the alder catkins around the pond.

For more information about our future guided walks please visit our website
www.threesixfive.org.uk/countryside/guided-walks

Diggers Back at Fleet Pond

DIGGERS were craned into Fleet Pond on Saturday ready to begin the second phase of dredging in the Fleet Pond restoration project. They are now manoeuvring around the pond on pontoons –continuing to make it deeper and creating new islands using the resulting silt. By the end of this year a good dent should have been made into the estimated quarter of a million tonnes of silt that needs to be moved.

Last Spring the diggers removed silt and formed central islands thus creating a windbreak and reducing wave action across the lake. This stirs up the silt and makes the water murky so that plants cannot grow on the lake bed. The dredging stopped on April 1 to avoid disturbance to breeding birds. This autumn the dredgers will deepen areas around the edge of the lake while further islands will create calmer backwaters leading to areas of clear water in which plants can grow.

More dredging will be needed in future and Hart District Council is working hard to secure funding to continue the restoration. The project run by the council has raised funds through Natural England’s Higher Level Stewardship grant of £173,000 and Water Framework Directive (£142,000). There has also been Environment Agency WFD grants of £100,000 and a similar amount from developers’ contributions.

Fleet Pond Society, through its ‘Clearwater Campaign’, promotes community awareness of the situation at the pond and raises voluntary funding towards projects not contained in the main restoration project.

Cllr Sara Kinnell, Hart’s Cabinet Member for Leisure and Environmental Promotion, commented: “We’d like to thank everyone involved. This year is a giant step towards reaching our goals.”

For more information and updates on how the project is going and what species are visiting the islands see the Hart Countryside Blog – www.hartranger.blogspot.com, ring 01252 623443 or email countryside@hart.gov.uk

Let go on a Bat Hunt

We're going on a bat hunt in the countryside service ! Join us on a walk around Elvetham Heath on Saturday 1st September to see the exciting creatures that use the reserve after dark.   Lets see how many species of bats use the reserve and learn about their interesting lifestyles.  

There is also a bat walk at Fleet Pond on Friday 7th September.  Where hopefully we can see a different range of species that rely on the pond.  While we are walking we will also be on the look out for other exciting creatures that use the reserve such as moths and owls.

For more information about the walks please visit our website www.threesixfive.org.uk/countryside where you can also book our guided walks.  Spaces are limited so booking is essential so please either book online, phone us on 01252 623443 or email countyrside@hart.gov.uk to reserve your space.  Walks are charged at £2.50 per adult and £1.50 per child which goes towards management of the sites.