Near Ottermouth, a new interpretation panel has been installed, showing visitors which species of birds might be seen over-wintering on the Otter Estuary, a wetland site due to expand as part of the Lower Otter Restoration Project.
Other activity visible as part of this scheme includes work at the new site for Budleigh Salterton Cricket Club which has been levelled, drained and grass seeded so it is ready to play on by 2023. Vegetation clearance is also underway to allow the new road to be built and a network of creeks to be created in the valley.
Last week a group of local people began a new citizen science project funded by the PACCo (Promoting Adaptation to Changing Coasts) project. Working with national expert, Steve Colclough, from the Institute of Fisheries Management, a dozen volunteers deployed seine and fyke nets in the channels between the marshes and identified and recorded the species and sizes of their catch. At the bottom of the estuary and in the channels of the marshes large numbers of common goby were found along with thin lipped mullet and a few bass.
This kind of research has never been undertaken on the Otter before. It will provide baseline data for future surveys here as the wetland habitat grows, as well as feeding into national monitoring programmes. Wetlands provide important ‘nursery’ conditions for juvenile fish in their first and second seasons and the numbers found suggest that the Otter estuary is an important nursery ground for the species we found. Adding an additional 55 hectares of similar habitat (following the breach as part of LORP) can only be good news for fish and the food webs they are part of.
This is just one of many new volunteering opportunities during the Lower Otter Restoration Project and beyond, with the Pebblebed Heath Conservation Trust exploring and developing a wider range of roles to support the existing site team day-to-day.
If you’d like to be involved with the Lower Otter Estuary, here is your chance to get involved. Could you help look after this site or share your knowledge and enthusiasm as a visitor warden, photographer or support events or education? To find out more or to register your interest email: mail@pebblebedheaths.org
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