Archived decisions

Hampshire County Council

Lymington-Keyhaven Nature Reserve Advisory Panel Item 6

and Management Committee

6 July, 2006

Management Report, December, 2005 - June, 2006

Report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage

Contact: Pete Durnell, tel: 01590 674656

1. Summary

1.1 This report highlights the work undertaken on the Lymington-Keyhaven Nature Reserve during the six months from the end of December 2005 to June 2006. It deals with staffing and management issues regarding key habitats within the reserve and reports on survey and monitoring work.

2. Corporate Strategy

2.1 This report supports Aims 1, 2, 5 of the Corporate Strategy in (1) Maximising Life Opportunity (2) Stewardship of the Environment (5) Improving Services s responsibilities towards and stewardship of the natural environment in discharging the County Councils responsibilities towards and stewardship of the natural environment.

3. Staffing and Volunteers

3.1 Pete Durnell remains in post as Senior Ranger for the western sites. Pete is supported by Adrian Clark as Ranger and also by Martin Cooper who was employed for two days a week from September 05 until April 06 to work on the western sites.

3.2 Volunteers

During the winter and spring we had a great deal of help from volunteer groups on the reserve. The New Forest Conservation Volunteers carried out gorse cutting on Iley Point in January and more gorse clearance on Normandy Lagoon in February. They also undertook a litter pick along the seawall from Lymington to Keyhaven in May. Volunteers from the Forestry Commission undertook a days scrub clearance at Normandy in March. In total these events amounted to over 100 days of volunteer time. The reserve staff would like to thank them for all their efforts.

4. Site Management

4.1 Scrub Management

A number of trees (birch and oak) were removed from the reed bed at Normandy with the stumps treated to prevent re-growth. Several willows were also coppiced to diversify the age structure. The aim of this work is to prevent the reed bed from drying out. Similar work was undertaken in the small reed bed at Salterns with a number of scrub oaks being removed.

4.2 In a joint project with contractors working for Southern Electricity a large number of trees were cut alongside Normandy Lane on the recently purchased land. The aim of this work was two-fold: To clear the pylon line by removing a stand of dead elms which regularly fell over blocking the road and breaking the line and to clear non-native sycamore from the wet woodland. Several large willows were also pollarded in the operation.

4.3 Several areas of the highly invasive non-native Japanese Knotweed were sprayed on Pennington tip this spring. This species is notoriously difficult to eradicate so follow up treatments will probably be required.

4.4 Gorse Management.

As in previous years staff continued the programme of gorse burning on the reserve. The rotational burning of gorse in late winter maintains it in good condition for breeding birds such as Linnets and Stonechats.

4.5 A large block of old gorse was burnt adjacent to the reed bed at Normandy. Other areas burnt were behind Keyhaven lagoon and alongside the Lower Pennington Stream .

4.6 During March Environment Agency contractors cut gorse along the seawall around Keyhaven and Fishtail lagoons. The EA are responsible for the maintenance of the seawall and carry out periodic cutting to prevent the gorse scrub from breaking up the structure of the wall.

4.7 Grazing Management

Boundary fencing was completed round the newly acquired Normandy Paddock. This area is now being grazed by horses.

4.8 A new grazing licence has been issued to our existing grazier Mr Len Mansbridge for summer 2006 and his stock are now on various parts of the reserve.

4.9 A wild bird seed strip was sown along approximately 600 metres of the boundary of the Platoff Hay Field in April. The mix sown included Quinoa, Millet, Triticali, Sorgum and Clover. The aim of this work is to provide winter feed for a number of declining farmland bird species such as Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting which breed on the reserve.

5. Water Management

5.1 The ditch and sluice system behind the Fishtail Lagoon again worked well this winter creating an area of shallow flooding which was popular with birds and birdwatchers alike.

5.2 Salinity levels in the lagoons continue to be monitored monthly and have remained fairly high this winter .

6. Access and Interpretation

6.1 A new all-weather scalpings track has been installed across the old tip at Pennington. This track will enable people to access the seawall during the winter months when the main track is often flooded.

7. Events

7.1 Pete Durnell led a guided walk for the Countryside Education Trust around

Normandy Lagoon in June. He also jointly led a walk with staff from the St Barbe Museum looking at the history and natural history of the reserve in May. (Note: a walk led by Pete Durnell for National Parks Week will be held at Keyhaven on 25^th July).

7.2 Pete gave talks on the management of the reserve to The New Forest Study Group and at the AGM of the Lymington Care Group.

7.3 Officers from the New Forest National Park Authority visited the reserve in May, as part of a tour of Hampshire County Council land-holdings, to look at the habitat management and visitor access works being undertaken on the site. They seemed pleased and impressed with the work being carried out at Lymington-Keyhaven.

8. Survey and Monitoring

8.1 Reserve staff continued to undertake the monthly WEBS national survey counts of waterbirds on the reserve and surrounding area. In June counts were made of breeding gulls and tern on the offshore marshes and shingle ridges with numbers significantly up on 2005.

8.2 Visitor Counters

This spring six visitor counters were installed on the reserve, as part of a trial using new technology. Five were attached to gates, and in addition, an infra red counter was installed on the seawall at Normandy. The counters are designed to be very low maintenance automatically sending their figures back to Winchester at the end of each week via a mobile phone signal. So far they appear fairly robust and the results to date will be presented separately at the meeting.

9. Buildings

9.1 The reserve workshop was finally installed at Normandy Barn during the winter. This enabled us to remove the rather ugly container which has been used for secure storage at Normandy for the last three years. Some minor works remain to be done on the barn but these should be finished this summer.

10. Sturt pond

10.1 Officers will provide an oral report on progress to date following a meeting with New Forest District Council.

11. 8 Acre Pond

11.1 Officers will provide an oral report on recent developments.

12. New Land acquisition

12.1 The County Council recently completed the purchase of approximately 8.5 acres of land adjoining its existing landholding at Keyhaven.

The land is SSSI and within the National Park and can easily be incorporated into the existing management of the reserve. This purchase emphasises the County Council's continuing commitment to conserving and protecting coastal habitats in the Lymington-Keyhaven area.

Recommendation

That this report be noted.

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