Blogs

On April 2 nd 2012 I officially started my 18 month traineeship with the RSPB, at the magnificent Saltholme reserve. The traineeship is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund – they do both ecology and visitor services traineeships. I am the latter – a visitor services trainee! My job is...

Over the winter we have been erecting interpretation boards along the path from the National Nature Reserve car park to our hide at Greatham Creek. They chart the changes which have taken place in the Seal Sands area from the start of the industry to the recent cleaning up of the environment. Our hide...

May flower, cuckooflower, lady's smock or Cardamine pratensis , whatever name you choose this is a wild flower for damp areas. This photo is from the bog garden part of our Wildlife Garden but there are also a few plants scattered over the reserve, and they should spread. It is now in full...

Lambs everywhere! We now have lots of them frolicking around the sheep shed at Saltholme. Over the winter we had lots more ewes grazing our fields to get just the right mix of grass and wild flowers, but these went home to RSPB Haweswater a few weeks ago, just before the snow. I did say I would let...

The Cheviot sheep which helped to graze Saltholme's wet grassland over the winter are now back at the RSPB Haweswater reserve. To get them ready for lambing - they have many more than we have with our small Shetland flock - they have been rounded up. This was done very early in the day as this photo...

But it is still very early and it may be several more days before we have lots to show. So at present we have four lambs from three ewes. Most of the sheep are Shetland, but you will also see a few Hebrideans which have distinctive horns. The ewe has cleaned them up well, and at present is in our...

We have been working hard to get the islands ready for the return of the terns starting with the ones on the main lake. There is always some damage over winter with the cockle shell covering washing off. Now is a good time to do the work as winter is nearly over and the Common Terns have yet to return...

Last week we put the finishing touches to a new sheep pen and I blogged that the sheep from RSPB Haweswater were to go back home. Last Wednesday the pen was used to hold then before loading into a lorry to go home. They will be kept in the inbye land - that is fields near the farm - for lambing...

It will soon be time for lambing and that means getting ready. At Saltholme we have a reserve that is mainly grassland and this needs to be kept in top form by grazing. If left alone it would soon be all scrub and we only want a little of that. To achieve this we have different areas grazed by sheep...

Hi guys, Every week over on the Saltholme facebook page we have a bit of fun trying to guess a mystery picture. It's not on letting the facebookers have all the fun, so we're brining this week's quiz to the RSPB community, too. We ask the same, simple question every week ... what's...

Keep an eye on the webcam guys ... Both parents have been adding some finishing touches to the nest today...

Hi everyone, Guess what? Now you can keep up with Saltholme's wildlife 24 hours a day. The Saltholme webcam has just gone live. The current stars are a family of swallows nesting underneath the swing-bridge (the bridge you walk over to get into the visitor centre). If you've visited...