COCKENZIE POWER STATION: BIODIVERSITY INFORMATION Key facts: • Opened in 1968 • Located at Prestonpans on the south shore of the Firth of Forth • Disposal of ash has reclaimed 134 • The lagoons are rich habitat for wildlife – especially wading hectares at Mussleburgh Lagoons birds and waterfowl Site Description Priority Habitats and Species The grounds of Cockenzie Power Station, its coal The Forth Estuary, with its mudflats, mussel beds and plant and ash settling lagoons provide a range of sandy shores, offers feeding grounds for thousands habitats that are attractive to wildlife, including of wading birds and wildfowl. At high tide, woodland, meadows and wetlands. however, these birds need a safe place to roost The 120-hectare ash lagoons in Musselburgh are widely until the invertebrate-rich mud is exposed recognised as one of the best places to watch birds again and coastal roost sites are becoming increasingly rare due to pressure from in Scotland. In particular, Lagoon No.8 and waterfront developments. wader scrapes – shallow freshwater pools Wildflower lined with clay built on a Musselburgh Lagoons offers the only major decommissioned area – have been roost on the south shore of the Forth Meadow included within the Firth of Forth Site of between Cramond and Aberlady. In winter, Efforts are ongoing to establish at 10 ha Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in hundreds wildflower meadow at disused lagoon recognition of their value to birds. of waders, gulls and ducks congregate on No.7. The lagoons also form a the flat ashflats of active lagoons, the short component in the Firth of Forth grassland of the meadows and on the Local school pupils have planted seeds of 19 purpose-built wader scrapes which provide wild plants, including Ox-eye Daisy (right), to Special Protection Area and Ramsar site designations. extra feeding for waders throughout the tidal recreate a habitat that is scarce in East cycle. Lothian. Grey Partridge and Skylark breed Known as Levenhall Links, the site is More than 250 species of birds have been recorded in the meadow, while hay is harvested a working example of industry and at the site including many rarities, such as Royal Tern in autumn by a farmer to create conservation going hand in hand, (a first sighting for Scotland) and Western Sandpiper (sixth conditions for roosting waders. with the creation of wildlife-rich habitats for Britain). Key species include Oystercatcher (peak 3250); from reclaimed land. Bar-tailed Godwit (1136); Redshank (463); Dunlin (420), The purpose-built Golden Plover (1450); and the UK BAP species Curlew wader scrapes at Musselburgh Public Access (386) and Lapwing (1198). The John Muir Way, a long-distance footpath created with funding help from In 2009, 149 species were observed with highlights including Little-ringed Plover, Little Egret, Wood Sandpiper, ScottishPower, skirts the seawall along the northern edge of the lagoons. A large Pomarine Skua, Water Pipit, Marsh Harrier and Wilson's Phalarope which is a vagrant from America. area of redundant lagoons has also been handed over to benefit the local UK BAP breeding species include Grey Partridge, Skylark, Dunnock, Song Thrush, Grasshopper Warbler, House community and promote biodiversity. Sparrow, Linnet, Bullfinch, Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting. To encourage breeding by the Tree Sparrow, another Access to Levenhall Links, the wader scrapes and a boating pond is reached from a UK BAP species which is now nesting nearby, nestboxes have been recently installed. signposted track off Prestonpans Road, west of the race course. Growing conditions for plant species in the area are challenging but redundant lagoons have been planted with native trees and shrubs including Alder, Willow, Birch, Rowan, Ash, White Poplar and Whitebeam, Gorse, Broom For health and safety, the public is encouraged to stay on designated footpaths and Hawthorn. Management of the now-maturing woodland is by East Lothian Council's Forestry Department and around the active lagoons. with the meadows, it now hosts 177 species of plants, sustains a large population of invertebrates and offers food and cover for nesting birds and small mammals. Additionally, around a dozen butterfly species are recorded annually while, in 2006, the site recorded one of the Contact: Cockenzie Power Station, Prestonpans, East Lothian EH32 9SD first Scottish records of a new colonist, the Comma. Tel: 01875 810 075 Web: www.spenergywholesale.com COCKENZIE POWER STATION: BIODIBERSITY INFORMATION Our Biodiversity Action Plan Sand Martins Launched in 2004 to preserve and enhance habitats and wildlife on its sites, the station's Biodiversity Recently, Cockenzie staff and contractors created an artificial nesting bank at Levenhall Action Plan (BAP) sets out a list of ecological enhancement objectives and presents a timescale for their Links to give Sand Martins a new home. implementation. Community involvement is at the core of the plan and Cockenzie works together with These Swallow-like summer visitors have bred in operational areas of the lagoons for several local people and organisations to improve the environment and create new habitats for wildlife that years and potentially affected the removal of ash, which is reused to make sustainable everybody can enjoy. construction products. Therefore, prior to the birds' return in spring 2009, station staff and In recent years the station has supported the Battlefield Project, designed to enhance the site of the contractors from the Geddes Group transported pulverized fuel ash from the lagoons and 1745 Battle of Prestonpans. 10 hectares of land around the coal plant has been handed profiled a nesting 'cliff' on the eastern side of the bird reserve. This gave the martins an over to the local Prestonlinks Woodland Group and it has created new areas of alternative nest site away from active areas of the lagoons and a total of 29 pairs woodland, two orchards and a large wildflower meadow, providing habitats for excavated nesting holes in the new face – with just three pairs elsewhere on the biodiversity and green spaces for the community. Continuing efforts to lagoons compared with 70 at Lagoon No.6 in 2008. enhance the area have also seen hedges planted by local schools. Levenhall Links Ranger Nick Aitken said: ‘The positive outcomes of the trial Countryside Ranger Nick Aitken said: ‘The project is involving people included attracting the birds to a new face in an area previously not used from the two communities, who have planted native species and for nesting. Birders could watch the spectacle of traditional Scottish varieties of fruit trees. the martins from the comfort of the bird ‘The aim is to bring the villages closer and create a community reserve's hides without disturbing the green space that everyone can enjoy.’ nesting birds.’ The station participated in the publication of a new management plan for Levenhall Links for 2009-2013 and works closely with Nick Country Ranger and his colleagues at East Lothian Countryside Ranger Service to maintain its habitats as far as operations will allow. Ash extraction ScottishPower has co- from active lagoons is only carried out in May and June to avoid sponsored a Countryside disturbance to roosting waders and because good water Ranger for Musselburgh management is vital to the wader scrapes, Cockenzie supplies Lagoons since 1992, water from its dust suppression system to maintain the habitat. helping to promote Other efforts to help local birdlife include the erection of a nestbox for biodiversity in the wider Peregrine Falcons on the station's structure in the hope a roosting pair community. Nick Aitken will stay to breed successfully. A Kestrel nestbox has also been put is employed by East installed at the coal plant and is also proving popular with breeding Barn Lothian Council to assist Owls. the public and enhance In the wider community, ScottishPower is a partner in East Lothian Biodiversity their enjoyment and which implements the local BAP. The company provided £150,000 in funding understanding of Levenhall over its first three years, enabling a host of biodiversity projects to be initiated. Links. He also monitors the wildlife that uses the wader A Place for People scrapes and lagoons. Nick is in close contact with staff at Cockenzie Cockenzie further enhanced facilities recently for the birdwatchers who flock to Power Station and is using his experience to Musselburgh Lagoons. The lagoons and Levenhall Links are acclaimed as being advise on delivery of the site's biodiversity action one of the best places to watch birds in Scotland. Three public birdwatching plan. hides have already been built at the wader scrapes, with the help of Landfill Tax funds from ScottishPower. Three further hides have now been built on the site of the former outfalls along the lagoons' seawall to enable visitors to watch the Forth Clockwise from top: Musselburgh Grammar School Estuary in comfort and without disturbing seabirds and wildfowl. hedge planting (pic: Nick Aitken); Nick Aitken, the A network of paths and open spaces at Levenhall is used by walkers, cyclists, golfers co-sponsored Countryside Ranger; a member of the and footballers and a boating pond near the wader scrapes has its own wildlife interest public enjoying one of the new seawatching hides built and is used for outdoor education, canoeing, sailing and windsurfing. on the seawall (pic: Nick Aitken) In July, the lagoons are the venue for the ‘Honest Toun Race’ - a running race held as part of Musselburgh Festival Week..