© Chris Atkinson The Blashford Project is a partnership betw een Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, New Forest District Council, Sembcorp Bournemouth Water and Wessex Water. How to cite report: No part of this document may be reproduced without This document should be cited as: author, date, publisher etc. permission. 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 England 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 1 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, Ringwood, 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 Ibsley 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 Blashford Lakes 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 New Forest District 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 2 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 Fordingbridge (Dorset) 4 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.