Wildlife in The Bude Marshes
The main feature of the reserve is the reed bed , reed marsh is a particularly restricted habitat in Cornwall and Bude Marshes is the fourth largest area of reed in the county. This important area of reed provides valuable habitat for wintering migrant and breeding birds.
The value of the reed marsh is shown by the number of wintering water rail and snipe. It is also an important winter roost for pied wagtails. Migrant birds have included bittern, glossy ibis, Baillons crake, night heron, and gargany duck, as well as the more regular sandpipers, warblers, etc. The area is also important in summer when there are breeding sedge and reed warbler, moorhen, willow warbler, reed bunting and mallard.
Bude Marshes has a variety of other habitats, supporting many other diverse plants and animals. The main habitat is the reed bed however there is also a fringe of wet woodland with alder and willow trees and flag iris in early summer, areas of open water which support colonies of various dragonflies and damselflies and and damp and dry neutral grassland around the edge of the old helicopter landing pad, both of which support good populations of Bee orchids in the drier grasslands and numbers of Marsh orchids in the wetter vegetation.
Otters in Bude
In February 2007 The Bude Canal Regeneration Project ran a very successful otter spotting training course. Kate Stokes from the Cornwall Wildlife Trust gave a very informative presentation on otter identification and otter surveying methods. Following the talk the large group of keen local residents searched along the banks of the canal and found a number of otter spraints. It is fantastic news that otters are known to regularly use the area, the combination of the canal, river and marshes provides ideal habitat and foraging ground for otters these finds will help us gain a better picture about Bude's otter population, and help us design habitats that encourage otters to the area.
Following the otter spotting course in 2008 a further mammal identification course was run which trained volunteers to identify the signs of our smaller British mammals. The course was followed by a raft building session which provided platforms for surveying the mammals that use the area. These platforms have been located within Bude Marshes and Bude Canal corridor. To date Otter spraint has been found on the top of one of these platforms and a mysterious footprint which has yet to be identified.
A busy bat night
Bude bat lovers gathered at dusk for a guided walk around the Bude Local Nature Reserve. The evening stroll turned into a rather busy night with numerous pipestrelle bats zipping above us and we were fortunate enough to see several Noctules bats, that gracefully soared high above us just before night fell. These records are fantastic news for the reserve and will not only help aid management of the reserve but also provide valuable information for the national bat monitoring scheme