I know its not just restricted to the flashes but the flashes are my local patch, about a year ago I put out a fire by the side of the leeds liverpool canal at higher ince had I not bothered to do so an area covered in gorse bushes and tall grass would have been destroyed in total about 100 yards of habitat would have been destroyed, the next day I went back to check the area and sitting on top of a gorse bush I saved was a tiny wren
singing its little head off.
This behaviour isn't just restricted to the Wigan Flashes but seems to go on all around the county Joseph.
On my local patch, an area with no conservation management whatsoever, I used to hold the same view that this activity was wholy bad and the odd nest was destroyed in the blazes, but recently i've come to realise that if this burning never happened the habitat here would mature into the climax communities of broadleaved woodland over the years thereby reducing the variety of habitats present. In a funny way the arson events act as a form of habitat control over the long term, ensuring that in future years the special birds of my area including Garden Warblers, Lesser Whitethroats and Groppers manage to find suitable habitat to breed successfully. So although indiscriminate, uncontrolled and potentially dangerous, in some circumstances and places it's not all bad.
Thanks. Henry.
I was sad to see that the idiots who get some kind of sick pleasure out of setting fire to the habitats at Wigan flashes are at it again as a large area of grassland has been destroyed plus some blackberry bushes as well as this they have tried to burn one or two parts of the reedbeds most of this is close to Westwood flash, I also noticed that they have attempted to set fire to a silver birch tree close to Pearsons flash
this kind of activity is bad anytime of year but especially in Springtime when the breeding season is almost here for birds and other creatures as well.
