We flooded a field - the results blew our minds

[00:00:00]We diverted this stagnant river into an old agricultural field and now two years later the results are simply incredible.

[00:00:08]This place has become a vast wetland, an island of life in [music] amongst a sea of intensive agricultural fields. It has become a refuge and a home for all kinds of animals from a small endangered bee all the way to a wide variety of amphibians, mammals, and birds. There are families raising a new generation here, but also opportunistic predators patrolling the flooded areas and the skies in search of an easy meal. And even some really odd animals that we were quite surprised to see here.

[00:00:45]This feeling never gets old. It is amazing to be out here in this wetland again. It's so exciting. I've been loving my time exploring every nook and cranny of this place to see how it has changed and also the wildlife that has moved in. So, in this video today, get ready for some really exciting reing action. But first, let's recap how we got here and why we are doing this. This project started in 2022 with all the planning and permissions. But the fact that there is any water here at all is because of the long and hard work our partners' BRs have put in to clean the polluted areas and bring water back to the old stream bed by creating pathways for it to flow between the agricultural channels, the roads, and the fields.

[00:01:33]However, when they got here, they reached a dead end, which is when the idea came about to try to let this stream finish by filling up a wetland in a nearby field, which already flooded with some rainwater in the winter. And this is where we came in. With the support of our Mossy Earth members, we provided BRS with €95,000 to dig all the necessary channels and create the underpasses to move the water to the field. And after a couple of years of sorting out the permissions, the project broke ground in 2024 to much fanfare.

[00:02:05]And finally, all the water flooded into this vast field. And just to say as you watch these results in in this video that this is the truth on the ground. We have never used AI and we will never use AI. These are human stories and we are very careful not to come out with these unfounded before and after exaggerations that are all over YouTube. This is actually what happened here. And in our videos, you will simply see an honest effort to document the long-term impact of our rewing work, the work that our Mossy Earth members have trusted us to implement with their money. And if you like our approach and you have €6 or so to spare every month, you can make a huge difference by supporting our science-led rewing projects directly by signing up to become a member at mossi.ear.

[00:02:55]This is just one project out of dozens of ongoing projects and hundreds of new opportunities to restore nature. So, if more of you join us, we will be able to rew more areas. So, I hope you will consider it. Now, let's go see the progress. Starting with the brook which I'm visiting with Sigi from BRS who manages this project.

[00:03:16]>> Looks really clean, huh?

[00:03:18]>> Yeah, it's uh better and better.

[00:03:20]>> For context, this is how it looked just 2 years ago. So, this is a really welcome change.

[00:03:27]>> When you started work on this brook like I [music] don't know 50 km away, first there was no water, then the water was getting stuck a lot and now it kind of like >> it's [music] just a brook from beginning to end. It's uh it has really uh the the flowing [music] uh regime >> that it's not just got stuck blind end and nothing like last four or 5 km was just stagnant water. Now it's moving slowly but at least it's moving. This movement got rid of the utriofication and in case you're wondering the stuff you see here on the water is popular seed fluff coming from all the various popular plantations in the region. So it's not permanent. Then underwater things are looking a bit better also as in the past I was simply unable to film in the darkness and the stinky muck.

[00:04:13]However, when you follow along the channel we have built, you do run into some utrification again in this forested area. It is not much compared to what it was previously. You know, it was kilome and kilome of this and now it's a relatively small area. So, it's a vast improvement. And on the other end of this forest, the water is clear again.

[00:04:31]And we also found something new. I've never seen fish here before.

[00:04:34]>> Me neither.

[00:04:36]>> There are loads of fish, man.

[00:04:39]>> Yeah. So, they finally found it.

[00:04:42]>> That's crazy. So, they're for sure coming from the brook.

[00:04:44]>> Yeah.

[00:04:45]>> Connecting with the lake and then I guess they can go a bit further but not into the wetland. No, >> they can they can go to the wetland.

[00:04:53]Some species they even like it.

[00:04:55]>> I was unable to film these guys underwater as they spooked too easily.

[00:04:59]So, we have no idea for now. However, it is just good to know that fish are using this space as well. And before we jump into the wetland proper, I actually want to tell you about another unexpected creature that lives in these fields. A bee, but not just any bee, a moss carter bee. It's a long tongue bee. It means that it prefers flowers with long coras like like um like the clever. And uh it's a very special kind of bee because it's it nests on the surface but it prefers um loveland and wet meadows for for nesting or the site of chilisbrook and surrounding is probably used as a nesting site and this is a source of food so that nests can develop and grow really fast and large. This is Marc from the Institute of Zoologology from the Slovak Academy of Sciences and he's an entomologist surveying the areas around this wetland as part of the monitoring of this project and I joined him for some transacts of the biodiversity strip he just mentioned. It's very rare. I saw that before before this place appeared here. I saw only maybe one or two specimens per year and not every year after. It was like one year I saw him the next one not and then again. So, it was very rare, but last year uh I saw here maybe I don't know maybe 10 10 specimens. It was like very exciting for me. And as we walked on, I got reminded of how fun it is to search for insects in this kind of environment. When you pay more attention, a field like this becomes a world of its own. There are crickets, there are beetles of various kinds, and of course, many butterflies with different colors and patterns. And eventually after a bit of searching, we finally caught a glimpse of what we were looking.

[00:06:53]>> It's so cool to see because this bee is endangered here in Slovakia and in some of the nearby countries, and it's vulnerable to extinction at a European level. And that is because its habitat combo of wetlands and meadows next to each other has become a rare site these days. So to have them here really is a testament to the importance of creating these places.

[00:07:17]Okay, so now it's time for us to finally go and check out the wetland itself. And just look at how much this place has changed. It is so cool to see this transformation. But as usual with this kind of footage, I just want to add a disclaimer that it was shot in different seasons. We didn't make this whole thing green. That was the spring. But we did bring all the water and change the vegetation in large parts of this field.

[00:07:42]something we can also see in the more representative orthopoto mosaics. And this is where the channel goes into the proper wetland. And I'm really excited to dive in amongst all the water and the vegetation to see what wildlife we can find. But before we do so, I would just like to say that the only reason we've been able to support the creation of this wetland is because of our Mossy Earth members who have a monthly subscription with us. We receive that money and then use it to run our own teams in Scotland, Portugal, Ecuador, and Indonesia. And they're tackling these really big, impactful, important projects. And we also [music] fund really amazing projects with other organizations such as BRS here. The key thing is that all projects are scientific in their mindset. We [music] report the failures that happen. We contribute to open-source rewing frameworks and we try to document all of this in this in these stories that we tell you to show that it is possible to restore nature. So [music] if that sounds like something that you would like to support, then please consider becoming a member at mossi.ear.

[00:08:48]Now let's go jump into this wetland.

[00:08:56]As you walk into this wetland, it feels like you traveled to a place which is wholly separate from the humanized landscape that surrounds it. The tall wetland vegetation starts blocking out the views. The noise of the birds and the frogs fills your ears and suddenly there you are. You're in the [music] wild and this unique feeling of excitement comes upon you. the feeling of not knowing what you might find. And there is a lot to find here. So I spent a few days searching this place, sometimes alone, sometimes with Sigi or with Julia, Adrana or Christian to help spot interesting [music] creatures. And when you start searching in amongst the sges and the cattails, you quickly run into a wide variety of amphibians such as these water frogs or this European toad, which doesn't fully realize how close it got to a very dangerous predator. and also the iconic European firebelly toad, a target species for this project. And then as we were walking around, Christian caught what we think is one of the protagonists of this wetland, a vo, potentially a panonian root, but it's really hard to tell without having an expert take a look at it. So, right here in the middle of the wetland, I started getting this really nice fragrance in my nose. And uh when I look down found this some mint which of course you know really loves these like wet areas but it adds a really nice touch to this place when you're walking.

[00:10:24]You know your nose is filled with this fresh fresh smell. Amongst the vegetation here, there are many damsel flies and dragon flies zooming about.

[00:10:33]And you can also spot birds of all kinds from the usual suspects such as the western yellow wagtail or the European stone chat to the ones that you would expect in a wetland such as [clears throat] the reed bunting. And this abundance of insects, vos, amphibians, fish, and small birds of course also attracts the predators. The first species you will always see here are the everpresent marsh harriers busy gliding over the wetland on the hunt for their next meal. And when you see so many of them so frequently, it can only be a good sign when it comes to the abundance of prey, the productivity of this wetland. And just a quick reminder that if you'd like to walk this wetland yourself, we are now organizing a few trips a year to some of our project and this is one of them. So if you're keen, the details are in the description. But when it comes to seeing wetland birds and wetland predators, I did not have much luck. Only a few quick glimpses.

[00:11:31]And the same for a quick glimpse of a very weirdly colored nutria that quickly left. But one day, I had a bit of a brain wave. It was quite hot and I decided to fly my drone instead of going filming right away. And I started looking for wildlife instead. And lo and behold, there was a clear white dot in the middle of the wetland.

[00:11:53]>> I mean, what a lazy lazy bastard. I swear this nutria is in the exact same location I saw it in yesterday. It's the most relaxed animal in this wetland. And it's so easy to spot it because it's fully white. I don't know if that is because it was bred to have a white coat. you know, they used to breed them to have the furs or if it's inbred or if it's albino, which would be would be really exciting. But regardless, it's a it's an animal that's there in this wetland. And maybe it should have a name. So, if you have a name for this unique weird nutria, then please let me know in the comments down below. As it turned out, this new drone that I'm using has a really good zoom lens. It makes it easy to spot wildlife without disturbing it. I mean, when I was walking around, I only ever caught a glimpse of the ducks or the coots that live here. But from the sky, I could spy there every move, and they were seemingly completely unbothered. So, I used this new discrete filming superpower to really see what was going on here. I had a peek at these ducks calmly cleaning their feathers [music] and also at this pair of coots happily feeding on aquatic plants and small invertebrates. But when I looked closer, I realized it was a whole family. As it turns out, they were also feeding the little ones and teaching them how to survive in this wetland. And in total, I counted at least five very excited chicks going for their first few paddles in this wetland. I also spotted a nest dutifully guarded by two wonderful swans. And this was good to know as well, so I was able to avoid this area whenever I went in on [music] foot so as not to disturb them. And while I was filming the nest from above, I saw something pop out from the side. This was another nutrient, one with a more normal and harder to spot fur color. But I was still able to follow it around.

[00:13:44]And as I was filming it in an open area, I saw the gray heron that I had glimpsed earlier waiting by in the background.

[00:13:51]But this time, I got to follow it as well while it calmly searched for a tasty amphibian snack for lunch. Then I also saw this group of greater egrets.

[00:14:01]They were there every single day as they spent their whole day in this [music] wetland, but they were a bit more nervy about the drone. So, I kept my distance and just filmed them from far away. But it's really cool to see them here. And then I turned my attention to the marsh areas because I was really curious whether I could discreetly follow one as it hunted. And this was a completely new and exciting perspective for me. It somehow felt like I was a bird myself watching them from above. and they were always on the move, really gracefully gliding a few meters above the water and the vegetation and occasionally diving down to hunt. And this did not get them many fans, of course, in this wetland, as this rather angry lapwing is demonstrating here. But I quickly understood why when I finally came upon a marsher that had had some success. And I can't say what kind of nest this is, but it is abundantly clear that this bird is having an absolute feast of eggs. I mean, what an incredible thing to see a marsh harrier hunting in a marsh. We made happen. A marsh you, the mossy earth members among you, made happen. It's uh incredible stuff.

[00:15:11][snorts] This place, this wetland really has become an island of life in a desert of humanized landscapes. It is a really special place. And in amongst all the water and the vegetation, there is just so much life, so much wildlife that has moved in. It's it's incredible to witness this and makes me feel really proud being a part of this. And as a Mossy Earth member, you should feel proud, too. You made this happen. And it's a really big deal. And if you're not yet a Mossy Earth member, then please consider becoming one at mossy.ear. It is really cheap to join.

[00:15:47]You can join for only about €5 a month.

[00:15:50]But all of us together, we can do really big things. So, I hope you'll consider it. Until next time, cheers.