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We held another in our popular programme of 'Behind the Scenes' guided walks at Saltholme this month, the final one planned for this year.

The event was very well attended and gave people what will probably be the last chance to visit the site before the building work starts in the New Year.

Grey partridges have done well this breeding season and there were two large coveys (both in double figures) near to where the Wild Bird Discovery Centre is to be built.

Wading birds continued to be present in good numbers and variety, with curlew sandpiper, six little stints, a jack snipe and at least two pectoral sandpipers particularly notable during the month.

Sightings of marsh harriers increased, with at least three different individuals seen passing through on their southward journey. Other birds of prey have also been evident, with peregrine, hobby, merlin and the rather more common kestrel all recorded on and around the reserve in September.

For me though, the highlight was the first movement of pink-footed geese recorded on the very last day of the month. A skein of 60 birds broke their journey between Iceland and East Anglia to drop in and spend some time with us at Saltholme.

So, all in all, another exciting month at Saltholme, and once again the variety of wildlife in the area provides a taste of what can be expected once the creation of new habitats is complete.

Our first-ever Sandwich tern chick fledged and left Saltholme Pools in the middle of August, noisily following one of its parents out into the Tees estuary. This probably marked the end of the breeding season at Saltholme and the start of migration proper.

Birds not only migrate through Saltholme from the Arctic but also move down from the uplands in the UK, perhaps to winter with us. Increasing numbers of meadow pipits and the appearance of a female merlin indicated such movements.

Waders continued to flood through Saltholme during August, including greenshanks, spotted redshanks, ruffs, snipe and green and common sandpipers. Most of these birds were juveniles, indicating that many species have had a good breeding season.

The same was not true, however, of the 50 strong flock of black-tailed godwits that were with us for most of the month, all of which were adults. It seem likely that this was a sign of a poor breeding season on their Icelandic breeding grounds.

Lapwings and curlews began to assemble for the winter with peak numbers of 350 and 112 respectively. The lapwings are most likely to be birds that have come down to the coast from the British uplands, whereas studies have shown that the curlews are more likely to have come from elsewhere in northern Europe.

Towards the end of August, there was yet more evidence of migration with sightings of wheatears, a spotted flycatcher and a buzzard being sighted. And not just birds were on the move, but also a number of clouded yellow butterflies which turned up at Saltholme after crossing the North Sea from continental Europe. The incredible mass movement of these gorgeous insects occurs only once very five years or so and is a real summer treat.

Two black terns and five little egrets were present on Saltholme Pools for most of the month. But the most exotic and spectacular visitor this month, in terms of size if nothing else, has to be the white pelican that appeared over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

A bird larger than a mute swan, the pelican has been wandering the country and is either a bird that has escaped from somewhere, or if it is a wild bird then it is somewhat lost, as it should be in Africa!

We held a 'Behind the Scenes' guided walk in August where visitors had a chance to look on the ground at the plans for the trails and hides that will be enjoyed by all when the site officially opens in 2008.

Two new exciting designs for hides are being developed for Saltholme in conjunction with our architects. The hides will move away from the traditional wooden 'potting shed' design to modern, light, airy versions which will be less intrusive in the landscape, more welcoming to visitors but also more robust and vandal-proof.

At the end of the month, the RSPB Saltholme team joined in with a Family Fun Day in the neighbouring community where we took youngsters pond-dipping and investigating aspects of other wildlife on part of the reserve. Their enthusiasm was self-evident and emphasises the importance of education as one of the key roles for Saltholme in the future.

July turned out to be a fantastic month for birds at Saltholme. With the help of 90 hours of fieldwork by volunteers, we now know that the final count of breeding waders was: 52 pairs of lapwings, nine pairs of redshanks, three pairs of snipe, two pairs of oystercatchers and a pair of little ringed plovers.

This is cracking news at such an early stage in the creation of Saltholme. Many thanks to all the local volunteers who helped with the survey work.

Our two tern islands have hosted 350 pairs of common terns this summer, which is 90% of the Teesmouth population and more than doubles last year's numbers. As with the waders, productivity has been high in the tern colony, with each pair raising about two chicks.

Three pochard broods hatched on the reserve and Saltholme Pools appear to be particularly good for these ducks, which are scarce breeding birds in the UK.

Yellow wagtails also had a good year locally with three pairs fledging young; this is most encouraging as yellow wagtails are becoming much rarer throughout the country.

July provided another rare American wader and a semipalmated sandpiper (so called because it has slight webbing between its toes) turned up and stayed for a week at the beginning of the month. Another unusual record was of a marsh warbler that sang occasionally on the reserve in the middle of the month.

Towards the end of the month a number of little egrets returned to the area, with up to five birds being seen around Saltholme East Pool and clearly visible, with care, from the main road that runs through the reserve.

We are delighted that Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council recently granted planning permission for the Wild Bird Discovery Centre, which will be the centrepiece of the visitor facilities at Saltholme. The decision is a huge boost for our plans for the reserve and the RSPB and Teesside Environmental Trust were delighted (and not a little relieved) to receive the good news.

'I am delighted that the detailed planning work carried out by our Project Design Team over the past year has paid off, and has now received formal endorsement from Stockton's planners. This is a major milestone for the project and a massive boost for the Saltholme team.

'Seeing the detailed plans on paper is incredibly exciting. I desperately want to turn them into reality and show what a fantastic asset Saltholme is going to be for the Tees Valley,' says Kevin Bayes

Work on the new building should start next year and Saltholme is expected to open to visitors in 2008.

June was a busy month for the breeding birds at Saltholme and the fine weather at the start part of the month was great news for our nesting lapwings.

After a pretty disastrous start to their breeding season caused by bad weather in May, the lapwings appear to have bounced back and a survey in the middle of the month found at least 80 chicks or juveniles around the reserve.

The common terns finally settled to nest on the two islands that have been specially constructed for them. Almost 300 pairs are nesting this year: double last year's number and surpassing all our expectations.

The maintenance work we carried out on the islands in April has really paid off. A few pairs of Sandwich terns also arrived unexpectedly and quickly settled in among the common terns and the noisy colony of black-headed gulls. The three immature little gulls that also graced the tern islands with their diminutive elegance created even more interest.

Passage wading birds were still noticeable during June. Some were still heading north, but, later in the month, others were on their return journey from their short stay in the Arctic.

For them the summer is already over. Most were still in superb summer plumage, which for many species that breed on the Arctic tundra is brick-red. These included knots and curlew sandpipers, two species which are perhaps amongst the reddest of them all.

A female pectoral sandpiper also called in for a few days in the middle of the month. This is a bird that breeds in the very high Arctic and winters in South America and south-west Australia. Although it might appear to have been well off its normal course, this species is now an annual visitor to Saltholme.

Two species that were completely unexpected June visitors were bean goose and lesser white-fronted goose, which dropped in separately for a short stay. Perhaps the flock of local greylag geese attracted them?

With all the nesting activity going on at Saltholme, we are not able to carry out much work on the site of the new reserve at this time of the year. JCBs and lapwing chicks just don't mix!

However, behind the scenes, there has been lots happening with good progress made over the planning application for the new Wild Bird Discovery Centre, the design of the building, and the format of the Education Zone. More on this next month...

May has been a marvellous month for birds at Saltholme, despite the general lack of sunny weather.

Early in the month, a male spotted crake was heard calling from one of our reedbeds in the dead of night. The unusual, but unmistakable call, of the male sounds like a whiplash cracking. As the bird did not stay with us for long, we assume that he was on migration, but maybe this is another potential future breeding species at Saltholme.

A number of waders also stopped off at Saltholme on migration, including black-tailed godwit, whimbrel, little stint and Temminck's stint, curlew, common and wood sandpipers and greenshanks.

Our efforts to prepare the two islands for our common tern colony paid off handsomely, as our terns have returned and by the end of the month there were 250 birds spending much of their days nest- and mate-prospecting on and around the islands.

The most exotic visitor was probably a spoonbill that stayed around the Saltholme Pools for a couple of weeks in the middle of the month. Other water bird migrants included a number of garganey (a small duck that winters in Africa), black-necked grebe and little gulls.

Volunteers have been undertaking detailed surveys of our breeding waders and, although the results are not yet complete, it would appear that there were about 40 pairs of lapwing and 10 pairs of redshank nesting across the site.

Disappointingly, in mid-May, when many chicks were hatching, there was a prolonged period of terribly cold and wet weather, making survival difficult for many chicks. However, as the weather improved towards the end of the month, survival prospects for later broods became a lot better.

And finally for this month... we've just received the terrific news that an additional £500,000 has been pledged to the Saltholme development project. Can't reveal who the generous benefactor is at the moment, but it's a superb springtime boost for Saltholme.

The islands that we have constructed at Saltholme have already become an important breeding site for some special summer visitors to the Tees Valley. Around 150 pairs of common terns nested on the islands last year.

We recently teamed up with the Environment Agency to carry out essential maintenance work to prepare the islands for the return of the terns.

The Agency kindly loaned us one of their boats, so that a work party could get access to the islands at Saltholme Pools. The terns will be arriving back soon to find the islands much improved - let's hope they appreciate the work that goes on behind the scenes!

Spring migrants began to arrive in the second week of April with swallows, yellow wagtails and wheatears in good numbers and an osprey passed over on its way north on the 8th.

Waders commuting between their wintering grounds in southern Europe and Africa and their northern breeding grounds stop off to 'refuel' at Saltholme. Spotted redshanks in dusky summer plumage, ruffs in their different colours of head and neck plumes and black-tailed godwit in crisp, brick-red breeding dress.

One godwit had been colour-ringed, and had been recorded in a number of winters in western France and in some summers on its breeding ground in eastern Iceland.

As the avocet is the emblem of the RSPB and a symbol of conservation success, it is fantastic that two birds have been seen at Saltholme.

A pair of garganeys was present from the middle of the month and a female marsh harrier turned up on 21st. The first swifts arrived earlier than usual on 24th, giving hope that at last summer was really on its way.

All this fantastic bird activity is taking place while Saltholme is still very much 'under construction' but it does gives an exciting taste of what we can expect in the future, when the habitat creation and visitor facilities are complete.

STOP PRESS: We have received the good news that the Northern Rock Foundation has generously agreed to pledge £250,000 to the project to go towards the visitor, community and education facilities. This is another important step in completing the funding package for this exciting project.

Winter has been very slow to lose its force at Saltholme and throughout much of March, this part of north-east England has been in the grip of icy easterly winds.

A red-necked grebe, which turned up in the middle of the month, was a rare winter visitor to the Tees Valley, and was probably pushed east by severe weather on the Continent.

A group from Stokesley U3A (University of the Third Age) came on a guided walk around the southern section of the site - in the snow! They saw the pair of smew that has been on Saltholme Pools for most of the winter, along with flocks of wigeon and other waterfowl. The group was highly complimentary about the project and appreciative of the chance for a preview of the site.

The behind-the-scenes work involved in developing Saltholme continues with new challenges for us to solve. A new access track will be needed to link the Wild Bird Discovery Centre and car park to the main road.

This is turning out to be quite a complex piece of planning. There are loads of legal issues to sort out, involving the owners of the land where we want to create a new turning, the Highways Department, and the local Council. We are also looking at upgrading the nearby bus stops.

Let's hope we can broker a deal that ensures that all the bits of new road meet up and that our visitors - whether they arrive by bus or car - will have safe access to the site from the very busy main road.

Despite the cold, a few migrant birds have been passing through, with small numbers of pink-footed geese heading northward toward their breeding grounds. There has been a trickle of meadow pipits returning to the Saltholme grasslands. The first long-distance migrants arrived rather belatedly on 27 March - two sand martins battling into heavy winds in a wintry squall.

However, the days are growing noticeably longer, and the first signs of the new breeding season are underway. At least three pairs of great crested grebe have returned to the pools after spending the winter in the Tees estuary or at the coast.

Male lapwings are performing their unmistakable aerial display flights over the wet grassland in the centre of the reserve... a sure indication that some warmer spring weather is surely just around the corner.

Good numbers of both lapwings and golden plovers have remained on site throughout February, with combined flocks of up to 5,000 birds.

Up to 12 water pipits have spent the winter at Saltholme. These birds are unusual winter visitors to north-east England and will no doubt return to their Alpine breeding grounds in early spring.
 
A colour-ringed curlew turned up during the month, which was ringed as part of a Durham University study some years ago. It was originally ringed at nearby Seal Sands in the Tees estuary as an adult in 1997, so we know that it is at least 10 years old this year.

It was seen again in January 1998 and the last time that it was seen at Teesmouth prior to this month's encounter was in October 1998. I wonder where it has been since then?
 
Towards the end of the month, a group of children from a local school visited Saltholme to find out more about the wildlife on the site. They were treated to the spectacle of a young female peregrine falcon and a short-eared owl having a aerial tussle right over their heads, although some of the children seemed to be more impressed by the flock of goldfinches feeding on teasel heads. Who can blame them?

Even with two full-time staff working on the Saltholme project, the 'to do' list still seems to be getting longer! The good news is that the project is firing on all cylinders with excellent progress being made.

January saw the arrival of six smews, including four magnificent drakes on Saltholme Pool. This is an unusual record for the north of England.

We'd like to think that they found out about the plans for the Saltholme reserve and came to check us out, but it's probably more to do with the arctic conditions in northern Europe! Still, they are most welcome and their presence bodes well for some mouth-watering wildlife viewing in the future.

One of our current jobs is planning future access on to the site and the location of hides and viewpoints. The pools at Saltholme and Back Saltholme are obvious places for hide viewing.

At present, visiting birdwatchers pull into a lay-by off a busy road to view the pools while heavy lorries rumble past just behind them. It shouldn't be hard to improve on that particular watching experience! But where exactly to place the hide, how big should it be, should it be at ground level or raised? All of these questions need to be answered.

The area adjacent to the pools is a protected area, and we clearly don't want to damage it. How do we get people close to the pools without causing disturbance?

We are keen to encourage a new audience to Saltholme and particularly young, would-be birders. We are thinking about creating a new 'family-friendly' hide, to introduce visitors to the joys of getting close to wildlife that a hide can provide. What should it look like? There's lots for us to think about and we must get to grips with these issues soon.

A bittern has been wintering near Saltholme and could well have made the short flight onto the site of the reserve. Bitterns are one of the species that we hope will breed at Saltholme, so this is a welcome sighting.

In order to keep the wetlands wet for bittern and other marsh wildlife, we cannot rely on our increasingly erratic rainfall to do the job. We are working with Huntsman, our industrial neighbours, to receive ground water that they pump up daily as part of their activities.

Our first test of the new pipeline last year had to be called off when it sprung a leak. This month we tried again and this time all went well, with water pouring out into our reedbed. That was definitely an improvement. However, measurements of flow rates suggest that water is coming in too slowly.

We need to know that the water supply is going to be consistent and it looks like further discussions with our engineers are needed to solve the problem. Let's hope it's possible to resolve this particular challenge. Watch this space.

We're looking forward to a busy and exciting 2006 at Saltholme and no doubt there will be lots of interesting new challenges as we continue with developments at the site.

As well as welcoming in the New Year, we are also welcoming a new member of the project team. Dave Braithwaite is the new site manager at Saltholme and will be working alongside RSPB project manager, Kevin Bayes.

Dave is returning to his roots to work on the Saltholme project. As a teenager, it was this same area of Teesside that first fired his enthusiasm for birdwatching.

Dave, 51, who lives at Witton-le-Wear, brings a wealth of experience to the Saltholme reserve team. His previous jobs have included Principal Ecologist with a national ecological consultancy, Head of Countryside Conservation at Bishop Burton College in East Yorkshire and Head of Rural Studies at Joseph Rowntree School, York.

He is passionate about birds and wildlife and is keen to emphasise the importance of Saltholme for people as well as wildlife. He's also looking forward to getting to know local people and meeting up with fellow birdwatchers.

'My passion for wildlife was fired by the fantastic spectacle of the vast numbers of wild birds to be seen in the area around Saltholme.'Dave is thrilled to be in charge of a site that inspired his own interest in birdwatching.

He says: 'My passion for wildlife was fired by the fantastic spectacle of the vast numbers of wild birds to be seen in the area around Saltholme. I am very excited by the chance to work with Kevin and the Teesside Environmental Trust to help shape the new site.

'The Tees is still a wonderful place to see an amazing variety of wildlife, from well-loved bird species to rare visitors. Saltholme will offer a unique family-friendly experience of wildlife, and provide facilities for education and community activities, as well as bringing jobs and new income to the area.'

Since starting in his new job, Dave has been getting to know the Saltholme site all over again and is impressed by the habitat creation work that has already taken place.

The birds obviously like what's happening as well, and Dave recently counted flocks of more than 4,300 lapwings and around 3,000 golden plovers using the site. There have also been up to five ruffs on the reserve recently as well, providing a great bonus for winter birdwatchers.

News about the creation of the new reserve at Saltholme is spreading far and wide, and not just thanks to this online diary.

Earlier in the year, ITV filmed one of the 'behind-the-scenes' guided walks held this summer. Thanks to today's global media village, the programme somehow ended up being broadcast on TV in Australia!

A Teesside ex-pat saw the piece and told us that Saltholme was indeed now truly an 'international' nature reserve. I wonder if, when Saltholme opens to the public in 2008, we will have a steady stream of Australian visitors?

This year's habitat creation work has now finished at Saltholme. As usual, the heavy machinery has been trundling over the site undertaking a wide range of tasks to our site design plan.

The main work carried out this season has seen work carried out on the main lake and the creation of two new islands. We've also completed the creation of the ditches that are so vital in controlling the flow of water across the reserve. Building a new bank will prevent flooding of the access road - fairly crucial for when our visitors start arriving!

The project team is continuing to develop ideas for the detailed design of the Wild Bird Discovery Centre. Inevitably, there have been amendments, tweaks and changes to the first proposals put forward by our architects as we start looking at the nitty gritty of the design.

We are very excited about this innovative and visually-exciting building. An event in Stockton on Thursday, 15 December will give people living in the Tees Valley the chance to find out more about the plans.

Site plans for the next stage of the reserve's development will be on view and representatives of the RSPB and the Teesside Environmental Trust (TET) and the project's design team will be on hand to explain more about the project. 

If you'd like to find out more then come along to the Parish Church in the High Street anytime between 3 pm and 7 pm.

Recent bird sightings from the Saltholme area have included 12 whooper swans on Back Saltholme at the start of November, big flocks of fieldfares feeding on hawthorns, and a little egret on our new reedbed area.

There'll be more news from Saltholme in the New Year. In the meantime, I hope that you have a great Christmas.

Earlier this month we announced that a firm of architects based in north-east England has been appointed to create the Wild Bird Discovery Centre at Saltholme.

The design that we've chosen is by Jane Darbyshire & David Kendall (JDDK) Ltd and we chose their proposal following a Europe-wide tender process.

We received designs from architectural practices nation-wide and it was a tough task to pick one from such a strong field. It was very encouraging that so many top firms were interested in working with the Teesside Environmental Trust and the RSPB on such an ambitious project.

The Discovery Centre, which will be at the heart of the new reserve, will be the starting point of a visit to Saltholme. It will be built in a unique wetland setting next to the reserve's main lake and visitors will reach the building by way of a drawbridge over the water!

The JDDK design features a futuristic structure that emerges out of the lakeside landscape through a feather-like roof structure, rising from a single ground storey to a second storey viewing tower. The Centre will provide panoramic views across Saltholme and will incorporate an education centre, café, exhibition space and offices.

The innovative building fuses 21st Century architecture to both modern and traditional materials. Modern aircraft construction techniques will be used in the construction of the building, while the drawbridge and an external timber walkway provide echoes of earlier technology.

One of the main design criteria set by us was that the building should use sustainable principles and be as low maintenance as possible. JDDK rose to the challenge by designing the building around the 'stack effect' in which cool air is drawn in from the outside and up through the central atrium of the building, providing natural ventilation and removing the need for mechanical aids.

Rainwater will be recycled and used within the building. The Centre also features an internal rammed earth wall to control both internal humidity and temperature.

We're very excited about this concept for the Wild Bird Discovery Centre and we'll be fine-tuning the design with JDDK's project team.

It's also important to us to have community group involvement at an early stage, and we're holding a community consultation workshop this month. I'm sure we'll get some great ideas that can be incorporated into the detailed design stage.

During the past month, it's been a real pleasure for me to escort more than 200 people around Saltholme on a series of 'behind-the-scenes' guided walks.

The walks have been a great opportunity for me to show local people how work is progressing at Saltholme and to get their response to our plans. So far, everyone who has been on the tour of the site has been incredibly enthusiastic and interested in how the reserve is shaping up, which bodes well for the future.

One of the guided walks even featured on the local telly, when ITV filmed one of the groups visiting the site for a feature encouraging people to get out-and-about. Even though Saltholme won't be open to the public until early 2008, I get a real sense that there is already lots of positive feeling about what we're trying to achieve here.

Saltholme hit the rare bird headlines at the start of September when local birdwatchers found a Baird's sandpiper on Saltholme Pools on the evening of Friday 2nd.

Baird's sandpipers are very rare visitors from America and the Saltholme bird attracted a steady stream of birdwatchers during its week-long visit to Teesside. It was a very obliging bird and showed well during its stay. It was useful to be able to compare it with the little stints and dunlin that were also present on the pools.

There was a great supporting cast of other interesting waders to enjoy as well throughout the month, including spotted redshank, black-tailed godwit, ruff and curlew sandpiper. As well as the waders, other birds that visited Saltholme during the month included garganey, black-necked grebe and black tern.

Up to four little egrets also graced the pools. I expect that by the time we open even more little egrets will be seen at Saltholme as a result of the extraordinary colonisation of the country by these attractive birds. Little egrets were a major rarity when I started birdwatching, but earlier this month more than 100 were seen together at the RSPB Frampton Marsh reserve on The Wash. Incredible!

Last month I reported that we were looking at a series of exciting designs for Saltholme's Wild Bird Discovery Centre, submitted by various architects following a Europe-wide tender process.

We short-listed six entries and after an in-depth selection process, we have chosen the company that will help us realise our vision for the building that will sit at the heart of Saltholme. We'll be announcing further details in mid-October and I'll give more information in next month's Saltholme Reports, along with an artist's impression of what the Centre could look like.

For now, I'll just say that the architects have come up with a really innovative and original concept for the Discovery Centre and that we're delighted that they are based in north-east England. More soon.

Earlier in the month, I was waiting to meet a group for a guided walk when I noticed 15 dragonflies sunbathing on a log just by the entrance gate. Seeing them all lined up, as if on a dragonfly aircraft carrier, reminded me that Saltholme will be fantastic for a whole range of wildlife and not just birds. It will be a fantastic place to watch wildlife, to have fun and learn more about the natural world.

My next big meeting is with the local planning authority to discuss the initial proposals for the Discovery Centre - let's hope they agree!

I've been working on this project for a couple of years now and it's incredibly thrilling to see what we've achieved so far in creating a new nature reserve virtually from scratch.

Most of the land that we are working on is former industrial land - a so-called 'brownfield' site - and transforming it into a world-class nature reserve is a big challenge.

Creating a new type of nature reserve on this kind of scale is definitely not a task that can be completed overnight! We are doing a huge amount of work behind-the-scenes, ranging from the all important on the ground habitat creation, through to fostering support for the project and finding the money to pay for it all.

In this regular monthly diary, I'd like to share some of the achievements of this project with you - along with some of the set-backs that we'll inevitably have to face along the way. Saltholme is due to be fully open in 2008 and I hope that you will visit us then to see what we've achieved.

The area known as Saltholme Pools, which is adjacent to the busy A178, is already a popular destination for local birdwatchers. These subsidence pools will remain as a core part of the new reserve, but with 1,000 acres to play with, there is a wonderful opportunity to create a massive network of wetland wildlife habitats at Saltholme.

Providing new access to the area, installing hides, and constructing Saltholme's 'Wild Bird Discovery Centre' in a dramatic wetland setting will create superb new facilities for birdwatchers and will attract many other visitors. I see Saltholme as a place that is as much about people as it is for wildlife, and one where everyone is welcome, whatever their interest in wildlife.

We reached a huge milestone for the project this spring when ownership of the land at Saltholme was transferred from English Partnerships to the Teesside Environmental Trust (TET). TET is a charitable body formed in 1998 to establish an International Nature Reserve in the Tees Valley and, along with other RSPB colleagues, I am working with the Trust very closely to create the Saltholme experience.

In a ceremony to mark the land transfer, Glenn Sutton of English Partnerships handed across a commemorative glass plaque to TET's David Kitchen and me. It was a very significant moment and one that only came about after much detailed and careful negotiation. It is heartening to know that our partners in this project are now owners of the land on which a fabulous new nature reserve will grow.

The starting point for a visit to Saltholme will be our Wild Bird Discovery Centre - an inspirational new building for the Tees Valley. In a unique wetland setting, the Centre will give panoramic views across the site, provide great birdwatching and be a place for visitors to meet (and eat!).

In front of me now I've got visualisations, technical drawing and plans of what the Centre might look like. Six architects have tendered these and their designs are all very different and innovative.

It's going to be tough to choose the design that we want to see become a reality. We will be interviewing each of the firms before deciding who we want to commission to build this landmark new building.

I hope that we can post a sneak preview of what the building will look like on the Saltholme web pages soon.

'All this backroom stuff is all well and good', I hear you say, 'but what about the wildlife?' Well, more on this next month, but just a couple of highlights to whet your appetite. This year around 100 pairs of common terns nested on the islands that we have specially constructed for them on Back Saltholme and Paddy's Pool.

Meanwhile, recent bird surveys carried out by volunteers from the RSPB local group and Teesmouth Bird Club have shown that lapwings are one of the early beneficiaries from the changes so far at Saltholme. The number of these delightful birds nesting on the site has increased from only five pairs before work started to more than 40 breeding pairs this year.

With migration now getting under way in earnest, there are sure to be some exiting sightings from the area in the coming weeks.

If you'd like to find out more about Saltholme then we're holding a guided walk on Saturday 24 September, starting at 10 am. It's an opportunity to go 'behind the scenes' with the project team and to find out more about our plans for the area. Places are limited and advance booking is essential - please contact us on 0191 2334309 to reserve your place.

Finally, for this month, just to say a big thank you to Augean plc and County Durham Environment Trust (CDENT), who are the largest providers of funding to us for this project. These funds are provided through the landfill tax credit scheme, which enables landfill site operators to donate a percentage of their landfill tax liability to environmental projects.

The support of Stockton Borough Council is also hugely appreciated and we look forward to forging even closer links with them, and the other local authorities in the Tees Valley, as the project develops. Volunteers from the Teesmouth Bird Club and the RSPB local groups will have spent more than 100 volunteer hours this year at Saltholme carrying out wildlife surveys.

Their hard work and dedication is much appreciated and paves the way for the involvement of even more volunteers at Saltholme in the future.

Next month I'll bring you up to date with the latest news on plans for the Wild Bird Discovery Centre, let you know about recent birds sightings and explain how one of our industrial neighbours is helping us with a water shortage.