SUSTAINABILITY

AROUND THE REGIONS
2
Bedfordshire
Joint Intelligence
Training Group Chicksands
Short-eared owl at Chicksands © JP Conservation Offcer
The Joint Intelligence Training Group
(JITG) was formed from the Defence
Intelligence and Security Centre
(DISC) on 1st January 2015 and is
situated at the former RAF Chick sands
site, which lies approximately one
mile to the west of the Bedfordshire
market town of Shefford.
The site itself is spread across
approximately 2km 2 of diverse habitat,
ranging from manicured parkland
to unimproved grassland and mixed
forestry blocks used as a military training
area. It is due to this mix of habitats
that the site hosts a surprisingly wide
range of flora and fauna, much of which
remains unnoticed by those going
about their daily business. Chicksands
also contains four designated County
Wildlife Sites and although these do
not attract any offcial protection, they
do recognise the importance of the
habitats at Chicksands in relation to the
Bedfordshire countryside as a whole.
Much of the past year has been
spent undertaking an inventory of
the various species on site in order
to both record these for information
purposes but also to raise an awareness,
which will hopefully encourage more
involvement with conservation matters
across the wider community. One
such initiative was the Chicksands
Bird Survey, which invited all residents
of Service Families Accommodation,
Single Living Accommodation and
the workplace to record bird species
seen in and around their immediate
area. As expected, the usual range of
common garden birds was seen but
some surprises did occur in the form
of an abundance of nuthatch, nesting
spotted flycatchers and the occasional
lesser spotted woodpecker and tree
sparrows. The training area also threw
up some more unexpected birds,
with a wintering population of at least
two short-eared owls and the once
in a lifetime observation of two great
grey shrikes together. Unfortunately
'Murphys Law' was truly in operation
that day, with the Conservation Offcer’s
camera languishing in the car boot,
and the birds deciding to depart before
a picture of this amazing sight could
be recorded on film! To ensure such
sightings are not lost in the mists of
time they have regularly been entered
into the BTO Birdtrack database 1 , which
is a partnership project between
the BTO, RSPB, and the national
ornithological groupings that looks at
migration movements and distributions
of birds throughout Britain and Ireland.
It is not all about the birds though,
with other notable species such as
great crested newt, several active
badger setts and some interesting
orchids all found during the period.
These have all allowed the local
management plan to be updated
and we look forward to a number
of activities during the following
year, with the aim of protecting
and enhancing some of the hidden
treasures we are so lucky to enjoy
here at Chicksands.
JP
Conservation Offcer
JITG Chicksands
1 http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/birdtrack/about
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Sanctuary 44 • 2015