Fleet Pond is managed by Hart District Council’s Countryside Service and Tim Ackroyd is the new Ranger for the Nature Reserve. Previously the Fleet Pond Ranger was Joanna Lawrence and Joanna is now studying at Sussex University for an MSc in Biodiversity.

Tim writes:

“I have been working for Hart District Council’s Countryside Service as a Countryside Ranger for over three years and previously worked as an assistant ranger for Hampshire County Council based at Yateley Common. I have enjoyed the experience of looking after a variety of interesting sites over the years and I am very excited to take on my new role as Fleet Pond Ranger.

It is a very exciting time to be involved in the management of Fleet Pond. The Nature Reserve is undergoing some important changes over the next ten years with significant restoration of habitats and infrastructure. These changes will hopefully bring about considerable benefits, both for wildlife and for people.”

Each year Fleet Pond Society (FPS) organises a very popular evening social event (that includes a dinner) that is open to members and their guests.

As part of this there is a presentation on a topic of interest. This year, Jim Storey, who is a Committee Member of FPS, gave a talk on how University College London, as part of the Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) network, is helping illuminate the condition and health of Fleet Pond.

Jim is very excited that Fleet Pond plays a part in the nationwide OPAL initiative and he was the driving force in organising the very successful event held at the Pond in May this year to celebrate International Biodiversity Day (see here and here).

Extracted from his talk, Jim highlights some interesting and important snippets:

“All the nine lakes that University College London (UCL) are studying have enhanced levels of brominated flame retardants. It’s not good for them and it is probably washed into the lakes from the air.

Simon Turner of UCL notes : “for all the lakes we have been able to quickly filter a litre of water. At Fleet Pond today we are only able to filter 300 ml before the filter clogs and stops working. Measuring depth and collecting samples never takes long here as the Pond is less than a metre deep. The trickiest part of sampling here is to avoid disturbing the sediment at the bottom.”

None of the lakes that UCL study are as silted up as Fleet Pond. They’ve measured the depth of silt around the Pond and found (see picture below):

That’s a lot of silt!

UCL have also taken a core through the silt in Fuglemere Bay and dated it back to 1870!

The table below shows how quickly the silt is deposited and how this has got so much worse in the last 10 years.

Period                  Silt Rate (cm / yr)

1973 – 1980        0.4

1980 – 1994        0.4

1994 – 2002        0.5

2002 – 2008        0.8

The core showed that more than TWO inches of silt were deposited between 2002 to 2008 – no wonder the Pond is in trouble!”

Further details on the research results for OPAL Water can be found here (Fleet Pond is under the South East Region).

Colin Gray writes:

“We have a lot of cut material left over from the last two work parties and it has all been shipped up to the woodland by the reserve car park.  On Sunday we will have two bonfires to clear all this material (rather appropriate for the Guy Fawkes weekend).  While up near the Dry Heath (which surrounds two sides of the car park) we will clear more of the birch seedlings and saplings from the open heath.

We assemble as usual at the Countryside Workshop at 9.15 a.m. for a prompt start.  The lazier ones among you could meet us up in the car park around 9.45 a.m. giving you another half hour in bed!

We will bring the Lazy Dog root diggers with us to remove the more obstinate birch saplings.

Hope to see you all on Sunday.”

Further information on the schedule and meeting arrangements here.

Please note that these volunteer events usually take place on the second Sunday of the relevant month but not for November 2010 (and onwards) as there is a clash with Remembrance Sunday.

Liz Humphreys of Fleet RSPB Wildlife Explorers writes:

“I am an Assistant Leader of Fleet RSPB Wildlife Explorers, which is a local RSPB youth group for 8-14 year olds (we used to be the Young Ornithologists).

We have nine outdoor meetings a year, and make sure that at least two of these are conservation activities. This helps our members to appreciate the importance of habitat management for our wildlife.

On the morning of Sunday 10 October 2010, 13 children and 10 adults from our Group met at the end of Chestnut Grove (at the Pond) and joined forces with members of Fleet Pond Society (FPS).

We had a safety talk, and then helped to clear vegetation from beside paths, and remove saplings from the reed beds. The weather was absolutely fantastic and a great time was had by all. The children enjoyed a tea break mid-morning, and then couldn’t wait to get back for more cutting, dragging and sawing!

Thanks to FPS for letting us join in.

For more information on our Group, please send an e-mail to FleetWEX@gmail.com ”

Some impressive photos of Fleet Pond spotted on the web here (or alternatively here) – well worth taking a look!

This year’s Fleet Pond Photographic Competition is here.

As an aside, please note that Fleet Pond now has some new jetties – see here.

Picture credit: Anthony Bouch (by permission, please see the link above for photo usage details).