Busy Spring wildlife and busy volunteers!

With May half term around the corner the reserve is a joy to visit with a feel of summer in the air! Gorse and broom bushes are in full flower adding splashes of colour along the green and blue trail. The final oak trees have joined the other tree species in unfurling their leaves, and caterpillars are beginning to appear hanging down from their canopies, often feeding the nesting birds who are busy all round the reserve.

Broom in flower 17/05/2015

The woodlands in full sunshine

 For spring and summer our volunteer work party jobs turn to site maintenance and surveying the wildlife; our latest tasks have included finishing off the bird viewing screen in the wild play space in the main car park. The screen looks out at the bird feeder and bug hotels, and the hazel was supplied by our very Bradfield woods.

 

Young Wardens helping over Easter to finish the bug hotels



Volunteers building the bird viewing screen

The finished screen with viewing windows and seats 

Other recent volunteer tasks have involved setting up the reptile transect for the year ahead by laying out refuges that warm up in the sun around the reserve. Reptiles, particularly grass snakes, slow worms and common lizards use these to warm up in the cooler mornings and evenings over spring, summer and autumn. We have started the regular tasks of checking these sheets and so far have found several grass snakes and common lizards.

Volunteers checking the reptile refuges and recording the slow worms found here

Adult grass snake using the refuge for warmth

Slow worms

 

What will be next?!!!!

A flurry of new year activity

January has been a very busy month on the reserve as we have been undertaking different conservation management projects to restore areas of breck heathland, and reconnect the various habitats.

Contractors have been focusing on a 7 acre block of commercial conifer plantation that borders the biodiversity rich heathland at the side of Peddars Way. This block has been clear felled; the timber harvested and the remaining brash and organic litter mulched and removed from the area by scraping the ground.

This has exposed the underling sandy soils which should retain a seed bank of breckland plant communities. This area should also retain the periglacial feature of 'Brecks stripes' and it is hoped the chalk and acid soils that have now been exposed, will in time, become as rich in plant and insect communities as the Peddars way heath it is now connected to.



Contractors scraping off the organic litter to expose the breck soils underneath

Some of the scraped material has been formed into a south facing bund, or windrow, which will be ideal habitat for basking reptiles and insects.

It is hoped that this area will be as successful as the smaller trial plots of turf stripping and rotervation on the reserve. These were created last year and the year before to try and mimic the vital role of ground disturbance that rabbits would normally do, and are now developing interesting communities of plants and lichens. The plots, along with the grazing of the Exmoor ponies, are creating and maintaining habitat for breckland species that might otherwise have been lost with the decline in rabbit numbers in recent years. Research is currently being undertaken in the brecks in an attempt to get to the bottom of this decline.


Pioneering plant, lichen and moss species thriving

Volunteers and woodland contractors have also been working hard to reconnect the areas of heathland that remain on the reserve. Throughout the winter they have been working on relatively small blocks of young woodland on the heathland edges, mainly removing young pine and birch that are out competing the heath.


Young pines are being removed from around these mature trees to allow light to reach the heathland flora below

By removing these young trees where they have grown up relatively recently, we are able to both expand the heath blocks and create corridors and networks to link their species up. The project focuses on working on lots of small areas to create a mosaic of habitats and maintain the mature woodland habitat on site as well.



Volunteer teams clearing young trees; leaving space for the mature Scots Pines to thrive

 Volunteer teams run every Thursday all year round and are vital in carrying out the reserve management on a weekly basis. They are great fun and a good chance to meet new people, learn skills and get some fresh air. We meet in the main car park at 9.30am - why not come along!

To find out more contact the ranger at:
samantha.gay@suffolkwildlifetrust.org



Volunteers clearing dense young trees off from the heathland edge. Patches of gorse and mature trees are left to create a mosaic of different habitats.

Working hard on the run up to Christmas means lots of free woodchip around!

The reserves fantastic team of volunteers have been working hard alongside some woodland contractors to improve the woodland and heathland areas on site. Both teams are carrying out tree thinning on various part of the reserve that have been chosen due to their proximity to heathland areas.

Much of this is young woodland that has grown over what was once important Breckland heath, and now we are returning these areas to heath and wood pasture by removing the younger saplings and trees. By doing this on lots of small areas adjacent to the heath it allows the heathland to gradually expand whilst maintaining the vital woodland habitats as well. The team are leaving the older trees which creates 'wood pasture'. Wood pasture is a vital edge habitat that naturally occurs in-between woodland and heathland, and will soon be a very important part of the reserve.



Lots of the wood is left as deadwood habitat, but a lot of the larger timber is sold as firewood at our neighbouring reserve, Redgrave and Lopham Fen. The smaller 'brash' and branches are put through the chipper and as we have a lot of this surplus wood chip it is being left at the roadside for anyone to help themselves to - so take a spade and a car boot and get filling!

Fabulous Fungi!

Well the warm and wet start that we had at the beginning of Autumn this year (not so warm now!) lead to a fantastic fungi season on Trust reserves. The two expert lead fungi forays at Knettishall Heath have resulted in over 60 different species on those walk routes alone!

Some of the species that were found and identified:

Latin Name	Common Name
Agaricus arvensis	Horse Mushroom
Agaricus silvicola	Wood Mushroom
Amanita citrina var. citrina	False Deathcap
Amanita muscaria var. muscaria	Fly Agaric
Amanita phalloides	Death Cap
Amanita rubescens	Blusher
Auricularia auricula-judae	Jelly Ear
Auriscalpum vulgare	Ear Pick Fungus
Baeospora myosura	Conifer Conecap
Boletus badius	Bay Boletus
Clavulinopsis fusiformis	Golden Spindles
Clitocybe candicans	Funnel Cap
Clitocybe nebularis	Clouded Agaric
Clitocybe odora	Aniseed Funnel Cap
Collybia dryophila	Russet Toughshank
Collybia maculata	Spotted Toughshank
Collybia peronata	Wood Woolly Foot
Cyathus striatus	Fluted Bird's Nest
Daedaleopsis confragosa	Blushing Bracket
Ganoderma applanatum	Artists Fungus
Geastrum triplex	Collared Earthstar
Hebeloma crustulinifome	Poison Pie
Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca	False Chanterelle
Hypholoma fasciculare	Sulphur Tuft
Inocybe eutheles	Fibrecap
Laccaria amethystina	Amethyst Deceiver
Lactarius quietus	Oakbug Milkcap
Lactarius turpis	Ugly Milkcap
Lepista inversa	Tawny Funnel Cap
Leucoagaricus leucothites	White Dapperling
Leucocoprinus brebissonii	Skullcap Dapperling
Lycoperdon nigrescens	Dusky Puffball
Lycoperdon perlatum	Common Puffball
Macrolepiota procera	Parasol Mushroom
Marasmius oreades	Fairy Ring Mushroom
Meripilus giganteus	Giant Polypore
Mycena pura	Radish Bonnet
Phallus impudicus	Stinkhorn
Piptoporus betulinus	Birch Polypore / Razorstrop Fungus
Pluteus cervinus	Deer Shield
Rhytisma acerinum	Sycamore Tarspot
Russula fragilis	Brittlegill
Russula ochroleuca	Yellow Brittlegill
Russula xerampelina	Crab Russula
Scleroderma aerolatum	Leopard Earthball
Scleroderma citrinum	Common Earthball
Stereum hirsutum	Hairy Curtain Crust
Suillus granulatus	Dotted Stalk Bolete
Taphrinia betularum	Witches Broom
Tricholoma sulphureum	Gas Works Toadstool
Xerocomus chrysenteron	Red Cracking Boletus

Collared Earthstar    (Geastrum triplex)

Also three new species that haven't previously been recorded on the site before:

Pholiota squarrosa                                 Shaggy Scalycap

Entoloma serrulatum

Tricholoma imbricatum

Keep your eyes peeled when walking around the reserve - and feel free to post your fabulous fungi photos on our facebook page! - www.facebook.com/knettishallheath

Recent wildlife sights and sounds

The recent activity of various events, surveying and guided walks on the heath, including the new sightings board for visitors to add their records to, has all allowed us to start gathering greater numbers of wildlife records for Knettishall.

The summer, particularly July, was very good for some of our rarer species including the White Admiral butterfly and Bee Orchids, but some of the more recent highlights include:

- July and August - regular Barn Owl sightings
- August - Weasel and Stoat
- July/August - Good numbers of dragonflies including Banded Demoiselles and Hawkers
- 6th/16th/18th August - Kingfisher
- August - Hobby, Buzzard and Kestrel sightings
- 17th August - Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Osprey passing through
- 17th and 23rd August - Spotted Flycatcher
- August - Brown Argus butterfly
- August - Adder
- Three possible Nightjar sightings between 11th and 22nd August

The heather is also in flower now around the site

Summer visitors

Throughout the summer Knettishall Heath has had a fantastic array of visitors, whether it be from community groups exploring the site, or families joining in with our holiday events!

Both the 1st Ixworth and 1st Redgrave and Botesdale Brownie groups have visited, with more visits booked in for the Autumn term. Both groups of girls enjoyed evening sessions following trails learning about the wildlife of the reserve, as well as making wild art sculptures or mini animal homes.

1st Redgrave and Botesdale Brownies making natural art sculptures

Our summer holiday family afternoons have almost all been fully booked, with the rain drowning a few soggy geo cachers on August 10th. The River Dipping and Brilliant Butterflies family afternoons were popular as ever, with the new moth trap causing excitement!(Angle Shades moth pictured)

River Dipping

Water Scorpion

Day visitors have been generally enjoying the site all summer, whether it be for a walk, a swim, or a picnic out the camper van!

June

Livestock
Fencing has been completed for now and the larger grazing enclosure (see details on April post) is now in place. June saw the Exmoor ponies returned to this area which now encompasses the main heath, the Peddars Way heath and the linking woodland in between. It's safe to say they were happy to be released onto here, and have settled into a good grazing routine offering good structure to the heathland areas and exploring the woodlands on hotter days.













The Hounds of the Heath group have begun exploring the new trail for dog walkers outside of the grazing enclosure at the South end of the site. This is due to be way marked in the next few months when the site maps will also be updated.




Reserve Management
We have had two fantastic Green Teams from UK Power Networks helping us with summer jobs such as litter picking, creating habitat piles to encourage rabbits onto the heath to graze, and controlling Ragwort in areas with livestock.

UK Power Networks Green Team

Discovering Breckland Flora
At the end of the month we also hosted a brilliant wild learning course on Breckland flora, thank you to the expert Ann Sherwood. It was well attended and we spent a very hot day discovering and identifying plants in the grassland and heathland areas. Species included; mossy stonecrop, sheep's sorrel, heath bedstraw, purple milk vetch, birdsfoot, heath speedwell and dropwort.

Dropwort   Filipendula vulgaris

Participants identifying birds-foot trefoil   Lotus corniculatus

 
 
 
 
 

 

Dawn Chorus

We have had two fantastic dawn chorus guided walks this Spring at Knettishall Heath, with Suffolk Ornithologists Group offering their expertise, and Suffolk Walking Festival helping to promote and get involved. Both walks have been fully booked with a wonderful group of people coming along to discover the reserve.

Left: Walkers exploring the riverside trail at 5am. In this area of the reserve we both heard and saw Cuckoo and Whitethroat, and also heard Reed Warbler, Willow Warbler and Reed Bunting amongst other species. A Barn Owl also put in an appearance first thing on the first walk.





Standing on the edge of Peddars Way (below left); watching the Skylarks over our most western edge of Breckland heath. Other species along the heathland and woodland edge included Curlew, Gold Crest and good views of Marsh Tit. Turtle Dove have also been calling at Knettishall Heath this week but we didn't pick them up on the dawn chorus walks. This area of the reserve is also very rich in flora (below right) due to the unique geological, peri-glacial feature of patterned ground. Now is a good time to come and see the emergence of Purple Milk Vetch, as well as striking colours of Sheep's Sorrel and Wavy Hair Grass around most of the heathland blocks.


 





























Foxgloves are always quite spectacular in certain parts of the woodland at the heath, and they are all just about to emerge. To see them take the Peddars Way North of Peddars Way car park at Knettishall Heath, follow the path and the Foxgloves are on your right hand side. The groups of them here are particularly awash with white variations of the plant.

We always welcome any of your species sightings from Knettishall Heath or any of our other nature reserves, so please don't hesitate to get in touch!

Fencing Changes

Contractors are currently on site carrying out work on the new fencing infrastructure for the heathland restoration project.

After a slight delay in proceedings cattle grids aren't due to be installed until after this summer, and so the final larger grazing enclosure, bordered in bright green on the map below, cannot be created until then. However in the mean time we are able to install some of the new fencing in readiness, as well as create a temporary summer grazing enclosure. Therefore changes at the moment include:

-  Removal of the internal fencing between the main heath and western heath at Peddars Way.
Along with this and the imminent inclusion of some temporary roadside fencing connecting these two blocks, this will provide a larger grazing enclosure for the Exmoor Ponies for this summer. This can be seen in the map below as the dark green lined area, which will also make up a large amount of the final block.

Map showing the whole planned new grazing enclosure for the end of this year, with the fencing in bright green, The dark green hatched areas show the temporary grazing enclosures for this summer, linking up parts of the main heath.

- The most Easterly grazing block has been re-fenced on the Northern and Eastern boundary in readiness, whilst the old fencing bordering the rest of the block has been left just to enable us to graze that block again this summer. The access gate into this block has been moved further South down the roadside fence.

Volunteers installing a new temporary access gate into the Eastern block

- The bridleway along the Southern strip of the reserve has be re - routed slightly to keep it outside the grazing enclosure. This is currently being re - waymarked.

We will endeavour to keep you as up to date as possible as changes like this happen. Please don't hesitate to contact us for more information:

Samantha Gay
07717 156601
samantha.gay@suffolkwildlifetrust.org

Spring work on the reserve

Our winter work programme has come to a halt on the reserve now that Spring is with us, and an early one it is at that. Ground nesting birds such as Woodcock and Common Curlew have been seen and heard more regularly, whilst the Skylarks are setting up territories on the western end of the site. They have in previous years bred successfully on the meadow that borders Peddars Way, the County Geological Site pictured below, and this year seems no different.

In order to avoid disturbing ground nesting birds we stop any scrub clearance or work on the heath and in the woodlands. Instead, our Spring and Summer work programme for our volunteer work parties focuses more around site maintenance and improving access and interpretation for visitors. Some fencing jobs planned will enable us to continue preparing the site for the upcoming project (see consultation document on post dated 23rd November 2013), whilst at the moment we are also taking the opportunity to finish off the children's natural play space in the main car park.

This small project was started last year with input and inspiration from Hopton school, followed by practical days creating objects in the play area by the sites Junior Ranger group and volunteers. The most recent instalments are some wooden toddlers seats carved in the shape of mushrooms, courtesy of Bradfield Woods, as well as an extension of the willow bird viewing screen.



Wooden table and seat for toddlers in the foreground. The bird viewing screen in the background is to encourage children to watch for wildlife in the wild area and in the bug hotel.

Volunteers doing temporary willow weaving

The bug hotel in the wild area, with a hedgehog hole at the base.

We are also hoping to include a natural bird feeder in the wild area, interpretation for the wild area with the bug hotel, and a larger mound around the pipe for children to play on.













The play space has all been created with natural materials from our nature reserves, or from donated items, and so is gradually coming together over time. Once it is completely finished we are hoping to have a small family afternoon to celebrate!






Current site management

Work is well underway at Knettishall to prepare the site for the heathland restoration project that will hopefully begin this season. Our volunteer work parties run every Thursday and the hard working team are currently focusing on the roadside work.

 
As is detailed in the consultation document the programme centres around removing internal fencing and installing a new perimeter fence line, along with cattle grids, to allow livestock greater access to the reserve. Their movements and grazing will have a significant impact on gradually retaining and reinstating a more open Breckland landscape.

As the Exmoor ponies will have access to the roads within the reserve, our first priority is to improve visibility along the roadside for motorists. This involves removing scrub and small trees, and raising the canopy on larger trees so that livestock can be seen approaching the road from some distance.


  

Visibility here is greatly improved by removing scrub, whilst mature trees that have had their canopy raised still line the roadside

The area in the foreground has just been completed with the scrub in the background demonstrating the visual impairment it would cause to motorists.

The team are undertaking the work sensitively, leaving standing and lying dead wood to provide natural habitats, and leaving trees with berries on until the birds have cleared them. Some of the wood is set into log piles whilst the majority is chipped on site to be sold at nearby Redgrave and Lopham Fen.

 
To find out more please read the consultation document in the post below, or contact the ranger Samantha Gay. We also always welcome new volunteers if you are interested in joining the team, and as always keep up to date with work on the site through this blog.

A Vision for the Future

We are now well underway with our public consultation period for our new 5 year heathland restoration programme that is beginning this Winter. Funded by WREN it will be going hand in hand with taking the reserve into Higher Level Stewardship through Natural England. This exciting project aims to gradually develop our long term vision to maintain and restore Breckland habitats, thus improving the reserve for both people and wildlife.

For a more detailed view of the project and the practicalities of how this will be achieved, please follow the link below:

Autumn and Fungi!

Autumn has announced it's arrival this week with a bonanza of fungi on our reserves across the county. Warm weather with spells of rain were perfect to instigate a wealth of species, great timing for our fungi foray at Knettishall Heath on Sunday 6th October.

The morning was kicked off with our Junior Rangers hunting for different species on the reserve along with other signs of Autumn. We then had great fun making autumn decorations and Halloween creatures for the trail on the 31st.

The Junior Rangers Autumn boggarts!

Fungi!

From 2pm Jonathan Revett, an expert in fungi identification, lead a large group of enthusiastic visitors around the site. We covered various habitats including the acid heath, grassland and the yellow woodland trail. It has been the best year for fungi at Knettishall for many years, along with some species that haven't been recorded on the site before! The list below shows the full 68 species found:

Agaricus silvaticus	Blushing Wood Mushroom
Amanita citrina var. citrina	False Deathcap
Amanita muscaria var. muscaria	Fly Agaric (pictured below left)
Amanita rubescens	Blusher
Auricularia auricula-judae	Jelly Ear
Baeospora myosura	Conifer Conecap
Boletus badius	Bay Boletus
Boletus edulis	Cep
Boletus luridiformis	Scarletina Bolete
Chroogomphus rutilus	Pine Spike Cap
Clavulinopsis fusiformis	Golden Spindles
Clitocybe candicans	Funnel Cap
Clitocybe clavipes	Club Foot
Clitocybe nebularis	Clouded Agaric
Clitocybe odora	Aniseed Funnel Cap
Collybia dryophila	Russet Toughshank
Collybia maculata	Spotted Toughshank
Coprinus comatus	Shaggy Inkcap
Cyathus striatus	Fluted Bird's Nest
Cystoderma amianthinum	Saffron Powder Cap
Daedaleopsis confragosa	Blushing Bracket
Entoloma serrulatum	Rose Gill
Ganoderma applanatum	Artists Fungus
Gymnoplius penetrans	Flame Cap
Hebeloma crustulinifome	Poison Pie
Helvella lacunosa	Black Saddle
Hygrocybe psittacina	Parrot Waxcap
Hygrocybe reae	Waxcap
Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca	False Chanterelle
Hypholoma fasciculare	Sulphur Tuft
Hypoxylon fragiforme	Beech Woodwart
Hyrocybe ceracea	Waxcap
Laccaria amethystina	Amethyst Deceiver
Lactarius blennius	Slimy Milkcap
Lactarius quietus	Oakbug Milkcap
Lactarius rufus	Rufous Milkcap
Lactarius turpis	Ugly Milkcap
Leccinum scabrum	Brown Birch Bolete
Leucocoprinus brebissonii	Skullcap Dapperling
Lycoperdon perlatum	Common Puffball
Macrolepiota procera	Parasol Mushroom
Macrolepiota rhacodes	Shaggy Parasol
Meripilus giganteus	Giant Polypore
Mycena galericulata	Angels Bonnets
Mycena pelianthina
Mycena pura	Radish Bonnet
Oudemansiella mucida	Porcelain Mushroom
Paxillus involutus	Brown Rollrim
Phallus impudicus	Stinkhorn
Pholiota aurivella	Golden Scaly Cap
Piptoporus betulinus	Birch Polypore / Razorstrop Fungus
Pleurotus ostreatus	Oyster Mushroom
Pluteus cervinus	Deer Shield
Rhytisma acerinum	Sycamore Tarspot
Russula amoenolens
Russula fragilis
Russula heterophylla
Russula nobils	Beechwood Sickener
Russula ochroleuca	Yellow Brittlegill
Scleroderma citrinum	Common Earthball
Stropharia aeruginascens	Blue Green Slimehead
Stropharia semiglobata	Dung roundhead
Suillus granulatus	Dotted Stalk Bolete
Suillus luteus	Slippery Jack
Taphrinia betularum	Witches Broom
Xerocomus chrysenteron	Red Cracking Boletus
Xerocomus porosporus	Yellow Cracking Boletus
Xerula radicata	Rooting Shank

Fly Agaric

 

 

The photo above shows a Parasol serving as a basket for other species including the Amethyst Deceiver