Volunteers' success at Shapwick

Barn owls have already been spotted hunting at Shapwick Moor

More than 1,000 hedge plants have been planted across Shapwick Moor, as part of a project to turn 140 acres of arable farmland into a nature reserve.

In the past year, volunteers from the Hawk and Owl Trust have also put up nestboxes, laid hedges and replanted rare native wildflowers.

The Hawk and Owl Trust says their work is helping birds of prey numbers like red kites and marsh harriers.

Their research also shows water vole and otter populations are improving.

Chris Sperring, conservation officer for the Hawk and Owl Trust, said: 'We're waiting for the first inhabitants, what we get at the moment is otters passing through very regularly. We find lots of signs of them but we haven't got any of them to stay, by putting in the two otter holts, we hope they'll like the accommodation."

'Feeding on dragonflies'

Work carried out by volunteers has focussed on turning the farmland back into a grassland area, by planting native species, hedge laying, coppicing to make it more wildlife friendly.

Volunteers are planting native wildflowers to improve biodiversity

"We've got a local farmer in there at the moment grazing the land, what we need to do is get the nutrients out of the ground and continually grow the grass, graze it, mow it and then gradually the nutrients will come out of the ground."

The trust is also carrying out research to find out what effect the conservation work is having on the wildlife.

"We're trying to carry out bird surveys at the moment, mammal surveys, plant surveys. We're doing lots of studies, because as we change the land back to something that's more wildlife friendly, we want to record those changes taking place."

Chris says their research shows their methods are working.

"During the summer there have been hobbies there, which is the small African falcon feeding on dragonflies and taking the odd swift, swallow or house martin, a very, very fast bird of prey. We have the common kestrel, the occasional barn owl, and of course it will become a lot more barn owl friendly as the years go by."

'Cluster of three'

Shapwick Heath is becoming more attractive for small mammals, which in turn helps the birds of prey which feed on them.

One particular success is the water vole, which is now a specially protected species in the UK.

"We actually look for evidence along the ditches and we look at the fresh holes. If you have a cluster of three or four bank-side holes, and they're quite big holes, it tells us there are breeding animals there.

"A male could have two or three females with him, so if all those females are producing young, the population turnaround, goes up, plateaus, slightly drops off (because they are heavily predated) and goes back up again is pretty regular there, so in other words it's pretty healthy."

It is estimated the project will take around five years to complete.

"If you do one thing in nature, it ricochets. If you were to plant a bramble bush in your garden, the ricochet in terms of that would be enormous in terms of the amount of insects, birds, small mammals that can live in on or around it," said Chris.

"So when people say do one little thing for nature, you're actually doing an awful lot."