This section is for important announcents and interesting information relevant to the here and now. No doubt items will stay beyond the here and now, but we will try to keep this as relevant as possible.
It is the time for Dogs to be on close leads
The breeding season for ground nesting birds begins officially for ground nesting birds on April the 1st. By law, as The Lowes is a nature reserve, all dogs being walked here are required to be on a lead to avoid disturbance to ground nesting birds and other vertebrates such as Lizards, Snakes, Deer and other mammals. Nightjars, Woodcock, and Woodlarks are of particular significance. we would ask all dog owners to take note of this
We have a video from a trail cam, of a dog trashing a nightjar breeding site . All our rare breeding birds are monitored and we won’t hesitate to take this further if it occurs again.
Also the presence of adders- a protected species as well – can be of danger to your dog. Their bite is poisonous and vetrerinary treatment can be very expensive.
The ponies and cattle, which do so much to help maintain the Lowes in a good state are also vulnerable to dog disturbance.
Nightjar egg theft
Last season we had a Nightjar nest robbed of its 2 eggs -1 of only 4 on the site. We were fortunate that the person who monitors our nightjars picked up that this had taken place and had a trail cam video of the theft which also picked up a distinctive walking stick which was being used to frighten off the adults. This video was given to the police and it helped identify and prove that it was a known egg collector who was the theif. For details see
https://www.norfolk.police.uk/news/norfolk/news/news/2024/february/man-fined-over-driving-charges/norfolk-man-illegally-collected-almost-3000-eggs/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Orlo&s=09Chiffchaffs are back!
Over the last two weeks of March the summer visitig warbler Chiffchaff, have returned in some numbers for the breeding season. Their distinctive song Chiff – chaff Chiff – Chaff repeated many times gives them their name. They are GROUND nesters and very vulnerable to disturbance.
Chiffchaffs are doing well as a result of climate change. Warmer winters mean that they no longer need to migrate to the continent and many now winter in the south of the UK, indeed many overwinter here. This means when it comes to the breeding season they have a head start in competition with other species that have to come from Africa, like Willow Warblers, once common on the Lowes and now perhaps extinct here?