Brockholes Birdscapes

LWT’s ‘Brockholes Birdscapes Project’ focusses on Brockholes Nature Reserve, a former quarry, now showcasing lakes, islands, reedbeds, meadows, ponds, hedgerows and woodlands, publicly accessible via 6,900m of surfaced paths and 2,150m of grass tracks. The visitor facilities are on a floating pontoon, rising and falling with flooding or drought, but extreme conditions are very challenging for wildlife, particularly ground-nesting birds.
Spring 2025 drought has dropped lake levels very low, so birds nesting at edges (Great crested grebe, Mute swan, duck species, Coot, Moorhen) became accessible to Fox. The moat around an island also dried out, enabling Fox to access Lapwing, Redshank and Little Ringed Plover, reducing fledging success, relative to years where water levels were stable.
Conversely, man-made Sand martin nesting boxes installed at heights intended to withstand flooding have been hit by 3x significant floods in 10 years, destroying their structural integrity. They need enhancing and elevating, to remove this risk.
Extremes of drought and severe flooding are recurring and likely to become commoner as climate change makes weather more unpredictable and severe. On a reserve where human intervention is intended to enhance species’ success, we need to make nesting opportunities more resilient.
The project entails: A) Reprofiling a large (0.4ha) nesting island in Meadow Lake, giving greater height variation and a deeper, wider moat; B) Putting 250m of floating rope into the moat, extending the fox exclusion; C) Installing vegetated nesting rafts, floating for safety; D) Extending reedbeds, for greater surface area; E) Creating gravel nesting rafts for Common tern; E) Constructing a new nest wall for Sand martin; E) Designing and installing interpretation.
The project also enhances views, engagement opportunities, participation and learning involvement for visitors, members and volunteers Through social media, articles, podcasts etc. it promotes awareness of climate change and challenges that our wildlife faces.