Mooing mowers are back !
Highland cattle are helping trim the plants on the lapwing nesting grounds.
Once again cattle are being used to trim the vegetation on the nesting grounds of lapwing in a sustainable way at Arundel Wetland Centre this August.
Six cattle of mixed breeds arrived on Friday 15 August to graze the “wet grassland”, knocking back the vegetation more sustainably than using machinery. Their dung attracts beetles and worms, providing rich feeding grounds for nesting lapwing in springtime. By burying dung, beetle they rearrange the soil structure and introduce nutrients, which encourages healthy plant growth.
The cattle will stay until the end of October or when the ground gets too wet. The land the cattle are grazing, inside our fence but next to the Arun River, was traditionally grazing marsh. Medieval farmers walled off the rivers to create grazing land for sheep and cattle. These grazing marshes also attracted wild geese in winter and breeding waders in spring.
Each year we 'borrow' cattle from local farmer Scott Stone who handles heritage breeds. Scott has been lending us his Highlands, Dexters and DexterXHighlands for the past 4 years.
Reserve Manager Suzi Lanaway said, “Birds and wildlife aren’t bothered by the livestock -in fact the cattle egrets will enjoy the flies the cattle attract.”
Look out for this year's mini-herd from the Ramsar Wildlife hide and the Lapwing Wildlife hides.
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