This time the sounds were not the booming call of an overwintering bittern, but the noise from a reed cutting Truxor amphibious machine conducting reedbed management as part of a £750,000 project across Druridge Bay.

As part of the wildlife charity’s Biodiversity Boost Project, Derrick Emms from The Sustainable Water Company has been cutting channels within the reeds on the reserve’s south pool and thereby restructuring the reedbed.

Once the cutting is complete, the surface area of reeds at the water’s edge will increase thereby creating a more suitable habitat for wading birds such as bitterns as well as a host of other species such as marsh harriers, reed bunting and bearded tits that live, feed or breed in the area.

Reedbeds are a transitional habitat existing between land and water, which historically have reduced in area due to change in land use for agriculture and large-scale drainage schemes; nowadays, the quality of reedbeds is often affected by pollution caused by agricultural run-off.

The reedbeds at the Druridge Bay reserve are some of the largest in Northumberland and were planted after the restoration of the East Chevington Opencast Coal site which closed in 1994.

In addition to cutting channels through the reedbeds, the specialist Truxor machine can remove the reeds by their roots which the wildlife charity hopes to successfully plant in the reserve’s north pool and further increase the reed area.

Helen Walsh, Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Biodiversity Boost Officer says:

“Though the winter weather may not seem ideal for practical conservation work outdoors on the water, this project has been carefully planned to minimise disruption to the resident population of marsh harriers, which at this time of year only use the reeds to roost overnight.”

The Biodiversity Boost Project is made possible by a grant from the Species Survival Fund, in partnership with Defra and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.