This morning I’ve received this message from Simon Clarke, Senior Reserve Manager for NE about the Meare Heath scrape (he seems to be having trouble posting on here, so has asked me to do so).

Dear SOS members

I just wanted to give you an update on the current situation with Meare Heath Scrape.  As discussed last autumn, I made the hard decision to not pump the Meare Heath wader scrape down in order to combat the encroaching reed and typha that has begun to spread across the lagoon over the last few dry summers.  This approach has had some success this year with a reduction in the amount of reed and typha.  Several weeks ago after the completion of the bird breeding season colleagues from the Environment Agency kindly assisted us with the cutting and removing of any vegetation that had appeared.  With the current warm conditions allowing for continued plant growth I have made the decision to continue to keep the water level high this autumn in order to kill off any further regrowth.  Though I know disappointing I would reaffirm that this approach is only in order to provide for the long term retention of the open mud on the wader scrape and to provide a long term bird interest for those visiting the reserve. I can also confirm that we will be pumping down the wader scrape next spring.

I’d very much like to thank members for their comments and concerns and that if anyone would like to discuss this with me please contact me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or on 01458 860120.

With kind regards

Simon

This was last year’s explanation: https://somersetbirding.org.uk/forum/viewthread/1510/

It would be good to know what NE’s occasionally is - drain it from mid-Aug to mid-Oct, every other autumn, every 2nd autumn, every 3rd autumn, or what? It hasn’t been drained now for 2 years and the overlooking hide seems to get little use bearing in mind that it was funded by donations.
Is the peat firm enough, after being drained for some time, to access on foot and deweed by hand?

Thanks Mike. that is the main point. It needs to be kept full of water and only drained occasionally. The other Meare heath “scrape” to the east was open water 15 years ago.

If the same site is dried out every year, then the land plants will gradually encroach more & more and there won’t be any scrape for them to feed in…

I saw the specialised reed-cutter boat in action on Meare Heath pool just 12 days ago - when the Osprey was present.

I thought the idea was that deeper water would allow access by boat to cut the reeds. I’m sure that I read that on here but I may have made it up!

Terri, my posting hadn’t made any personal viewpoint on this matter - I’m no environmental expert!

7-Sep-2018
A pity Meare Heath scrape is still flooded in an attempt to control/reduce weed growth, so no waders here this autumn.