Hello all from Emily
Life at Saltholme is finally starting to settle down after the whirlwind of our opening and I’ve even found five minutes to become a little obsessed with two of Saltholme’s residents – the great crested grebes!
Regular blog readers will know my bird knowledge is sadly very poor but having recently been able to spend more time out on the reserve then I have previously been able it is improving and I have become very attached to these elegant divers. A pair have been seen most days on the main pool doing their head shaking courtship dance and lately they appear to have been building a nest; so hopefully they are a sight many of you will get to enjoy when you visit us.
If you were amongst the first visitors that came to Saltholme in January, a return visit now will be well worth it. All three of our architect-designed hides are now open as well as the majority of the trails, so there is a lot more reserve to explore. The Walled Wildlife Garden is also now accessible and although it will take a while to mature there are already some flowers in bloom. Still to come in the summer is the opening of the cycleway and the much-anticipated children’s play area.
Other recent goings on at Saltholme include a very busy Easter weekend where we saw thousands of visitors through the doors for the craft activities, reserve trails and, of course, large amounts of chocolate! Our next event is Early Doors at Saltholme – A Dawn Chorus Walk on Sunday 3rd May. Apart from being one of nature’s wonders it is also a great chance to visit the reserve outside of normal opening hours and the price includes a hot breakfast bun and tea or coffee. If you are interested in getting more information on the event please see the events page of the website or email me to book at emily.smith@rspb.org.uk.
The annual RSPB members weekend in York was a great success; myself and Gwen our Community Officer manned the Saltholme stand on the Friday and with much enthusiasm told everyone how great the site is! The day after saw seventy-five members visit Saltholme for the afternoon and despite the weather being fairly bleak, everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves.
Finally, our first children’s WEx club meeting was a tremendous success and was so popular that we are planning to run a second club, hopefully starting in the next few months. For more information, or to book your child a place, please contact Gwen at gwendolyn.potter@rspb.org.uk.
Bird Bits from Toby
Everyone has their own tell tale signs of spring. The first blossom or hints of greenery in a hedgerow, frogspawn in the pond, birds singing or simply the longer hours of the day. Of the few larger flora species that we have on the reserve, there are signs of life with buds releasing this years leaves, beginning the end of the seemingly endless brown of our newly created site. Of our singing birds we are lucky enough to have several on site that are very distinct and give a good opportunity for visitors to familiarise themselves with their song before the influx of summer arrivals.
The skylark is a name synonymous with the countryside and our arable landscape. They advertise their territories with a 
spectacular song-flight, during which the bird rises almost vertically with rapid wing-beats, hovering for several minutes and then parachuting down. Song flights of up to one hour have been recorded, and the birds can reach 1,000 feet before descending.
I would struggle to illustrate the song in words but it is a consistent turnover of whistles and chirrups. Sometimes it is a lot easier to hear them than see them but, if you are lucky, one may lift up from the grass on your way to Saltholme Pools Hide or Paddy’s Hide. It is slightly smaller than a starling with a sandy brown streaky plumage, often tricky to pick out on the ground.
The meadow pipit is another streaky brown grassland bird, but differing from the skylark in its slightly smaller size and an olive brown rather than sandy brown colouration. It spends a lot of its time running on the floor chasing insects and, like the skylark, is most conspicuous in flight. It is very vocal in the air with a tseeep tseeep call and distinctive song flight. It ascends vertically while singing and then at the peak of its flight parachutes downwards with wings held up and tail spread.
The final bird to keep an eye, and ear, out for is the reed bunting. At present male reed buntings have singing rights over 
our reedbeds, till the sedge and reed warblers return from Africa, so hear them while you can. The best place for them is the Wildlife Watchpoint where they are frequently seen at the feeding station and heard in the reeds to the left. The male is a very distinctive bird with a black head and a white collar, while the female has less obvious features, with a very stripy head.
Across the reserve much of our wildfowl has departed North, leaving a brief void in numbers before the summer migrants return. This movement was illustrated beautifully by 19 whooper swans, which spent 18 March resting on the Main Pool. Two more groups dropped into the reserve briefly this month with 31 on the 22nd and eleven on the 30th.
While most ducks are moving away from Saltholme, one will hopefully be making regular appearances over the summer and put in an early appearance on the 19th. A male and female garganey showed very well in front of Saltholme Pools Hide but could not be found the next day.
The peregrines were around at the start of the month, with occasional singles of merlin, but sightings dwindled as March drew to a close and they won’t have regular presence on site until the autumn. Wader passage was evident with between seven and 12 ruff on site daily from 13 March. Black-tailed godwit numbers were up and down with the 22 that were seen on the 8th being the highest count and four on the 25th being the lowest.The wintering spotted redshank is moulting into its dark summer plumage and it appears dusky when it occasionally shows on Back Saltholme.
Our first chiffchaff of the year was in the hedge behind the Wildlife Watchpoint on the 22nd and the first swallow cruised the length of Back Saltholme on the 30th. Finally, a male marsh harrier was on and around the reserve for the first two days of April. Hopefully our reed beds will be as attractive to it as the Café is to our visitors and we can enjoy more regular sightings of this bird of prey as we enter our first spring as a fully fledged reserve.