May 2010

THE green tide of spring is spreading across the moor, signalling the time for regeneration and production.

It is amazing to see how the new heather has recovered from its browned off state. The big fire we had just over a year ago is now a carpet of fresh, green heather. The heather that was beetled still looks grim, with very little sign of recovery, although, in the areas where sheep have been removed from the moor, cotton grass is in abundance.

In some places where sheep are still on the hill, we have erected some exclusion zones around different areas of heather quality to monitor the impact of grazing on heather regeneration.

We managed a few more days’ burning at the beginning of April and only used our extension for a couple of days. We then switched all our efforts to predator control. The fox is the main predator and many known dens must be checked and new ones looked for. The fox scat clear-up rounds suggest fox numbers are down, as do decreasing sightings at night. The most dangerous thing we can do is to become complacent when it comes to foxes, as they can move in at any time and sitting, ground-nesting birds are easy meat.

Crows seem to be up in numbers and flocks of juvenile crows keep coming up the valleys, drawn in by the April lambing as they look for new territories. The fact that the grouse are now sitting on eggs is evident by their tell-tale large sitting droppings. So far, the nests we’ve come across have contained nine to 10 eggs, which is a good clutch size considering the harsh winter weather that we’ve had.

The harriers have been taking diversionary food, but they have not been as straightforward as was first thought. A second female turned up and the cock went into overdrive making cock nests. During this period, the first hen did not settle as quickly as first thought. At the moment, the first hen has nested and is sitting on eggs and the second hen has moved on. The diversionary feeding will resume once the first chicks have hatched.

The warm weather at the end of April and the beginning of May brought people back onto the moor to enjoy this marvellous area. We have put some signs asking people to please keep their dogs on leads during this important time when so many creatures have one chance to reproduce, as so much damage—often, in all innocence—can be done by a wayward dog.

The grouse counts have been completed and the results sound better than they are. Overall, there has been a 35% increase on last spring, with a 50% survival rate. On closer examination, however, the figures reveal that there has been next to no increase on three beats, which means the production from last year has all but disappeared.

I have seen a sparrowhawk with a freshly killed lapwing and also the carcass of a short-eared owl that looks as though it has been predated by another bird of prey. The peregrines are sitting on eggs at two nest sites while the ravens have all hatched and are growing quickly. The number of merlin has also increased with three or more pairs present this year. Buzzards continue to hunt the moor. We are trying to locate as many of their nest sites as possible, so that we can monitor the prey that they are taking back to their young. Tagging the young birds will also help us to monitor their movement in future years.

Moths and insects are beginning to appear, which must be a welcome sight for bats and all the little birds that about to emerge from eggs. The warblers have arrived and cuckoos are waiting to take advantage of all the pipits as host birds.

The cold weather has not affected the heather beetle, as they are about in droves: one of the keepers’ wife’s washing was covered in them. This is of great concern, as we don’t want to lose any more heather, particularly the new growth that is coming back on last year’s fire sites.