That’s not what you think it is
Our latest stomp was amazing
It was the second class stomp. Actually it wasn’t even that. I just like a catchy title.
All our stomps are amazing but they lack one thing. A large herd of Marshians.
We’ve managed to create a lovely muddy marsh. Even as we left, birds were flying in to probe around in the mud. But there’s a lot of concern about the lack of them. The numbers of wild birds is declining everywhere and many of the reasons they’re declining is out of our hands.
Even a year ago this was covered in birds whenever we visited. Teal, Wigeon, Snipe, Meadow pipits Wagtails and more. So far this year numbers are down. I haven’t see a single Wigeon and hardly any Snipe.
Most of our visits are not on to the marsh itself. We restrict that to a couple of hours a week and only between the breeding season and the first floods. Most visits are to watch from the bench, to see and appreciate the wildlife.
Floods seem such a long way off at the moment. But through our crafty efforts we’ve managed to create a wet marsh during a drought. The bigger the muddy area the more birds can feed there.
And it’s not just the birds. The birds are indicators that there’s food. Insects and seeds predominantly, all part of a healthy ecosystem.
We scythe the vegetation and clear it away to expose the mud. Some of us like to work hard. It’s good exercise and a chance to get a bit fitter.
The piles of vegetation are left heaped up so when (or if) the floods come there’s a home for things that don’t like to spend the winter under water.
And while we’re out on the marsh we’re finding out more and more about the marsh and what lives there.
But if we had more people we could make a bigger impact so we can do our bit to ensure that in the future there’s a planet with life on it.
We are out there every Sunday morning at 10 am. If you’ve got wellies and an hour to spend, and you want to make a genuine difference to our little patch come and join in.
