Chesworth Farm

Platt Pond Reflections - R. Allison

Horsham Green Gym were down on the Farm this morning and the two main jobs were some Bramble clearance in Parlour Mead Field as well as some reedbed management. If you visit the Farm you will notice that a section of the reedbed at Platt Pond has been cut down to water level and some of the reeds roots removed to help create a new reedbed at Warnham Local Nature Reserve.

The reeds are cut in the winter for a number of reasons, the main reason is to stop the reed totally covering the open water area which would happen if left to its own devices. The second reason is that having a mixture of different aged reeds within the pond gives the best diversity for the reedbed itself.  It is also very important to remove the cut reeds as this stimulates growth in the cut reed as well as stopping the pond silting up as the cut reed begins to rot.

Before

During

After

As you can see from the photos above the volunteers were very busy and managed to get all the reed cut that we wanted. Straight away you can see the benefit of this job as it has created a muddy edge to the pond which is perfect for birds such as Moorhen and Water Rail to feed around during the winter months.

Lastly we have now moved the cattle into Parlour Mead Field so please be aware they are now on the Riverside Walk and remember to close the gates if you are using the path through the field. On the wildlife front the following species were noted:

Meadow Pipit 9, Redwing 12, House Sparrow 8, Herring Gull 1, Cormorant 2, Moorhen 1, Grey Heron 1, Goldfinch 20+, Jackdaw 2, Carrion Crow 2, Woodpigeon 8, Blue Tit 3, Chaffinch 3