Hello all from Emily
The first month of Saltholme being open has come and gone and it has been a fantastic success. By the time of our opening in March, 10,000 visitors will already have had their first experience of this flagship site. All your feedback has been very positive and much appreciated, thank you for bearing with us while we have found our feet!
Valentine’s Day bought with it our ‘Love is in the air’ event, tickets for which sold out. Everyone really got into the spirit of the day, starting with canapés and then a, somewhat muddy, walk across the reserve. In the evening they were greeted in the café by candle-lit tables and a five-course meal, which our wonderful catering team had slaved over all day. The Saltholme choux swans with raspberry coulis were a particular favourite. Fortunately, the catering team made a few extras just in case so the staff didn’t miss out trying them! The night was finished off in style with a very smart looking site manager Dave Braithwaite giving a talk on courtship . . . the way birds do it. Thanks to everyone that came along and for all the lovely comments you have passed on since the event. Keep an eye on the events section of the website for more information on all our upcoming events.
If you have children, grandchildren or are good enough to look after someone else’s occasionally, then we have dates for your diaries! Every Sunday afternoon we are now running drop in craft activities in the education room here at Saltholme. Come along anytime between 12pm and 3pm to take part, better news still is that there is no charge until April.
Also for the young wildlife enthusiasts the Saltholme Wildlife Explorers (and their Mums, Dads, Grandmas or Granddads if they want to come!) is go, and we would like to issue you a special invitation to the first group meeting. On the last Saturday of March we will meet at Saltholme at 10.00am til 12.30pm. Other months we will meet at 10.30am until 12.30pm. Indoors and out, we will explore wildlife habitats and behaviour. We will also enjoy games and activities such as building nest boxes and making bird puddings. The topic for the March gathering is ‘Miraculous Migration’ – get ready for the longest holiday in the world! Learn all about some very special winter visitors to our reserve, and what happens when they go on a summer vacation.
The Wildlife Explorers club is for children aged 6-12, although look out in the coming months for Phoenix club which is for 13-19 year olds. If you would like your child to come along to the first WEx meeting at the end of March please email our Community Officer Gwen at gwendolyn.potter@rspb.org.uk, or phone 01642 542077.
Stop press! Unfortunately the cafe will be closed to visitors on Friday 6 March 2009. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Tea and coffee will be provided on the ground floor.
Bird Bits from Toby
A huge apology for the paucity of blog info to those that are unable to visit the reserve and who follow the blog to get their Saltholme updates. We have been exceptionally busy but hope to get back on track soon and keep you up to speed more frequently with what we’re seeing.
During February the highlight and star bird of recent weeks is the first winter red-throated diver found on the Main Pool on 10 February. It seemed pretty content but then flew south early afternoon, not to be seen again…… or so we thought. Come 4 o’clock it was back again and has been on and off till the 16th at least. Although visible from the centre, excellent views can be had next to the path that leads to the Wildlife Watchpoint.
The wintry spell that saw very few visitors arrive on the reserve had the opposite affect on the birds. There were obvious increases in wintering thrush with fieldfares and redwings being present around the reserve and at both our feeding stations. Meadow pipits were also more numerous, which may have attracted the male and female merlin that were here on the 10th and 11th respectively. Continuing with birds of prey, both the resident peregrines showed well on the wet grassland over the Valentine’s weekend. They could be seen through the telescopes at the centre viewing point and from the café. A short-eared owl flew past the viewpoint on the afternoon of the 10th and a barn owl was hunting over back Saltholme on the early evening of the 14th.
The frozen ground and water conditions have ushered out a variety of species into our viewing areas. Snipe and redshank
have been seen regularly along the fringes of the Main Pool and from the Wildlife Watchpoint. The redshank is easier to spot with its long red legs and obvious white on its wings and rump when in flight. The snipe is a much more cryptically coloured bird, a combination of brown and cream stripes and streaks, with a long bill. With much of our open water freezing, the deeper Main Pool has hosted good numbers of tufted ducks and pochards, while the Watchpoint have had pintails, shovelers, teals, wigeons and gadwalls; all out on the ice.
As February draws to a close, birds will be thinking of moving north to return to breeding grounds. This is good for us as we have got our water levels just right and so we hope for a few birds to stop off on their journey. We have a sightings board in the centre at reception, so anything seen on the reserve will be reported on there and our hide guides will be more than happy to show you what’s about. With the many extra pairs of eyes now out and about a lot more birds are being reported and we look forward to hearing what you’ve seen on your visit to Saltholme.
Posted by Emily Smith and Toby Collett