{"id":3270,"date":"2024-07-08T11:53:59","date_gmt":"2024-07-08T11:53:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.overvillage.co.uk\/WP\/?p=3270"},"modified":"2024-07-08T12:05:59","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T12:05:59","slug":"update-from-fen-drayton-lakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.overvillage.co.uk\/WP\/update-from-fen-drayton-lakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Update from Fen Drayton Lakes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Now that we are halfway through the year, winter feels like a very long time ago. Despite this, its lingering effects can still be seen at the reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as being a nature reserve, Fen Drayton Lakes is classified as a reservoir on the River Great Ouse floodplain and has a role in holding water during periods of flood to protect the nearby villages and relieve some of the pressure further downstream. As river levels rise, drainage ditches that run through the reserve bringing water from the surrounding area to the river can\u2019t empty out and begin to overspill into the lakes, sometimes also flowing backwards away from the river during particularly large flooding events. A series of ditches and large culverts under the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway link many of the lakes to their neighbours. So as the western lakes fill from the river, they start to flow out and fill the next lakes heading eastwards (downstream). In smaller floods some lakes remain unaffected by rising levels, but other times the whole reserve can go under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last winter we experienced our largest flood in many years. All of the lakes were connected with water flowing across the majority of our footpaths and entry road. The effects of this flooding lasted well into the summer with lake levels still higher than usual and areas of grassland still wet throughout June and into July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While prolonged flooding caused us a bit of a headache with various pieces of work and site management becoming difficult or impossible, there have been benefits too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Redshank and Lapwing nested this year on the flooded fields of Middle Fen, raising chicks in areas that would usually be too dry. It has been fantastic to see these species in a new area away from the lakes where we would expect them to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Upcoming events at Fen Drayton Lakes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wild(ish) Camping for Groups<\/strong> – A unique opportunity for groups to camp on site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wednesday Wander Guided Walk<\/strong> – Join our knowledgeable volunteers for a walk around the reserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To see further details and book for the events mentioned above, please visit:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

events.rspb.org.uk\/fendraytonlakes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volunteering opportunities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are looking for new volunteers to join our visitor engagement team here at Fen Drayton Lakes. In this role you will be giving visitors a warm welcome and finding out how you can help them enjoy their visit. To find out more, please get in touch.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Email: fendraytonlakes@rspb.org.uk<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now that we are halfway through the year, winter feels like a very long time ago. Despite this, its lingering effects can still be seen at the reserve. As well as being a nature reserve, Fen Drayton Lakes is classified as a reservoir on the River Great Ouse floodplain and has a role in holding water during periods of flood to protect the nearby villages and relieve some of the pressure further downstream. As river levels rise, drainage ditches that run through the reserve bringing water from the surrounding area to the river can\u2019t empty out and begin to overspill into the lakes, sometimes also flowing backwards away from the river during particularly large flooding events. A series of ditches and large culverts under the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway link many of the lakes to their neighbours. So as the western lakes fill from the river, they start to flow out and fill the next lakes heading eastwards (downstream). In smaller floods some lakes remain unaffected by rising levels, but other times the whole reserve can go under. Last winter we experienced our largest flood in many years. All of the lakes were connected with water flowing across the majority of our footpaths and entry road. The effects of this flooding lasted well into the summer with lake levels still higher than usual and areas of grassland still wet throughout June and into July. While prolonged flooding caused us a bit of a headache with various pieces of work and site management becoming difficult or impossible, there have been benefits too. Both Redshank and Lapwing nested this year on the flooded fields of Middle Fen, raising chicks in areas that would usually be too dry. It has been fantastic to see these species in a new area away from the lakes where we would expect them to be. Upcoming events at Fen Drayton Lakes Wild(ish) Camping for Groups – A unique opportunity for groups to camp on site. Wednesday Wander Guided Walk – Join our knowledgeable volunteers for a walk around the reserve. To see further details and book for the events mentioned above, please visit: events.rspb.org.uk\/fendraytonlakes Volunteering opportunities We are looking for new volunteers to join our visitor engagement team here at Fen Drayton Lakes. In this role you will be giving visitors a warm welcome and finding out how you can help them enjoy their visit. To find out more, please get in touch. Email: fendraytonlakes@rspb.org.uk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3228,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.overvillage.co.uk\/WP\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/RSPB-logo.jpg?fit=371%2C364&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9Tb23-QK","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.overvillage.co.uk\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.overvillage.co.uk\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.overvillage.co.uk\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.overvillage.co.uk\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.overvillage.co.uk\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3270"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.overvillage.co.uk\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3272,"href":"https:\/\/www.overvillage.co.uk\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3270\/revisions\/3272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.overvillage.co.uk\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.overvillage.co.uk\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.overvillage.co.uk\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.overvillage.co.uk\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}