Grand Designs and bird friendly building design

 

Chances are you are here off the back of the Grand Designs series 25 first episode on the Old Coastguard Station at Flamborough head.  The producers of the popular Channel 4 program contacted us in 2020 as the featured project has large glass panes in a migration hotspot and planners had stipulated anti bird strike glass.  

Our own project started many years earlier off the back of the need to replace some of our ageing hides and a visitor centre that were beyond repair and needed replacing.  A big problem for us was that in an age of social media, potential visitors were seeing amazing wildlife images but on arrival their first experience on the reserve was this:

People make a judgement about a site within the first ten minutes of arrival, and unfortunately that was frequently negative leading to user conflict.  We needed to get people of all abilities connected with the nearest habitat as soon as possible - and that meant more light and better visibility - but how to do that when we have a Site of Special Scientific Interest underneath us? 

With our architects Group Ginger of Leeds we looked at some of the research on mitigating bird collision risk.  The British Trust for Ornithology in 2004 estimated 100 million birds were killed by window strikes with glass in the UK, of which based on ringing data approximately 1/3rd die.  And research by Dr Daniel Klem in the US suggests that between 100 million and 1 billion birds are killed annually by glass representing potentially 5% of the breeding population second only to cats.  This image by Patricia Homonylo won 2024's Bird Photographer of the Year Competition featuring over 4000 casualties of glass collected in Toronto as a means to draw attention to this under-discussed issue:

Birds don't see the same triggers such as dirt or frames that we do.  Particularly when startled, they immediately go for open sky or dense vegetation.  Both of which can be reflected by glazing.  The American Bird Conservancy have a really good guide on the problems and potential mitigation of glazing here.   As a rule the 'falcon cut outs' many of us try out of guilt at a casualty on the patio doors don't work.  Advocated is Dr Klem's 2”x4” guideline – that birds are unlikely to fly through a horizontal gap less than 2 inches high, or through a vertical space less than 4” wide.   This can be manifested by installing external barring physical or etched onto the glass and many buildings have been retrofitted.  

However for our facility to be at one with nature that would mean our windows would look like; 

or 

Less than ideal for viewing. 

As such Group Ginger specified Ornilux glass.  It works on the basis that birds see in the ultra violet spectrum.  For us if we get it at the right angle you can just about see the etching internally;  

It does take the edge off optics to be fair (which is why we still have the conventional birder hide next door with 'old school' shutters for serious observers).  But for the casual user it's barely perceptible.  

This image shows the effect from the outside better; A cryptic pattern that comes across as an impenetrable barrier to birds;

It's fair to say whilst it has not eliminated bird strikes, it has certainly reduced them substantially for the frontage of glass.  Other measures we took included ensuring there is no open illumination of the building which could either confuse migratory birds or scare wildfowl on the reservoir.  So we use floor level cinema lights that give enough vision at dusk to move around with:

The book cabinets and units in the room are carefully located to block any through light.  That eliminates a temptation for birds to 'fly through' or see a human silhouette:

Even the log burning stove has no glazed frontage so there is no light emitted:

Continuing the Yorkshire theme the build was project managed by Mason Clarke Associates and built by Houlton of Hull, with all but three of the main suppliers sourced within Yorkshire.  

As a result the building achieved the Royal Institute of British Architects Yorkshire and Humber building of the year in its class; with myself on behalf of Yorkshire Water also picking up client of the year in 2018, pictured with then Conservation, Access and Recreation team leader Geoff Lomas: 

And subsequently it went on to receive a Yorkshire Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors 'Highly Commended'.  Subsequently the building saw its busiest year ever in 2023/4 and has consistently had over 1100 per annum attending Yorkshire Water funded education workshops.  

 

With this background and its locality to Flamborough the program's producers were keen to feature Tophill Low as a case study for the episode as an example of bird friendly building design, and a day was set in 2020 for filming with Kevin McCloud (all complying within covid guidelines at the time).  Whist a fun day and recognition for us, it is a great opportunity to bring this under acknowledged topic to a wider audience. 

 As Dr Klem referenced it, “if you accept my lowest attrition figure of 100 million annual kills at glass in the U.S. you would need 333 Exxon Valdez oil spills each year to match the carnage.” 

Summer & autumn all at once

Summer & autumn all at once

South marsh

Our volunteers do a range of tasks throughout the year, when it comes to July everyone knows that there's one job that needs to be done and that's hay cutting, And we have a lot of it to do in order to keep our wild flower meadows in the best condition, which means as well as cutting the grass we also have to rake it all up and move it off the meadow, quite a task in the heat. Grass snakes should benefit from the hay piles that you find around the reserve and it keeps the meadows poor in nutrients which encourages more wild flowers.

Hay raking in south scrub

Hay raking

With summer holidays and accompanying good weather our family events programme has been busy. Families have joined the education team to find out about butterflies and the Big Butterfly Count, investigate the invertebrates in the pond and rummage around the woodland on a nature ramble. Children and adults have been able to have fun and learn together at the same time, taking time to wander slowly and really look around at the tiny treasures of wildlife that inhabit our nature reserve here at Tophill. Bookings for the next academic year are now being taken so anyone involved in the primary sector can head to our website at https://www.yorkshirewater.com/education/teachers/availability-booking/ to book their FREE school visit. A great chance to look at the water cycle, local flora and fauna, adaptations and classification; all part of the science national curriculum and all covered in our sessions.

dragonfly craft on family event

Colour matching activity on family event

RSPB Bempton cliffs is a popular destination for holiday makers visiting the area and wanting to view the seabirds. In order to keep the interest of the general public who visit, once the seabirds have left then each year they have a "Wild Event" to showcase other wildlife. As one of our partners in the area we were pleased to head there and promote the reserve and its wildlife and encourage more visitors who may want to explore the brilliant wildlife sites that East Yorkshire has to offer.

Volunteers helping out at Bempton Wild weekend

Even though we consider the months of July and August to be summer in the natural world, autumn has already started and birds are beginning to move south from their breeding grounds and head to their winter feeding areas. The screaming parties of swifts, a regular sight on lovely summer evenings as they fly through the streets hunting insects, have all but disappeared, their stay here in the UK being very short lived. Swallows, house martins and sand martins are gathering on the roof tops and wires, ready for their journeys south, often feeding over the reservoirs where freshwater invertebrates continue to emerge as adult flies, juicy meals for hungry migratory birds.

Exposed mud attracting passage waders on south marsh east

Elsewhere on the reserve, on the southern marshes, passing waders are dropping in to feed on the exposed mud, fuelling up for their own migratory journeys. The marsh has never looked so good to these passage waders and its all down to how they have been managed in recent years so that conditions are optimal to attract wading birds to visit and feed before moving on. 

A big thanks to our volunteer team who have helped keep the marsh an area of open water. The team has done this by strimming the margins to keep down brambles and sprayed the reed mace and phragmites to also keep the margins clear. This allows birds flying overhead better sightlines to see the marsh. The pollarding of the nearby willow, ash and hazel has removed many predator perches, enabling a safer feeding area for waders. Pollarding also encouraging more song birds, which prefer nesting in the lower canopies that pollarding creates. The gravel islands have been washed in previous years to rid them of organic material that encourages vegetation, keeping them clear for nesting common terns and black headed gulls. 

The herd of goats manages the grassland areas for us, grazing the banks down, again improving the sightlines for the wader. The water in the marsh is continually being replenished from the water treatment process, as no one wants invertebrates in their drinking water, so after being filtered out they end up in south marsh and become wader food as it is full of daphnia and other invertebrates. It is important to keep the water flowing in and out of the marsh by clearing the ditches, another task carried out by the volunteer team and we can slowly alter the water level by management of sluices. Overall, the management makes a perfect stopover for these passage waders.

Dunlin by Margaret Boyd

Common sandpiper by Margaret Boyd

Green sandpiper by Margaret Boyd

Snipe by Margaret Boyd

The species that we have had in the last few weeks are dunlin, black tailed godwit, green and common sandpiper, snipe, lapwing, curlew, ruff, avocet, little and great white egret, redshank, golden plover and ringed plover. Quite a variety and coming close to the hides for good views for visitors, so please come down and have a look for yourself.

Another highlight recently, on 2nd August, was the arrival of a Caspian tern, believed to be the second record for the reserve. It was initially observed by a couple of visitors feeding over D reservoir. It was later picked up resting on south marsh and was seen by a number of people before it left later that evening. The largest tern in the world and only a few records each autumn in the UK, it was a very good record for Tophill, only a shame that it didn't linger so that others could come to see it.

Birders watching the Caspian tern on south marsh

Caspian tern by Margaret Boyd

It's GOLD for Tophill

We won GOLD! A fantastic result for the Tophill Low team for their first ever foray into horticultural exhibiting at the Driffield Show this year. Our fabulous display was focused around the wetland and meadow plants that the team of volunteers has been propagating over the last couple of years, showcasing the area’s native species that can be found in the Hull valley, of which Tophill Low is a part. We have a whole range of plants growing in the polytunnel at the reserve and in the new wetbeds but collecting everything together, displaying and labelling all the plants was a real team effort. So, a huge thank you to all our volunteers who helped out in the preparation of the exhibit, whether in the horticultural tent or behind the scenes and those that helped out on the day. Talks given by John Barnard, one of our volunteers and Amy Watsham, the assistant warden on wetland plant propagation and how to establish a wild flower meadow were very well received by an interested audience, hopefully inspired to do more themselves. Visitors to the reserve can always come and chat about what we do and also get involved if they are interested.

Last month we started surveying the butterflies around the reserve and have begun to see the areas where they seem to be doing well, O reservoir grassland and north scrub are favourite sites with good numbers of meadow brown and ringlet butterflies being seen on several occasions. The marbled white butterfly, which is a rarer species on the reserve has also been spotted in several areas, preferring to feed on certain grasses, such as Yorkshire fog and also flowers such as knapweed and red clovers, seemingly preferring purple flowers. Meadow brown butterflies lay their eggs around a variety of course grass species such as Cock’s foot, common couch and meadow grasses. It’s this kind of detailed knowledge of food preferences that helps our management of the different areas of the reserve to encourage greater biodiversity. Carrying out such surveys can confirm whether the practical management is a success or not. As well as keeping our own records for the reserve we will be submitting records as part of the annual Big Butterfly Count which takes place between 12^th July and 4^th August. This is a great citizen science project that can get all the family involved, whether in your garden or on a walk to the park, taking only 15 minutes of your time. Head to Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count website to take part. Families joined our education guide this week to help count butterflies along the butterfly border and around the nature trail whilst other volunteers continue to regularly carry out butterfly surveys throughout the summer.. Butterfly declines can be an early warning of other wildlife loses, so monitoring has never been so important.

Marbled white butterfly by Margaret Boyd

As well as the Big Butterfly Count taking place at the moment, last week was National Moth week so we held a moth night to coincide with the event and to introduce some of our visitors to the delights of the amazing moths that use our nature reserve. We have a small team of volunteers who set out the two moth traps whenever they can throughout the year, these are behind our offices and at the south end of the reserve. At this time of year it can take quite a while to empty the traps in the morning, counting and identifying the overnight haul. Last Friday visitors were shown what had been caught and were delighted to see the range of colours and patterns that these fantastic creatures have that are usually overlooked. Thanks to Martin for your time and passing on your knowledge to our visitors.

Pine moth by Margaret Boyd

Chocolate tip moth by Margaret Boyd

Chocolate tip moth by Margaret Boyd

Some of the bird sightings in recent weeks have been of waders passing through on their migration south to their winter feeding areas. These are known as passage waders or migrants: they stop off at good feeding sites, to refuel before their continued journey. South marsh is a magnet for hungry waders as the mud and shallow water is rich in invertebrates. Recently visitors have noted common, green and wood sandpipers, dunlin, black tailed godwit, snipe, lapwing, ruff, greenshank and spotted redshank dropping in to feed. Also, on south marsh there has been a great white egret and several little egrets and feeding over the D reservoir several little gulls, again a species passing through on migration from their breeding areas in the countries that border the Baltic sea in northern Europe, wintering south in the Mediterranean. Two quail were heard calling from the fields along the approach road as dusk fell last weekend.

We are open throughout the school holidays, with several family events taking place which can be booked via Eventbrite, search Tophill Low. As well as the events there is always plenty to spot along the nature trail which is a short walk for smaller legs! Please note the only facilities we have are toilets, so a picnic is a must. Adults pay £3.50, children £1.50, under 5’s are free.

Summer has arrived

 June 2024

Following a very successful Open day, with visitors engaging with lots of our partners the reserve has quietened down to let the wildlife get on with breeding. Our breeding bird surveys, conducted by our volunteer team and local birders are coming to an end, having surveyed plots across the reserve four times, each an early start. Results look promising with a whole range of resident and migrant birds breeding on site. One of the more interesting birds is the cuckoo, a rare summer visitor now to the UK, suffering the hardships of habitat loss and persecution on its migration journey. On one day there were four singing males, and there have been lots of sightings by visitors, including a pair mating. We believe their key target species is probably reed warblers and perhaps reed buntings, both of which have good populations. 

One pair of marsh harriers has recently fledged three youngsters, we await the sightings of the other pairs on the reserve. No such luck for the little ringed plover pair, but oystercatchers are now on their second nest and there’s a possibility that a pair of avocets may try to breed too. Other sightings include grasshopper warbler, spoonbill and the first green sandpiper of the year, on 15^th June, an indication that the year is turning!

Green sandpiper by Lee Johnson

With all the breeding going on, habitat management turns to plant propagation in the polytunnel and the new outside wet beds. Over the past two years this venture, run mostly by volunteers has gone from strength to strength, supplying neighbouring landowners with a range of wetland plants. 

The new wetbeds installed at Tophill

This week volunteers have visited areas of Leven Carrs and land adjacent to Wansford Beck to collect important plants and seeds, bringing them back to site where they can be grown on in numbers to then be distributed to other landowners in the wider Hull valley. Whilst visiting Leven Carrs it was great to see that the greater water parsnip, a rare wetland plant, that was planted there a couple of years ago is now doing exceptionally well, thriving in the wetter areas of the site, a real success story for the team.

Other plants that were collected were marsh lousewort and bog bean. Of course once our collection was completed then it is really important to abide by biosecurity so that no invasive species are transferred between site.

If visitors are interested in the polytunnel and its plants then please pop in and find out more, the team are very knowledgeable and happy to chat about their stock. 

Anecdotally, butterflies seem to be in very low numbers across the area this year, so in the next few weeks we will be carrying out several butterfly surveys to monitor the numbers. We can then compare the data to previous years, similarly to our breeding bird data. If visitors spot any butterflies during their visit, we really would appreciate it if you could add your sightings to the sightings log before you leave, that way we can get a better picture of populations in the different areas of the reserve. Similarly if you spot any dragonflies or damselflies please add them to our sightings.

Four spot chaser by Margaret Boyd

Speckled wood by Margaret Boyd

We hope that visitors will enjoy a walk around the reserve with this warm weather, keep a look out also for grass snakes in the water bodies. Please remember that we do not allow dogs at the reserve and the only facility that we have are toilets.