Ecology | Blackwater Carr

Species & Habitat

We have a wide range of species at Blackwater Carr, on almost every visit we find something new! The recording is an ongoing process that we are constantly refining.

We have 26 red-listed species on site, 63 on the amber list, 722 on the green list and others we are still working with experts to correctly identify and classify.

BIRDS

A significant number of our bird species are of conservation concern. Nineteen bird species of the 70 birds red-listed by the ‘2021 Birds of Conservation Concern report’ and thirty of the 103 amber-listed birds have been recorded at Blackwater Carr. That’s a significant 28% of Britain's threatened birds in our 2.2 hectares!

The South dyke seems to be a popular hunting area for barn owls, marsh harriers and herons. We often hear barn owls at night, but have only seen one when it landed on top of the workstation. We often hear cuckoos in spring and summer. We have seen them as well. Treecreepers, the only small British land bird with a curved beak, visit the bird feeders, preferring suet pellets, before walking up willow trunks and inspecting the crevices. Marsh tits and willow tits often visit the bird feeders as well, although they are hard to tell apart! We have had blue tits and great tits using the nest boxes as well as a wren that built a nest under the shed roof, and a long-tailed tit that built a domed nest out of lichen and spider web in a bramble bush. Surprisingly we've also caught sight of a bittern whilst mowing which is unexpected given, they have a reputation of being reclusive and very well camouflaged.

Heron

found on our early morning walk

Blackbird Nest

Bittern

one of the many

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PLANTS & FUNGI

Blackwater is about 30% covered in trees, mainly goat, grey, white, sallow and osier willows. They tend to hybridize easily so identification is uncertain. We also have many alders, a large white willow and a magnificent oak tree, which unusually branches all the way down to the ground.

Understanding the importance of native species reintroduction, we have planted 13 native trees: birch, downy birch, crab apple, rowan, aspen, sessile oak, and cherry. Some of these we have had to protect from deer damage. The five silver and one downy birch represent a birch carr habitat more often found further West. The three crab apple trees are to encourage bullfinches and water voles. The Rowan is there because it is becoming less common in Norfolk, the Aspen and the Sessile Oak, because there were none on site. The wild cherry is there to provide food for the birds and autumn colour.

We have planted two native hedges using hawthorn/blackthorn mix, to replace the ones destroyed by farming. Additionally, we have also planted purging buckthorn, juniper, bird cherry and spindle trees in the native hedge by the track. As part of our management plan, we coppiced the willows and used the branches to create a dead hedge habitat. It was not long before several of the willow stakes were shooting and it is now inhabited by many species. We have also planted 100 native bluebells which the deer seem to like too and 100 native daffodils under our oak tree which are establishing nicely.

Along the main track into the site, we continue to record a surprising number of new plants including pineapple weed, scarlet pimpernel, speedwell and chickweed. The paths are cut sparingly and to 50cm or longer. We cut lower to try and control ground ivy, an invasive weed, in the new tree planting area however.

Of the more colourful fungi on site, we have seen blue roundheads and scarlet elfcup, neither have reappeared in the same places however, hopefully because some fungi don't produce fruiting bodies every year.

Willow hide

We like to sit here and look out over the oak meadow

Marsh thistle

Yarrow

found in the native hedge and wild flower meadow

Scarlet Elfcup

found near the bird feeders

Lichen

Porcelain Fungus

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MAMMALS

Our wildlife cameras provide much detail of daily life here at Blackwater Carr nevertheless some animals we have only heard so far!

Our most recent sighting was of a grey seal swimming in the river opposite the entrance. Voles breed in the compost bin, wood mice are in the shed, and we have seen shrews and water shrews. Although we have lots of molehills and tunnels, we haven't managed to see or get one on a wildlife camera.

Muntjac deer are the most commonly seen, this is because they breed all year round. We tend to blame them for eating the bark of the new trees and hedging, although we also have Chinese water deer, roe deer and red deer on site. The Red fox is perhaps our favourite mammal however. The foxes had mange, so we treated their food with a homeopathic medicine which seemed to work, and we're pleased about. Steve has also seen a rare black fox which is not a separate species, however it represents only one percent of the fox population in the UK.

We've heard the characteristic plop of a water vole on a couple of occasions, so we decided to monitor with a water vole trap with a camera and food. Instead however, we got wood mice, ducks, blackbird and water rail, but no water voles. We have also seen an otter heading off towards the river. Pipistrelle bats use the track and the south dyke to hunt but it seems that Blue tits have nested in the bat boxes!

Otter

photo credit Pixababy

Chinese Water Deer

Water vole

Photo Credit: DSD

Grey Seal

Photo Credit: Benjamin Farren

Fox

Photo Credit Pixababy

Roe Deer

Photo Credit: Krzysztof

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REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS

Blackwater has a healthy population of grass snakes, which we often see under corrugated sheets where they warm up. We have seen young snakes less than a foot long, up to our queen grass snake, which is over five feet long, and others that are every size in between. Currently, as we are trying to recognize the scale patterns on the side of their heads to identify them, Steve tries to catch them to take photos. One snake appears to be blind from a fungal disease.

We are hoping to introduce slowworms to the site, sourced from a friend of ours who has a surplus. There are lizards on the other side of the river at Strumpshaw Nature Reserve. However with no stone at Blackwater, which they tend to like in their habitat, this could be a reason why there aren’t any at Blackwater Carr that we know of.

We've recorded a toad and a smooth newt in the north dyke, which hadn't been seen before. Strangely, even though we seem to have lots of frogs, we haven't seen any frogspawn or tadpoles yet. We hope to restore a couple of ponds in the future, so pond frogs might be a possibility.

Newt

Photo Credit: Art House Studio

Common Frog

found in the native hedge

Grass Snake

inspecting head scales for identification

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BUTTERFLIES, MOTHS, INSECTS & SPIDERS

We are recording which butterflies we see each time we come. Swallowtail butterflies have been sighted, so we suspect we may have their food plant 'milk parsley' on site, although we've yet to find it. We also saw a holly blue butterfly. Each month, from Spring onwards, seems to feature a different species starting with brimstones, red admirals, small tortoiseshells, peacocks, skippers, commas, green-veined whites and speckled woods. We have lots of nettles so the whole place drips with caterpillars from summer onwards.

We set up the moth trap every night that we are there, because moths are around throughout the year. The most dramatic moths so far have been: eyed hawk moth, poplar hawk moth, hummingbird hawk moth, garden tiger and puss moth. Some have wonderful and useful names: burnished brass, Chinese watermark, gold spot, buff tip, satellite, green carpet and Hebrew character moth. Insects can be a bit more difficult, but we’ve found both the larvae and adult glow worms along with thick-legged flower beetles and ichneumon wasps.

Orb web, wolf, and garden cross spiders are common, green huntsman and false black widow spiders less so.