© Chris Atkinson

The Project is a partnership betw een & Wildlife Trust, District Council, Sembcorp Bournemouth Water and Wessex Water.

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Disclaimers: For information on how to obtain further copies of this All recommendations given by Hampshire & Isle of Wight document and accompanying data please contact Hampshire & Wildlife Trust (HIWWT) are done so in good faith and every Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust: [email protected] effort is made to ensure that they are accurate and appropriate however it is the sole responsibility of the landowner to ensure Front cover by Chris Atkinson that any actions they take are both legally and contractually compliant. Therefore, HIWWT does not accept responsibility Published by: or liability for any losses incurred or arising from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust recommendations that we give. Beechcroft House Vicarage Lane Copyright information: Curdridge Maps reproduced by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Hampshire Trust (Ordnance Survey licence no. 100015632) with the SO32 2DP permission of Her Majesty' s Stationery Office, Crow n Copyright 2014. Unauthorised reproduction infringes A company limited by guarantee & registered in and Copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. Wales No. 676313. Registered Charity No. 201081.

Gull roost 21

Introduction 2 Breeding birds 22

Summary of highlights 2013/14 3 Plant recording 25 Education overview 4 Reptile recording 25 Formal education programme 5 Moth recording 26 Informal education programme: Youth organisation/community group visits 7 Butterfly recording 26 Wild Days Out 8 Public events and guided Walks 10 References 27

Visitors 12 APPENDIX A: Annual visit data used to produce 28 Access for all 14 tables in the report, 1997- 2013

Volunteers 15 APPENDIX B: Breakdow n of visits across the 29 Access and interpretation 16 financial year; 1/04/13 – 31/03/14

Wildlife: APPENDIX C: Summary of wildfowl data 2013-14 30

Wildlife conservation success 17

1. River habitats 2. Scrub and woodland 3. Species of national importance 4. Fen 5. Lichen heath 6. Invasive plants 7. Acidic grassland

Wildlife Recording: Waterfow l counts, summary of key data 19 Gadw all Coot Shoveler All w aterfow l

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contributions that they have made to the project both individually and collectively over the years.

Blashford Lakes is an area of land in the Avon Valley to the north of The project employs 2 full-time and 3 part-time members of staff, , Hampshire, incorporating a series of lakes formed by supported by 3 non-permanent staff on variable hours contracts and sand and gravel extraction over the last sixty years. The Blashford a thriving team of volunteers. Not withstanding extraordinary Lakes Nature Reserve encompasses approximately 360 acres of this circumstances, the nature reserve is open daily, from 9am-4.30pm, wider area, including Water, Ellingham Lake, Ivy Lake, 364 days of the year. Blashford Lake and the land surrounding them. There are a w ide variety of habitats (lake, pond, river, ancient woodland and For more information and links to the reserve blog and events secondary w oodland, grassland and reedbed). As a result its w ildlife programme see: is very diverse and it is an attractive destination for visitors throughout the year. http://www.hiwwt.org.uk/reserves/blashford-lakes http://www.hiwwt.org.uk/schools-groups-blashford-lakes The are important nature conservation habitats, recognised by national and international designations (SSSI, SPA and SAC) for migratory over-wintering wildfowl. Most activity by the Blashford Project occurs on and around Ibsley Water and Ivy Lake - the lakes and adjoining tracts of land provide a significant recreational resource for local residents, with an extensive educational role provided through the Blashford Lakes Centre. This w as opened in 1996 by Professor David Bellamy and general public access to the nature reserve has been permitted and promoted since 2006. During that time the permissive footpath network has been extended to 8km of rolled gravel footpaths and the reserve also boasts 8 bird w atching hides and screens. Ease of accessibility has been considered throughout the reserves development and in 2010 Blashford Lakes was the Overall Winner of the New Forest Access for All Aw ards.

The nature reserve is managed as the Blashford Project by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust in partnership with the Council and the owners of the land comprising the site, Sembcorp Bournemouth Water and Wessex Water. Partner representatives meet regularly throughout the year to discuss and agree project w ork. Blashford Lakes – photo by Keith Betton This period saw three longstanding members stepping down from these positions and the Blashford Project would like to recognise and thank John Durnell and Jess Pain (HIWWT) and Fiona Bow les (Wessex Water) for their hard w ork and the much valued

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The Trust has successfully recruited tw o volunteers to new group visit by an attendee in their new teaching “ Outdoor Learning Tutor” roles this summer. Employed on post. variable hours contracts they add significant capacity to our The largest ever starling mumurations in the Avon valley education programme. during November and December, at times possibly as Volunteers now lead a fortnightly “Healthy Walk” at the many as 80,000 birds. Many visitors came to the reserve reserve in partnership with Walking for Health. Slow to get to w atch the spectacle. started it is now growing in popularity and will feature in the Much better year for breeding waders on the reserve. New Forest Walking Festival this autumn. At least 3 bitterns on site during the winter. “ Wild Days Out” school holiday activity days have show n Reptile surveys undertaken by volunteers, adders a marked increase in bookings throughout this period. recorded more abundantly than previously thought. For the second year running education staff delivered a Two butterfly transects undertaken by volunteers. training day on outdoor/environmental learning for trainee Several sightings of otters on the lakes. teachers w ith South Coast SCITT (school-centred initial teacher training) Centre – and subsequently secured a The reserve’s first ever records of w hite-letter hairstreak butterfly, purple heron and common lizard.

The starling murmuration over Ibsley Water; gull roost in foreground – photo by Martin King 3

This reporting period saw the Education Team engaging with nearly 5,000 people in staff-led activities: a small decrease in informal group bookings, possibly at least in part due to the very w et, stormy (albeit mild) w inter, w as offset by an increase in school groups and in “ Wild Days Out” bookings, particularly during the summer months.

There have also been some changes in staffing during this period w ith Assistant Education Officer Michelle Crooks reducing her hours from 5 to 2 days a week in order to expand her knowledge and experience of Early Years and Forest School. A very successful recruitment saw the appointment of Tracy Standish to the four days a w eek Assistant Education Officer job share. In addition the Trust has also appointed two longstanding education volunteers (Nigel Owen and Yvette Fitzgerald) to the staff team as Outdoor Learning Tutors on variable hours contracts. They provide an invaluable cover for staff absence as w ell as adding increase to the Projects capacity for education delivery

We continue to receive consistently highly positive feedback from post visit evaluation forms as w ell as informal praise from parents and children on the day:

“The children’s individual needs were met very well with great support for children with behaviour issues to ensure that they were involved. Thank you for a great day and all your hard work. There was lots of positive feedback from the children, everyone had a lovely time and really enjoyed their visit. Many parents/staff said they hadn’t visited before and what a fantatstic place Blashford Lakes is!”

Sopley Primary School, near Christchurch (Hampshire)

“Thank you so much for an enjoyable day – we all loved it! All of the children were kept focussed and engaged, there were real “wow” moments, the staff interaction with the children was brilliant and the children all want to come back. Brilliant outdoor learning”

St James’ First School, near (Dorset)

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Children, young people Children and Young People Adult Education and all adults Total Total number of Total Number Number of Adults in Pre- (excluding participants, number Infant Junior Secondary Tertiary Ed of Adults groups attendance school attending (including of groups adults) attending groups adults) Number of participants 55 358 29 737 788 218 24 1796 12 121 2275 67

. Overall participation in formal education activity during this period was comparable with the previous year, although there was variation within the type of formal education delivered; a 2500 decrease in pre-school and life long learning activity attendance was offset by an increase in the numbers of primary school aged children. This year, like last year, saw the 2000 team delivering to slightly more Key Stage 2 (“junior” aged children) than Key Stage 1(“ infants” ).

1500 As predicted in the last annual report, particularly noticeable in this period was an apparent impact of the recession on our 1000 autumn/winter bookings, which were significantly lower than had been becoming established. That the figures overall did not fall is due to the very busy spring and summer term, 500 managed successfully by the team despite changes in staff through the appointment of “Outdoor Learning Tutors” . As a 0 result no visits were cancelled and no impact on visitor satisfaction with the delivery was noted.

In light of this observation it should also be noted that the Blashford Lakes Project has led more school visits than any other HIWWT education project this year, although the smaller Pre-School pupils Primary Education capacity of the building and activity sites is such that the Secondary Education Tertiary Education larger Centre has actually delivered to more Life-long learning (adults) Total number of participants individuals due to their ability to accommodate larger groups.

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We offer a diverse programme of activities influenced by the As usual, and as befits a site w ith strengths of the staff team as w ell as the nature reserve the range of habitats that Blashford itself and encourage groups to visit with the same children Lakes boasts, by far the most more than once in order to deliver repeat engagement, popular activity is comparing something which the Wildlife Trust recognises as critical in habitats and learning about the order to reinforce learning and the positive attitudes of local environment/w ildlife, w ith a children/people towards wildlife and the outdoors. This may particular emphasis on freshw ater mean children visiting in consecutive years, or, ideally, on habitats (pond, lake and river). more than one occasion in the same academic year. This year we were pleased to be involved with an exciting project w ith The above information does not the Year 6 pupils of St. Nicholas Primary School w ho visited include offsite outreach to schools, with the same children in November, January, April and June which this year again included a six for a range of activities that explored the influence of the day forest school programme for seasons on the environment, and utilised modern computer 85 Year 2 children of the Oaks CE technology to monitor and record these changes. Learning Federation based at the Trust’s Common Nature Reserve, near , in the New Forest. In it’s fourth year, and the third year of my having co- ordinated the Trust team and programme, it is a valuable programme of learning in itself for Wild play the children and provides an Bushcraft unrivalled opportunity for the Pond dipping - photo by Jim Day HIWWT Education Team to w ork River study together and share best practice and new ideas.

Pond dipping In terms of adult learning, bird and wildlife photography courses continued to be popular and this year we also ran a Plants wildlife pond construction/maintenance course as well as a Not specified bird ringing demonstration.

Nature walk Our partnership with the South Coast SCITT (school-centred initial teacher training) Centre continued with the delivery of a "Minibeasts" training day on outdoor/environmental learning for 24 trainee primary school teachers in March. This period has also seen Materials the first of what will hopefully be many new group bookings by a graduate of the programme. Habitats Art

0 10 20 30 40 6

Overall the number of informal education group bookings compares very favourably with that of last year (34 verses 37). How ever the nature of these groups has been such that they have been small and therefore the total number of Total Number individuals engaged with is actually fewer in this period. 5 to 12 to < 5' s Adult number of of 11' s 25' s participants groups We have maintained our links with the Children’s Centres in Number of Fordingbridge and Ringwood and have run at least one 77 338 27 278 720 34 participants seasonally themed family activity, targeting children and families that the Centres have perceived will benefit most from the opportunities, every school holiday w ith the exception of Christmas, thus supporting the service provided by the centres themselves w hilst enabling us to engage with an audience who we might otherwise fail to reach. 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0

Number of groups Number of children and young people Work with the Childrens Centres in Ringwood and Fordingbridge continued this year, and included a visit by the mobile centre based in the New Forest Number of adults – photo by Michelle Crooks 7

Out of / After school holiday clubs and uniformed (Scout/Guide) groups continue to make up the majority of our informal education work and continue to help us achieve our aim of repeat engagement . 5 to 7' s 8 to 12' s Total Blashford Lakes birthday party activities have been an unadvertised offer in response to enquiries (and subject to Number of 9 7 16 staff/centre availability) for many years, but this year with events held an increase in staffing capacity, they have now been formalised. There has been little or no impact on bookings Number of 186 93 279 during this year but as they become more widely known participants we can anticipate substantial growth over the next few years. Benefits to the Project will include a small revenue, increased audience and, importantly, additional capacity for repeat engagement with children and families:

Thank you for an amazing Pond Dipping party - all the kids had a wonderful time and were raving about it in school this morning, thanks mostly to your organisation, leadership and 300 wonderful rapport with the kids. You have a great gift!

It was a very special day which we will all remember. Very 200 many thanks again for everything. L & J Cowdery and especially Louis - 28/04/14

The number of guided walks for adult groups has 100 decreased over the last few years since the reserve w as opened to the public, with more groups now coming to the reserve for self-guided visits. How ever, a small number of 0 guided walks and activities including pond dipping and bird watching (and off site talks, not included in these figures) have been given to a range of groups including W.I., bird clubs, and nursing home residents.

A definite highlight from this area of our work was a lady enjoying her first pond dipping experience – at the tender Number of events Number of children age of 104 years!

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As a result of higher profile promotion, regular press releases and leaflet drops to local schools the number of children attending “ Wild Days Out” has increased this year, follow ing a sudden dip w ith the onset of the recession. Attendance by the older children, although improved, is still relatively low but sessions for the younger age group are now fully booked more often than not.

Wild Days Out are themed out-of-school holiday activity days of outdoor play and w ildlife study, run by the Wildlife Trust in partnership w ith New Forest District Council. During this period the themes have included bird watching, wetland wildlife, bushcraft, marine wildlife, meadow and woodland invertebrates and autumn wildlife activities.

They are a relatively small, but key part of our educational delivery at Blashford Lakes, encouraging repeat engagement and long-term relationships between the children and the site. This year w e w ere delighted to welcome back Isabel Boggust, a previous attendee of both the Blashford “ Wildlif e Watch” club and Wild Days Out. This summer she returned to us after an absence of a few years and volunteered as an education assistant for a number of events and activities, including a Wild Days Out.

Unsolicited positive feedback from parents is not uncommon and indicates the high regard in which the Wild Days Out are held:

Amelia has had the best day - thank you ... She is absolutely full of it and can't WAIT for the next Wild Days Out! K Beavan, 12/04/14

The children often leave their own thoughts in the visitor book too –

We’ll come again – love the toffee apples. Yum! Wild Days Out - where outdoor play meets informal learning and lasting memories are made! Photos by Jim Day and Michelle Crooks Charlotte H 30/10/13

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The public events programme, advertised in the quarterly produced “What’s On?” leaflet, the Wildlife Trust website and a number of other websites and local publications, has expanded Children and again this year. Number of events Adults Totals Young People The number of attendees is comparable with last year and w e 83 791 749 1540 have actually offered a few more events – an increase in attendance w as almost certainly hampered by the very wet w inter w eather.

The capacity to increase the number of events offered has been facilitated by the utilisation of the education volunteer team who now lead both the “Blashford Buggy Walks” on alternate Fridays and the newly introduced “ Healthy Walks” on alternate Wednesdays.

1000 The buggy walks in particular saw a real growth in popularity with up to 13 mothers attending at any one time in even the 800 most appalling weather. We look forward to a long lasting relationship with them as the children grow older and their 600 families grow ! 400 200 0

Number of walks/events Number of adults

Number of children

A Blashford buggy walk on one of the nicer weather days – photo by Michelle Crooks 10

The monthly meeting “Wildlife Tots” parent and toddler activity sessions also continue to be well supported and very highly regarded. This year we were successful in a bid to Hampshire County Council to part fund their delivery and monitoring the impact of attendance on the attendee’s. The evaluation findings w ere very positive:

76% of the surveyed parents reporting that they had not visited Blashford Lakes before starting Wildlife Tots. 94% of the parents feeling more confident at playing with their children in the outdoors. 35% of the parents increasing the amount of time they spend playing outdoors with their children. With a different seasonal themed activity each month, both the morning and afternoon sessions are over subscribed w ith 30+ children and parents/grand parents attending each session.

The programme of events has also included the usual regular guided w alks and pond/river dipping sessions for adults, as w ell as a range of family activity sessions. Our family activities are now registered with, and promoted by, the “Childrens University” as opportunities for children to receive accredited learning outside of school. The area manager w as so impressed w hen she “ secret shopped” an event that she w as moved to send in the following praise:

I went to Blashford lakes on Saturday for the family Bird Wildlife Tots provides great watching session. It was brilliant, the volunteers were so lovely opportunities for children, and Jim was fab with my daughter (who is disabled). I will be parents and grandparents to enjoy time together in the highly recommending Blashford Lakes to everyone! outdoors, while developing new ideas and skills. In addition w e represented the Blashford Lakes Project at the Ellingham Agricultural Show resulting in contact with an Photos by Tony Bates, estimated additional 320 children and 300 adults. Michelle Crooks and Tracy Standish

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Month Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug TOTAL Number of 1300 1085 1398 1630 1640 1344 1750 1393 1290 1190 1280 1320 16,620 Visitors

25000 1800 1600 20000 1400 1200 15000 1000 800 10000 600

400 5000 200

0 0

Number of Visitors

In line w ith other local countryside sites (e.g. Gardens with neighbouring Moors Valley Country Park confirmed that and Moors Valley Country Park), the project has seen the they have seen a similar steady decrease in visitors, w ith this number of visitors not engaged in staff led activity decrease reporting period seeing a 6.5% decrease below their 2012-14 again this year. This can not be attributed directly to anyone average. This is comparable with an 8% decrease in the thing, but may in part be due to inconsistencies in the method average number of visitors recorded at Blashford in the same of recording due to staffing changes and is also almost period. certainly due to the unusual extremes of w eather - January and February typically see the greatest footfall by bird That said, December actually saw an unusually high number of watchers enjoying the overwintering wildfowl and although visitors and the 1630 estimate may even be low. This can be relatively busy, the wet weather and storms during this period directly attributed to the spectacularly large starling roost in did adversely affect visitor numbers. Personal correspondence 12

the valley from late November through to the end of December. There has alw ays been a small roost of starlings Lovely visit. Saw birds, grass snakes and even a badger! Great. numbering between 500-5,000 birds at similar times for at Lowys and Orla(age 3) 06/06/14 least the last 12 years, but this year the roost w as estimated as numbering up to as many as 80,000 birds and the amazing pre-roost murmurations quickly attracted audiences of Very peaceful – nicest wildlife walk we’ve had. Coming back! anyw here betw een 20-50 people on a good evening. Mr. Jones, 19/06/14

Our seasonal wildlife themed scavenger hunts are available on the website and in the centre throughout the year and What and interesting place to come! Lots of information and continue to be well received by our families who look out for bird watching the “ change over” each school holiday. Shirley Anderson, 02/08/14

Organised, self-guided groups of bird-w atchers and ramblers continue to comprise a significant proportion of visitors to the I spotted a great spotted woodpecker and a kingfisher. It was reserve throughout the year, w ith larger groups in the winter months particularly. Careful management by the Blashford really amazing! FAB. team to co-ordinate such groups and ensure that they do not Amelia Bach (age 8), 11/08/14 clash w ith each other, or staff led education programme and w alks, has so far avoided any major problems with the reserve, wildlife or other visitors however and very few groups now turn up “ unannounced”.

The reserve is very popular with photographers especially and there are a growing number of regular (in some cases daily!) visitors, several of w hom are a valuable source of information to staff, both in terms of w ildlife sightings and reporting issues or problems out on site.

What our visitors say – excerpts from the “ Visitor Book” :

I have lived in this area for 60 years. This is my first time here and I will come again – so peaceful!

Frances Wingfield, 09/10/13

I had a lovely time jumping in the puddles, watching water birds and looking for rabbits! A typical starling murmuration audience in December, with standing room only Harry Holland, 31/12/13 in the Tern Hide and on the car park boundary bank – photo by Jim Day 13

Month Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug TOTAL

Number of " Tramper" mobility scooter bookings 1 4 2 1 2 3 7 2 8 4 4 3 41

The project’s tw o “ Tramper” mobility scooters saw an increase disabilities via Hampshire County Council’s “ Gatew ay” in use this year, despite the adverse w eather this w inter. In new sletter and w ebsite. addition, although not formally monitored, our general impression is that the number of visitors with mobility We continue to support Chris Gardner (from Touchwood Active impairment visiting the site and accessing it using their ow n Care), who, with his support worker, carries out w illow mobility scooters or w heelchairs has also increased. coppicing and nettle/bramble clearance work at Blashford Lakes on most Wednesdays throughout the year, achieving a lot of The volunteers have worked hard again to maintain a suitable work between them! standard of access along the surfaced footpaths - no mean feat, with the very wet weather throughout causing a lot of silting up This year the centre w as registered and surface damage. There hard work has however been much w ith the New Forest Community appreciated by our visitors: Toilet Scheme. Developed by New Forest Access for All in conjunction with the National Park Authority, “All this rain and still wheelchair friendly – thank you!” premises registered w ith the scheme Doug and Jane, 19/02/14 agree to visitors using their facilities w ithout necessarily buying anything, The reserve also continues to be frequently used by both or, in our instance, visiting the individuals as w ell as groups of people w ith physical disabilities reserve itself, thus making the New and/or learning difficulties, who find the site both welcoming Forest more accessible for people and relatively easily accessible. Local groups who visit the w ith disabilities, senior citizens and reserve on a weekly or monthly basis include several local Day parents w ith small children. We of Service Centres, The Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy, and course hope that our registration local schools including Boveridge House School. w ith the scheme w ill also promote the nature reserve as a suitable place Wild Days Out activity days and many of our public events for people w ith disabilities to visit. continue to be actively promoted as suitable for children with

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The regular reserve work parties on the first Sunday of each month and every Thursday remain well attended and continue to attract new recruits. In general these tasks have about five This year 15 volunteers have contributed 169 w orking days to and fifteen to twenty volunteers respectively. The range of the education programme. Recruited from all walks of life and tasks undertaken has been as varied as ever involving a mix of ranging from young people seeking experience in the field to continued maintenance with some new projects. With the retired teachers and police officers, they offer invaluable advent of the successful HLS application some of the tasks are support to the delivery of activities to school and uniformed now driven by the requirements of this scheme. youth groups by the Education Officers. Their efforts are alw ays greatly appreciated by both the staff as w ell as visiting groups Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust volunteer team based and their leaders and they all continue to be great ambassadors at the Lower Test reserve worked on the reserve approximately of the nature reserve generally. two full days each month with between three and six members on each visit. Once again their added expertise in the use of In addition several volunteers now independently lead a variety machinery allowed a number of more difficult tasks to be done. of regularly occurring activities which staff would be unable to The regular Blashford volunteers have also been acquiring extra commit to, namely the buggy walks, Wildlife Watch and healthy skills w ith Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust paying for w alks. two volunteers to receive training in the use of brushcutters and

It is apparent that many organisations will no longer accept a number to qualify, or re-qualify, as first aiders. students wishing to undertake work experience, but t he Education and Reserves Officers have again supported a number Special mention and credit should also go to 4 particular of students from local secondary schools and colleges this year volunteers. Thursday morning volunteer Jacki Griffiths for her and we will continue to do so. additional Saturday morning volunteer wardening work throughout the year. The extra pair of hands is invaluable in helping to maintain access around the reserve, checking on the condition of infrastructure and meeting/helping visitors at a busy time of the week. Ben Davies also volunteered regularly on Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout the winter and provided invaluable assistance to the reserve team. Thursday morning volunteer, education volunteer and all round practical wizard, Geoff Knott, helped with various extra tasks throughout the year. He w as particularly useful with dealing with storm blown trees, turning up on his own accord to help the Reserves Officer after high winds. Finally, thanks to Bob Taylor who was instrumental to the success of both the reptile and butterfly surveys, co-ordinating survey volunteers and compiling the records for both.

Just some of the education volunteers practicing their water safety skills during a training day this year - photo by Rex Waygood 15

Illegal angling remains a problem with continuing illegal movement of fish between lakes. Most of the problem is on Ellingham Lake, with some on Ibsley Water and Ivy Lake. Areas being used by fishermen have been blocked by felling trees into the water making it impossible to reel in fish. The Police have been notified and have stepped up their evening patrols.

A significant amount of work has been done to improve and maintain the Education Centre access track and sight lines at all of the Ellingham Drove crossing points. The quality of the surface of the accessible tracks was severely affected by the poor weather and all of the more heavily used footpaths have now been worked on to reinstate the high level of accessibility which has been one of the sites attractions for many less able visitors. Work on sections of less used footpath and monitoring New board walk on footpath by Ivy Lane – photo by Ed Bennett of the entire footpath network is on going.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust has updated its branding in line with the Wildlife Trusts nationally and the Blashford Lakes pages of the web site reviewed and refreshed during the process. The Blashford Lakes Blog remains ever increasingly popular - updated several times a w eek it now has a following of over 400 people (up from 244 last year).

A short section of boardwalk was put in by the Blashford volunteer group at the beginning of the footpath from Ivy Lane onto the footpath between Ivy Lake and Rockford lake. This area is extremely wet and muddy during the winter months so the boardwalk has much improved access here.

Volunteers filling pot holes in the Education Centre track – photo by Ed Bennett

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On going species recording work continued, with the moth trap being run regularly through out the spring and summer. Volunteers also carried out reptile surveys, under the supervision of Trust ecologist staff.

The monthly winter waterfowl counts were continued as in previous years. Breeding birds of the lakes and riparian habitats w ere surveyed to a level sufficient to gain estimates for most of the key species.

An artificial nest was added to the Ibsley Water osprey platform by staff during February. Osprey’s have not yet nested on the platform, but a single bird has been seen perching on it.

At least three bitterns were present on Ivy Lake during the winter and were watched by many visitors.

The warm hot summer weather, allowed many bird species to breed successfully, w ith w aders and terns being particularly successful.

The wider conservation work undertaken on site is outlined below with reference to the objective “To achieve optimum conditions for wildlife associated with the range of habitats on the site” the actions occurring within the reporting period are listed against the identified features.

Once again the main target of alien control was Himalayan (also know n as Indian) balsam Impatiens glandulifera along the Dockens Water. Pulling was undertaken by the Blashford volunteers on six dates between late May and mid July. HIWWT Staff and volunteers building an osprey nest – photo by Ed Bennett

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staff and volunteers from the Avon valley non-native plants project also carried out a further nine sessions during June and Trees were removed by staff and volunteers from the area of July. We are confident that every plant was removed on site. Fen just north of Ivy Silt pond, various areas of Ivy Lake and the Hopefully during 2015 it will be greatly reduced in number. old silt pond area by Lapwing hide to increase the area of wet fen and reedbed on the reserve.

The coppicing and pollarding of willows in the old silt ponds adjacent to the centre continued during February. Cut stools Staff removed birch and alder trees to help maintain the lichen w ere again protected from deer browsing with dead hedging. A heath habitat during February. Some birch, turkey oak and small amount of the pollarded willow was sold for a donation to buddleia was also removed from within the pumping station basket makers and community groups. fence line.

A significant area of willow/birch and non-native buddleia w as During February a team of entomologists from Natural England, removed from the old silt ponds to the north of the site Hampshire and Isle Wildlife Trust and the Hampshire Moth between Lapwing and Goosander Hides with excellent and very Group surveyed the lichen heath to try and find caterpillars of encouraging regrowth and regeneration of reed (Phragmites the rare lunar yellow underwing moth and thus prove if the australis) during the summer. species (not infrequently recorded as adults in the light trap) is breeding onsite. Although a number of caterpillars were found Much of the felled material was used to create dead hedge matching the description of lunar yellow underwing, their habitat/wildlife corridors for the benefit of invertebrates, similarity to other species meant the findings were not reptiles, small mammals and birds as w ell as to serve as conclusive. The survey w ill be repeated in February 2015 at physical barriers and screens to reduce or stop disturbance to which time larvae will be retained and reared to emergence in w ildlife by visitors/poachers in no-access areas. order to provide the conclusive evidence required.

Ragwort control was undertaken by volunteers around t he shore Removal of alien tree species including laurel, turkey oak, of Ibsley Water, with virtually every plant removed. sycamore and cotoneaster w as carried out in various areas

Eight New Forest ponies (5 adults and 3 foals) grazed the around the site. Buddleia was removed in the old silt ponds grassland around Ibsley Water from July till September. between the Goosander and Lapwing hides. The patch of Japanese Knotw eed along Ellingham Drove has much reduced in The open shore of Ibsley Water adjacent to the Tern hide was size since 2013 but still showed some regrowth, it w as sprayed turned over by digger during October to create areas of bare with herbicide tw ice during the summer. ground to improve and reinstate suitable nesting habitat for little ringed plovers and lapwing. The w estern shore w as mow n during October 2013 to control ragwort, nettles and thistles so Monthly wildfowl counts were carried out as usual and a making the habitat more suitable for grazing waterfowl and summary is appended to this document and data for key breeding lapwing. species and total w ildfow l discussed below . Breeding birds associated with the wetland habitats were surveyed and the results are included within this document.

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w ildfow l. The January count was just over the 600 mark, the threshold level for international importance.

The British breeding population of gadwall is increasing, : 2013-14 max count: 622 although it seems that the vast majority of the wintering birds Five year mean max count: 896 come here from central and Eastern Europe. There is a huge UK 1% significance threshold: 171 wintering population centred around the Black Sea area, but International threshold: 600 ringing evidence seems to suggest that the birds wintering here are a discrete population with no evidence to date of The counts of this species were down on the previous winter interchange with this larger more eastern population. and below the five year mean count. Blashford Lakes remains one of the country’s top sites for this species.

1000 900 800 700 600 2013-14 500 5yr mean 400 300 200 100 0 sept oct nov dec jan feb mar

The reason for slight decrease maybe the wet and mild winter weather, with gadwall not moving as far south as Hampshire and the increased availability of habitat due to the flooded conditions both within the Avon Valley and the wider countryside. The counts did reflect previous years w ith the Gadwall feeding on Ivy Lake – photo by Bob Chapman highest numbers present during December and January. It seems likely that this is weather related, with the highest counts in colder seasons, so during milder winters we can probably expect slightly lower numbers of gadwall and other 19

: 2013-14 max count: 1495 total of 37000 bird days which translates into a food Five year mean max count: 1498 consumption of 13,320kg of weed over the course of the UK 1% significance threshold: 1730 winter. This assumes that all their food is obtained from the lakes and it is certainly possible that gadwall feed partly within An excellent year with numbers well up on last years counts. the valley at times. However it may also be an underestimate as waterfowl of this size typically take in around 50% of their The pattern of the counts was unusual with the highest body weight in food each day and 360g would only fulfil this numbers in November but things increased as usual w ith intake for the smallest individuals. It is also of note that the numbers falling quite rapidly in the New Year. Quite why there wigeon that feed on the lakes also largely eat the same weed as w ere more coot this season is unclear, but numbers of ducks do mute sw ans, although both of these species do also feed to like gadwall and wigeon were down which may have left more a large degree in the valley. weed for coot to feed on. : 2012-13 max count: 355 1800 Five year mean max count 275 UK 1% significance threshold 148 1600 1400 Numbers were down on the previous winters counts by quite some margin. Exactly why is unclear but again like gadwall it 1200 seems probable that the wet mild winter may be a factor, with birds not moving as far south or finding other favourable habitat 1000 2013-14 else were due to flooding. Shovelers at Blashford Lakes 800 5yr mean continue to be well above the UK threshold for national significance for this species based on the five year mean count 600 and achieved an all time record high during this reporting period.

400 400 200 350 0 sept oct nov dec jan feb mar 300 250 Both the coot and gadwall wintering at Blashford Lakes mainly 2013-14 eat waterweeds and overwhelmingly Elodea spp. w hich is the 200 dominant macrophyte species in these lakes and an introduced 5yr mean plant from North America. It can be estimated that the food 150 intake of these birds is approximately 360g wet weight of weed 100 per day, based upon a food requirement of approximately 1000kJ per day in winter per bird (Crocker D, Hart A, Gurney J, 50 & McCoy. 2002). Based on the 2012-13 counts the lakes held coot and gadwall for approximately 18500 bird days each, a 0 sept oct nov dec jan feb mar 20

: 2012-13 max count: 6743 Five year mean max count: 5116

400

350

300

250 2013-14 200 5yr mean 150

100

50

0 sept oct nov dec jan feb mar

Total waterfowl counts showed a typical mid-winter peak. The Lesser black-backed gulls on Ibsley Water – photo by Bob Chapman maximum counts for 2013-14 were slightly down on 2012-13 but were still above the five year mean.

The peak numbers w ere reached in January with quite a big The large gull roost which forms on Ibsley Water each evening drop in February. A rise in March is migrant birds from the between September and March was once again present. The continent heading north in spring. roost peaked with around 12,000 larger gulls, mainly lesser black-backed gulls and 5000 smaller, mainly black-headed gulls. Looking at the range of counts over the last five years it is clear From January large gulls began to reduce in number, that numbers vary quite widely from year to year, with the mid- compensated with a rise of smaller gulls. Common gulls were winter maximum ranging close to 3000 birds. recorded during January and February with a peak of around 100 in late January. Small numbers of Mediterranean gulls were The large gull roost that gathers on Ibsley Water in the evenings also recorded during February and March. Five little gulls in throughout the winter is not included in these figures. December w as an unusual record.

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Canada goose Thirteen pairs attempted to nest on Blashford Lake, three on Ivy

A good year for most species due to the warm weather, wading Lake and two on Ibsley Water, Three pairs with a total of fifteen birds in particular fared much better than the previous year. young were recorded on Ibsley Water but these birds came from Only gulls and terns showed a very slight decrease in nests on Mockbeggar Lake outside the reserve boundary. productivity. Egyptian goose Great crested grebe One pair attempted to nest on Blashford Lake and another on A total of ten pairs attempted to breed over the whole reserve. the Ibsley Water osprey nesting platform. The first sign of breeding behaviour was a bird on a nest in Mockbeggar Silt pond on the 8 th of April, eventually raising two Shelduck young. Two pairs bred on Ivy Lake, one pair raising three chicks One pair had a total of seven ducklings on Ibsley Water and the other two, all survived to independence. Another pair however they were continually harassed by Egyptian Geese successfully raised three young on Ellingham pound. Six pairs until four of the young were separated from the adults. They attempted to nest on Ibsley Water, two failed when the nests survived on their own for a few days only to be predated by were broken up by wave action; the other four appear to have greater black backed gulls. The outcome of the remaining three successfully raised at least five young. young is unknown as the adults lead them out of the reserve.

Little grebe This species bred on Ibsley Water, Mockbeggar Silt Pond, bred on Ibsley Water, Ivy Lake, the Dockens Water and Ellingham Lake and Ivy Lake. Two pairs had one chick each on Blashford Lake. Most broods w ere small and the largest Ibsley Water, one pair had two chicks on Ellingham Lake and recorded w as nine ducklings on Ibsley Water. one pair had two chicks on Mockbeggar Silt Pond. The pair on Ivy Lake disappeared early in the season and as the nest w as Gadwall raided by a predator probably an American mink that w as seen Although present in small numbers throughout the breeding in the area. season no nesting or ducklings were recorded from this species.

Mute swan Tufted duck Although this species was present through out the year, no Tw o females w ith young w ere seen on Blashford Lake, three on pairs attempted to breed on the reserve. Ivy Lake, three on Ibsley Water, and two broods on Mockbeggar Silt Pond. It is w as not possible to record exact numbers that Greylag goose made it to independence but it seems that a percentage of Two pairs with a total of nine young were seen on Ibsley young were predated by pike as some broods declined quickly Water. Ten pairs nested on the two islands in Blashford Lake, in number. however it was not possible to make an accurate count of numbers of young raised as many moved on to the surrounding Coot lakes fairly quickly. Pairs nested on Ibsley Water, Ellingham Lake, Ivy Lake, Mockbeggar Silt Pond and Blashford Lake but exact numbers were not determined. One pair raised two young on Ellingham Lake and another pair had four young on Mockbeggar Silt Pond. 22

Three pairs attempted on Ivy Lake, it was not possible to record numbers of young. Ibsley Water had at least six pairs and at least eleven young w ere recorded.

Moorhen Two fledged young were recorded on Ibsley Water, two on Mockbeggar Silt Pond and three on Blashford Lake. A nest w as predated on Ivy Lake, probably by American mink.

Water rail No birds w here recorded during the breeding period.

Oystercatcher Tw o pairs w ere present on Ibsley Water, each with one chick. One chick disappeared presumable taken by a predator and the other survived to the flying stage. Oystercatchers didn’t attempt to nest on Blashford Lake as they did during 2013, probably because the island they used last year had become covered with bramble and Japanese Knotweed. The Reserve Officer has now removed the vegetation from this island so Lapwing chick, Ibsley Water – photo by Ed Bennett hopefully Oystercatchers will find it favourable in 2015.

Little ringed plover After a failure to breed last year, habitat improvements were carried out to on the Ibsley Water shore line in front of Tern Hide. This paid off with two pairs of little ringed plover nesting, one pair raising one chick and another raising three all of which seem to have fledged successfully.

Lapwing Seven Pairs of Lapwing attempted to nest in the grassland around Ibsley Water. A total of twelve young survived to flying stage. A great improvement on 2013’s total of zero.

Redshank Although redshank w ere present in small numbers (tw o-four) throughout the recording period, no displaying or breeding activity w as recorded.

Common tern feeding young, Ivy Lake – photo by Mark Wright 23

Common tern Migrant terns peaked on the 23 rd of April with 86 present, with around 45 of them being Arctic terns. The Ivy Lake tern rafts where put out during the second week of May after some repairs and improvements w ere made to them by the Blashford volunteers. Tw enty-two pairs of common tern raised a total of thirty-four chicks to the flying stage. Three very young chicks were found dead on the rafts when they were taken in September, the cause of death is unknown.

Black-headed gull Colonies w ere present on Blashford Lake and Ibsley Water. The Blashford Lake colony appears to be around 30-40 pairs and the Ibsley Water colony around fifty. How ever counts were difficult due the tall vegetation on the islands. A further six pairs nested on Ivy Lake.

Mediterranean gull This species w as not recorded breeding this year.

Cuckoo This species bred on or very near to the reserve as a very young juvenile was photographed by a visitor on the 5th of August in the Ibsley Water Silt Pond area. The host species w as most likely to have been a reed warbler given the surrounding habitat.

Kingfisher Two pairs nested along the Dockens Water, juvenile birds were seen in the vicinity of both nests but it is unclear exactly how many fledged.

Sand martin The sand martin colony at the Goosander Hide is dow n in number again with just thirty-two occupied tunnels. It appears that many birds from the colony have moved to an alternative breeding site in a quarry on the Estate on the other side of the A338. How ever this site is unlikely to remain suitable in the long-term and hopefully birds will return to the reserve. Juvenile cuckoo – photo by Russ Tofts 24

Cetti’s warbler This species was not recorded during the 2014 breeding Volunteers continued to survey areas of the reserve for reptiles season. At least three individuals have been present on the during 2014. As w ith last year adder and grass snakes w ere reserve since November 2014 so hopefully they will remain to recorded to the north of the reserve and grass snakes to the breed during 2015. south. How ever much higher numbers w ere recorded than last year, especially adders with the best survey day being 8 Reed warbler recorded on the 29 th of August 2014. It w ould appear there are Reed w arblers held territories on Ellingham Lake (three), Ivy at least 15 individuals present on site (E. Bennett pers.obs). An Lake (seven), Ibsley Water (one) and the Ibsley/Mockbeggar Silt additional record of common lizard by the Education Centre Pond area (ten). An additional pair nested in a small (3 metre x pond w as also of interest, representing a first for the reserve, 12 metre) patch of reed on the Conbloc area. Habitat although this species is present on the eastern side of improvements to increase the area of reed at the Ibsley Water Mockbeggar Lake (formerly part of the reserve). Slow w orm Silt Pond area were carried out during November 2013 and w as not picked up during the survey, but a record of a slow hopefully this species will benefit from this over the next few worm in the Willow Wood education area by Jim Day w as years. evidence that a small population persists in or near the nature reserve. The results of the surveys are show n in the table Reed bunting below : Tw o territories w ere occupied on Ivy Lake, one on Ellingham Lake, one on Ivy silt pond and six in the Ibsley/Mockbeggar Silt Pond area. 2014 March April May June July August Sept TOTAL North Adder 3 3 6 9 8 8 2 39 Orchid counts were carried out over the whole site w ith the Grass Snake 2 1 6 1 10 follow ing results: 46 bee orchids, 20 pyramidal orchids, 6 Slow Worm 0 southern marsh orchids and 352 broad leaved helleborines. Common 0 Lizard Total number of records 3 3 8 9 9 14 3 49 (North) South Adder 0 Grass Snake 1 1 2 Slow Worm 0 Common 0 Lizard Total number of records 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 (South)

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A Robinson type moth trap with 125W mercury vapour lamp was run beside the centre on approximately 140 nights.

Highlights w ere a scarce merveille du jour, merveille du jour and seven species of haw k-moth. Two Clifden nonpareil would have been more of a highlight in September 2013 - had they not been killed by w asps w hilst in the trap!

The Blashford volunteers carried out 2 weekly Butterfly transects, one on the northern part of the reserve (Sembcorp Bournemouth Water) and one on the southern (Wessex Water). They recorded an impressive 2066 butterflies (south 1053, north 1013 ) of 23 different species. The totals are show n in the table overleaf.

Common lizard, education centre pond 3/8/14 The butterfly sighting of the year has to go to Bob Chapman – photo by Steve Lankester who stepped outside to have a brief break from the office one June afternoon to find a white letter hairstreak nectaring on a hemlock water-dropwort flower by the Education Centre dipping pond. This is the first record of this species for the reserve and maybe indicative of a breeding local population – the caterpillars feed on elm, a relatively common species along the reserve boundary.

26 Adder, near Lapwing Hide, March 2014 – photo by Ed Bennett

South North Totals

Meadow Brown 230 258 488 Gatekeeper 153 214 367 Peacock 138 110 248 Speckled Wood 74 171 245 Small White 113 53 166 Small/Essex Skipper 44 40 84 Green Veined White 43 33 76 Red Admiral 39 28 67 Comma 53 13 66 Brimstone 29 21 50 Small Tortoiseshell 27 22 49 Common Blue 30 8 38 Small Copper 29 2 31 Large White 22 8 30 White letter hairstreak, 24/6/14 – photo by Bob Chapman Ringlet 8 11 19 Orange Tip 5 7 12 Brow n Argus 7 1 8 Holly Blue 7 1 8 Marbled White 0 8 8 Silver-Washed Fritillary 1 1 2 Large Skipper 0 2 2 Crocker, D., Hart, A., Gurney, J. & McCoy, C. “Project Silver Studded Blue 0 1 1 PN0908: Methods for estimating daily food intake of wild birds Small Heath 1 0 1 and mammals” – Final report, Defra July 2002. 27

Formal Education

Year 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

Pre-School pupils 65 123 71 228 62 25 55 72 87 12 29

Primary Education 986 1005 1064 1090 937 1150 1069 1402 1235 1228 1525

Secondary Education 368 466 422 406 354 381 248 256 149 237 218

Tertiary Education 3 90 59 28 51 61 24

Life-long learning (adults) 39 73 78 77 166 291 106 158 177 375 121

Total number of groups 40 42 57 60 61 79 56 67 63 77 67

Informal Education

Year 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

Number of groups 17 23 34 34 73 52 43 34 48 37 34

Number of children and young people 275 256 844 343 760 598 430 442 533 596 442 Number of adults 270 265 273 391 672 431 403 315 397 448 278

Wild Days Out

Year 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

Number of events 12 16 14 14 16 14 14 16 17 15 16

Number of children 229 252 255 246 288 265 291 299 227 222 279

Public Events

Year 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

Number of walks/events 22 21 28 29 39 21 35 50 71 74 83

Number of adults 219 250 425 792 415 317 460 705 798 834 791

Number of children 152 69 164 345 133 91 194 383 531 723 749

Visitors (non-guided)

Year 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

Recorded Visitor Numbers 400 400 778 7542 17126 21069 20955 22258 19731 17905 16620

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Formal Education - school/college/university groups Adult Education Formal + Adult Education Number Number of Adults in Pre- Total Infant Junior Secondary Tertiary Ed Total of Adults groups attendance school (including (excluding groups attending attending adults) adults)

45 268 11 604 614 209 54 1492 18 208 1968

Informal Education - youth and scouting groups, WI and natural history groups etc. Number of 5 to 12 to < 5' s Adult Total groups 11' s 25' s

40 60 437 57 521 1075

"Wild Days Out" - childrens' school holiday Public Events and Guided Walks activity days Number Number of 8 to of events/ Children and 5 to 7' s Total Adults Totals groups 12' s w alks, Young People talks

15 139 93 232 79 766 777 1543

Guided Visitors Volunteer Input visit total Outreach work - including school assemblies, Ellingham Show, illustrated Tramper WI/RSPB talks etc.

Total Visitors to bookings number of the reserve Number Volunteer Volunteer participants not Total vol of days days in staff led, participating days volunteers (Education) (Conservation) Number on-site in staff led Outreach of Adults < 18' s activity activity Totals Groups

4818 16711 36 1175 172.75 506 678.75 21 689 515 1204 29

SPECIES Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

Mute Swan 84 77 72 39 31 11 22 Bewicks Swan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 White-fronted Goose 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Greylag Goose 71 4 3 12 26 4 22 Canada Goose 171 81 137 262 188 83 109 Barnacle Goose 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Egyptian Goose 1 13 9 4 8 2 10 Shelduck 0 0 1 0 3 0 3 Wigeon 44 292 423 1521 1655 736 393 Gadwall 153 293 391 622 472 239 88 Teal 65 90 103 487 477 166 100 Mallard 61 211 149 183 160 40 50 Pintail 0 0 3 84 198 78 50 Garganey 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Shoveler 176 79 264 149 355 127 246 Red Crested Pochard 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 Pochard 2 22 50 125 217 121 22 Tufted Duck 211 242 419 543 449 358 561 Goldeneye 0 1 2 8 6 16 6 Smew 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Goosander 0 0 1 39 11 3 3 Ruddy Duck 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Little Grebe 46 31 76 36 50 23 27 Great Crested Grebe 101 86 68 32 65 40 24 Black-necked Grebe 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 Cormorant 62 90 94 74 33 23 16 Bittern 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Little Egret 4 2 5 0 0 0 0 Great White Egret 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 Grey Heron 18 41 15 4 4 2 0 Water Rail 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 Moorhen 3 12 10 5 14 7 12 Coot 797 1032 1495 1221 752 306 135

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Oystercatcher 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 Little Ringed Plover 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ringed Plover 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Golden Plover 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lapwing 206 178 17 18 0 14 0 Dunlin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ruff 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Common Snipe 4 14 0 0 0 0 0 Black-tailed Godwit 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Redshank 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Greenshank 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Green Sandpiper 1 3 2 0 2 1 0 Common Sandpiper 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kingfisher 2 3 6 2 1 1 0

Total waterfowl 2288 2901 3818 5475 5180 2405 1903

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