Saltholme

Sheepy Art Competition Instructions

Liz_M — Tue, 21 May 2013 09:19:00 GMT

We are running an art competition to gather a few more sheep for our sheep shearing event in July if you would like to take part you can print the instructions and template below. If you are having trouble we also have printed instructions in our visitor centre - just ask at reception for a copy.

HELP SALTHOLME NEEDS SHEEP!

The lambs at Saltholme are lonely and need some new woolly friends

Enter our sheepish competition to be in with a chance of winning some fantastic prizes

INSTRUCTIONS

Use the sheep template below and stick it onto some firm card
Use whatever you like to decorate your sheep in the most interesting way eg. felt, cotton wool, coloured pens
Cut out and bring your decorated sheep to our SHEEP SHEARING EVENT on the 6 or 7 July and stick them on our giant sheep to help us make a new flock

TEMPLATE

Farewell Saltholme! Part 2 of 2

Stephen Vincent — Sun, 19 May 2013 08:51:00 GMT

To continue from yesterday's post...

During my traineeship, I have had a lot of involvement with Saltholme's social media. I have made a few blog posts here and there and the odd tweet too, but mainly I have been working on the RSPB Saltholme Facebook page.

Myself, our assistant warden Toby Collett and marketing officer Liz Morgan head up the social media team and together we structure and organise the content to go on our Facebook page every week, which takes the form of a social media calendar, which I email out to the regular contributors. As regular Facebookers might know, we often give you reserve news and sightings in the mornings, with a supplementary story in the afternoon.

Above is a photo of the recent sightings board, which I usually photograph so I can remember what's been about on the reserve!

A big positive from my time here has been the training courses. Sometimes it can be difficult leaving the reserve for a few days as you do fall behind with other work, but the training has been invaluable in proving me with key skills for future employment within the sector. I won't list all the courses I attended here, but I will say the most valuable ones to me were the interpretation courses and the marketing and brand training.

You can see me here at John Veverka's introduction to interpretation course in Wales, presenting a smoking lapwing! - It was a little exercise where we designed an anti-littering poster :D

One more positive for me to take from this traineeship is that I met the love of my life at Saltholme! Jane was on a placement from Teesside University at the time and helped with the family activities during the summer holidays. I can proudly say we are engaged and are very happy together :)

So that just leaves me to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped me over the last 13 months. My line managers Ben Calvert, Caroline Found and Liz Morgan have been very supportive throughout, and excellent mentors. I also got great support from the Nature Counts team down at the RSPB Lodge, thank you to June Laban-Mitchell and Heather Giles. I must also extend gratitude to HLF for making these traineeships possible - without their generous funding, all this great experience would not have happened!

Today is officially my last day, before I get ready to move down south with Jane, to work at a pub doing marketing, social media and events! The idea is to keep the work experience going and make a better job of saving money, not always easy these days :D

Take care all!

Stephen Vincent

Visitor Services Trainee

Farewell Saltholme! Part 1 of 2

Stephen Vincent — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:26:00 GMT

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 to engage people with nature, and throughout my traineeship I planned and delivered family activities, events, talks, guided walks, interpretation and lots more besides. I will dive in now with a two-part bevy of pictures that I accumulated through the past 13 months...

Part 1 is today, and part 2 will be tomorrow J

Things start on a surreal note! Barely a month into my new role, Saltholme got an unusual delivery – the World’s largest hot cross bun! I still can’t quite remember why we hosted the delicacy on the reserve, but it did make the evening news under ‘currant’ events :P

Summer was fast approaching, and my then line-manager Ben Calvert was inducting me on the range of wild-guiding activities on offer for families during weekends and holidays, which led to a summer of pond dipping...

Some of you might recall my enthusiastic pond-dipping blogs – I really did enjoy pond dipping as much as the kids! The three-spined sticklebacks were definitely one of the highlights; children would spend a good couple of hours exploring the entire Discovery Zone trying to catch these little fish.

Water scorpions are brilliant, and once we’d found a reliable spot for them (they like the shallower, leafier edges of the pond), they started to become a more frequent find for families, and they did attract a lot of interest!

It wasn’t all about pond-dipping though. I helped design and implement trails around the reserve. Above is the Jubilee spotting sheet, which at the time was part of our red, white and blue theme, with the Queen’s Jubilee and the upcoming Olympic summer providing the inspiration.

It may come as a shock to you, but sometimes it does rain at Saltholme. Not often, I grant you, but when it does we need to make sure we have something of interest to the families who visit on the wet days. The classroom provides a great space for families to shelter if the weather isn’t so good, and we always make sure we have an activity on come rain or shine. The above photo shows the cockle-shell sculptures that we made to coincide with the common terns arriving back at Saltholme in their hundreds.

That’s all for now, part two coming tomorrow!

Stephen

Be Nice to Nettles

Liz_M — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:46:00 GMT

I’m sure you are all too familiar with the sharp stinging sensation of the common nettle. But while you are frantically rubbing the afflicted area and scrambling around trying to find a dock leaf to relieve the pain, have you ever noticed how great nettles are for wildlife?

This week (15-26 May (yes I know it is more than 7 days)) is national Be Nice to Nettles Week. Nettles provide a fantastic home for many kinds of wildlife.

The nettles formidable sting keeps grazing animals at bay, creating a safe place for many insects to hide. In fact, some insect species such as the nettle weevil survive only on nettles.

The most notable and showy inhabitants of a nettle patch are butterflies. Species like small tortoiseshell, red admiral and peacock frequent our nettle patch - the plants provide ample food and shelter for their caterpillars. Aphids also love nettle patches, and in turn they provide food for other creatures, especially ladybirds. Any birds which are agile enough to dart around nettle stems can take advantage of this tasty insect buffet. Later in the summer nettles provide huge amounts of seed, which is wolfed down by many of our seed eating birds.

You might be lucky enough to see peacock butterflies around the nettle patches at Saltholme

To honour the humble nettle, this Saturday and Sunday 18 -19 May, we are celebrating here at Saltholme with some special Nettle themed activities. You can take part in planting some wild seeds, try to spot wildlife in our nettle patch and even try some nettle tea. We will be continuing our nettle festivities the weekend after too (25-26 May), hopefully, with some tasty nettle soup.

Come along and take a look in our nettle patch, and let us know what you see – just be careful you don’t get stung!

I will leave you with something I hve learned about nettles today: Apparently Nettles have anti-fungal properties which seem to protect neighboring plants from fungal diseases and can be used as a packing material to prevent mould growth on fruit.

See there is much more to nettles than their sting!

- Liz

Saltholme Recent Sightings: 3rd- 10th May 2013

Adam Jones — Fri, 10 May 2013 10:23:00 GMT

Hi,

The week brought with it some glorious hot sunny days which created ideal conditions for our weekly butterfly transect. Species recorded during the survey included, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, and Green-veined White.

Wader passage was a prominent fixture during the week with a traditional May Temminck’s Stint being a real highlight (Saltholme West, 7-8^th). Other wader species recorded during the week included, Avocet, 2x Little Ringed Plover, 1x Ringed Plover, Dunlin, 1x Little Stint (Back Saltholme, 10^th), 3x Wood Sandpiper (Saltholme West, 7^th and 8^th), 1x Common Sandpiper, Greenshank, 25x Black-Tailed Godwit and 1x Whimbrel (Fire Station Field).

This Wood Sandpiper showed superbly well from the Saltholme Pools Hide. Many Thanks to Renton Charman for the photograph.

I was up bright and early during the week to survey the Haverton Pools. On arriving at 4:00 I spotted a couple of Common Pipistrelle bats feeding on midges along a hedgerow. Bird song is particularly prominent at this time of year and given the early start I managed to record the progression of Saltholme’s dawn chorus. On arrival Blackbird, Reed Bunting, Lapwing and Song Thrush were already singing, the first Sedge Warbler burst into song at 4:25 followed by a sharming Water Rail at 4:37. By around 5:00 most birds had woken up, a Marsh Harrier flew over at 4:50, Grey Heron arrived to feed on the pools at 5:20 followed by a whistling Whimbrel at 5:25. Swallow, Yellow Wagtail and Common Tern were the late starters not arriving to the area until 5:45.

The Grey Heron behaves like any traditional fishing enthusiast in that it likes to arrive bright and early to fish the best spots. Many Thanks to Ray Scott for the photograph.

Other interesting sightings this week included, 2x Lesser Redpoll on the feeder next to the Phil Stead Hide (6^th), singing Reed Warblers in the Discovery Zone reedbed, a drake Garganey, 2x Grey Partridge (Carpark, 5^th), 3x Wheatear (Saltholme Clay Field dung heap, 7^th) and 2x Whinchat (Dormans Pool).

Finally, more chicks emerged from the comfort of their eggshells during the week with a couple of Canada goose families and at least two Lapwing nests hatching. Hares could be seen grazing in many of Saltholme’s fields and Red Campion has started to flower en masse in the carpark.

The scratchy song of a male Common Whitethroat can be heard from most of the scrub at Saltholme. Many Thanks to Ray Scott for the photograph.

Cheers,

Adam

Interpretation for Greatham Creek

Peter Langham — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:35:00 GMT

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 is the perfect place to view the seals and to see Avocets which nest in the area.

We put in the last board a couple of weeks ago and Ian took this photo of me, Freddie, Ed and John completing the task.

Greatham Creek is just 2km north of Saltholme on the A178 and is always open. There is a lot of work being done on the marshes along the creek by several agencies to restore some of the salt marsh and improve the quality of the wet grassland, so see it now and come back in a few years to see the changes which the RSPB and others will have made.

Peter

What's in a Name?

Peter Langham — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:24:00 GMT

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 flower in damp meadows - pratensis means of the meadow - and road sides and some gardens. It looks good but, more importantly, it is one of the food plants for Orange Tip butterflies (which I have yet to see at Saltholme).

Should you want something bolder in the garden then honesty (Lunaria annua - both are members of the cabbage family) will also feed the Orange Tip caterpillars, but it helps to have a large area of one type of plant.

Peter

Everything you wanted to know about lambing, but were too sheepish to ask!

Andrew Eccles — Wed, 08 May 2013 10:46:00 GMT

John McKillop, a residential volunteer who is doing lots of great work for us here at Saltholme, has kindly written this blog all about lambing. We only have one lamb left to go now, and John has made sure you're completely filled in on all things small and wooly! So, over to John...

Well, here we are at the end of April enjoying clear blue skies and pleasant temperatures, though for some time it didn’t look like spring would arrive at all.

It wasn’t just visitors struggling with the wintery conditions on the reserve over the Easter period. Our resident flock of Shetland and Hebridean sheep chose the holidays to drop their first lambs of the year in freezing conditions.

Fortunately, Saltholme’s ewes could make use of our new custom built lambing shed to shelter from the worst of the weather. There they were provided with hay and water, and we were able to monitor the health of the lambs.

Newborn lambs are born without food in their bellies, so they need some of their mum’s milk within 30 minutes of birth. This meal boosts their immune system and makes the lamb stronger. These first days are spent feeding and sleeping as their bodies begin to strengthen and grow. By around 5 days old our lambs begin to become more active and start jumping around.

This playful behaviour helps the lambs grow and develop strong healthy bodies through exercise and reminds us how important exercise is for all of us. So, I hope all of you are taking advantage of the lovely spring weather by getting outside, being active and exploring nature near you. Spring has sprung and there is so much to see, such as arriving migrants or emerging insects like dragonflies and butterflies. There are species and places to discover all around you, and these experiences are new and exciting: just the way the lambs see the world!

We take great care of our livestock at Saltholme and this sometimes involves bottle-feeding lambs that cannot get enough milk from mum, either because she isn’t producing enough or because they cannot feed properly. Some sheep suffer from mastitis, a bacterial infection that causes the udder to swell and halts milk production. Other ewes give birth to triplets, which is problematic because they only have two teats and struggle to produce enough milk for three lambs. This results in one lamb not getting sufficient access to milk if it can’t compete with its stronger siblings during feeding.

The milk-feeding phase of a lamb’s life lasts for about 6 weeks, after which the lamb’s teeth and digestive system are developed enough to eat grass. At this point the mother reduces milk production and access to her udders: this process is called weaning and encourages the lambs to feed by themselves. This marks the independence of the lambs, though many will still prefer milk from their mum since it’s an easy, warm, nutritious meal.

Despite the conditions, we’ve had another very successful lambing season here at Saltholme thanks to the dedicated team of staff and volunteers who worked tirelessly night and day to deliver and care for all our arrivals. We’ve added 81 newborn lambs to our herd - the most ever! The Lambing Live event was a fantastic addition to our events schedule; seeing our fresh faced cuties up close was a regular highlight of peoples visit, so we can’t wait to do it all again next year!

Finally, we’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who submitted all the brilliant name suggestions for our lambs. We had a hard time picking our favourites from loads of great names. We’ve listed some of our favourites below and hope you’ll be back to see them again in the summer at our shearing event on July 6^th and 7^th.

Glorious day at the waters' edge

Josh McGowan — Tue, 07 May 2013 18:28:24 GMT

The sun was warm, the birds were singing and the plants were lush and green. I walked next to the lake and could see the sand martins circling and diving for the nests on the sand bank. The work that was done over the winter has pleased the sand martins (fingers crossed.)

Then walking towards the wildlife watch point hide on the bank, near to it were several butterflies - the ones I could recognise were peacock and cabbage white. At the wildlife watch point hide I saw gold finch, behind
was the morning sun.

This morning me and the other volunteers were out on the main lake creating anchors for the tern island rafts that will be put in place very soon for when the terns arrive, these rafts are to be new nesting areas for the terns. A few have been sighted during the day and hopefully they will come back willing to use the tern raft island. It involved the boat and people heading out into the water as you can see Peter, Brain and Ian below.

Around the reserve you can see plants and trees flourishing in the warm sun, the sand martins are swooping in and out of fields and across the lakes enjoying the high levels of foods available; insects etc. I heard a grasshopper warbler in the shrubs near the Phil stead hide and sedge warbler calls alongside the visitors centre on the walk to the pond dipping and mad hatters tea party. Even if the temperature isn't as high as today you can enjoy the change that is going on from a slow spring to a very green summer.

- Josh McGowan

Saltholme Recent Sightings: 27th April- 2nd May 2013

Adam Jones — Thu, 02 May 2013 09:31:00 GMT

Hi,

There was a lot of bud bursting action on the reserve this week as trees and shrubs started to expose this year’s fleshy green growth. Green was also the colour of the week’s most unusual bird sighting in the form of a Green Woodpecker near Back Saltholme.

This showy Grasshopper Warbler was photographed by Ian F during the week.

Wader passage slowed down a little however this week’s tally included, 2x Avocet, 2x Little Ringed Plover (30^th), 2x Ringed Plover (30^th), 3x Dunlin (29^th), 2x Common Sandpiper (29^th) and 6x Black-tailed Godwit (29^th).

Two Marsh Harriers were present during the week, one of which was an adult male. The Black-necked Grebe pair remained on Back Saltholme and could be observed displaying in front of the Saltholme Pools Hide. A walk to the Allotment Pool was worthwhile for anyone wanting to catch up with the drake Lesser Scaup who has been with us for nearly a month now! Other notable wildfowl included, our first goslings of the year in the form of Greylag Geese (Back Saltholme, 26^th), 2x Red-Breasted Merganser (29^th) and a Garganey.

Mirror image. The spring sunshine tempted the Black-Necked Grebe pair to go into display mode (Many Thanks to Ian F for the photograph).

As for passerines, a Blue-Headed Wagtail was seen on the wet grassland (28^th), a Lesser Whitethroat was near the Visitor Centre (26^th) and 5x Swift were seen hawking over the reserve (26^th).

Finally, our mammal stars of the week were the fox family which proved to be very photogenic at times.

Many Thanks to Hils for this super photograph of the three fox cubs.

Cheers,

Adam

Phoenix group and reserve wildlife

Josh McGowan — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 21:41:51 GMT

I came today as part of the Saltholme phoenix group to work on the piece of land that we will be developing over the future; our hope to enhance the land and make it attractive for visitors walking past - it is visible to see on the walk towards to wildlife watch point hide by the side of the lake. Today we were planting a range of pond and waterside plants as well as finishing off proposal ideas for the land.

Elsewhere on the reserve the fox family was busy finding food, the different wader birds can be seen at several of the hides and very clear from the visitors centre are the sand martins who are all busy setting up home on the sand bank.

Please watch my video below as it shows my day at Saltholme in more detail…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zySRN6YnCNQ

- Josh McGowan

Saltholme Recent Sightings: 19th – 26th April 2013

Adam Jones — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:18:00 GMT

Hi,

The large motorway service station that is RSPB Saltholme has been a hive of activity over the past week as hundreds of migrating birds stopped to have a rest and refuel before continuing their epic journeys to distant lands.

(Please visit the site to view this video)

Ray Scott took this great video of an Avocet feeding in front of the Saltholme Pools Hide during the week.

The wagtail family were well represented with the highlights being a Blue-Headed Wagtail from Central Europe (23^rd) and a Channel Wagtail (a hybrid between a British Yellow Wagtail and Blue-Headed Wagtail, 26th). 40+ Yellow Wagtail of the British race flavissima was an excellent count from the Saltholme Pools Hide (23^rd), mixed in with these were good numbers of Pied and White Wagtail.

Wader passage continued with the following, 4x Avocet (26^th), 3x Little Ringed Plover (20^th), 2x Ringed Plover (26^th), 63x Golden Plover (26^th), 2x Turnstone (26^th), 20+ Dunlin (20^th), 1x Common Sandpiper (26^th), 10+ Redshank (26^th), 1x Spotted Redshank (20h-21^st), 1x Greenshank (26^th) and 21x Black-tailed Godwit (23^rd).

Ray Scott also captured this great moment when a Spotted Redshank (back bird) was feeding alongside a Redshank. Note the longer bill and darker plumage of the Spotted Redshank.

In my opinion the drake Lesser Scaup was the best duck on site however a stunning drake Garganey which arrived on 20^th was certainly impressive when it showed well from the Saltholme Pools Hide. Our first and only duckling of the spring so far was a Mallard first sighted on 24^th.

Like a Swallow the Garganey migrates to Britain for the summer. Many thanks to Ian F for the photograph.

Other notable sightings this week included, a pair of Black-necked Grebe (all week, Saltholme Pools Hide), 2x Common Tern (26^th), Arctic Tern (Back Saltholme, 20^th), 150+ Meadow Pipit dropped down into the fire station field during a heavy shower (25^th), Reed Warbler (26^th), Sedge Warbler (26^th), Grasshopper Warbler 22^nd and 26^th), Blackcap (26^th), 4x Common Whitethroat (22^nd), 1x male Marsh Harrier (26^th), 1x Common Buzzard (over, 21^st), 6x Swift (26^th), 100+ Swallow (26^th) and 1x Tree Pipit (Headed North, 23^rd).

Spring has well and truly sprung when you see your first Sedge Warbler of the year. Many Thanks to Ian F for this super photograph.

Finally, the display of flowering cowslips along the Haverton Trail is particularly impressive at the moment and our first successful moth trapping session of the year occurred on the 26^th with 11x Hebrew Character and 1x Clouded Drab.

Cheers,

Adam

The Flight of the Sand Martin

Andrew Eccles — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:15:00 GMT

As epic journeys go, the flight of the sand martin ranks highly amongst species at Saltholme. You can now spot sand martins easily from the viewing gallery in the main centre, popping in and out of the specially created sand martin bank. Their arrival has been much anticipated, and now that they’re here we’ve been reflecting on how far they’ve had to travel to reach the ideal breeding ground that is Saltholme. Let us talk you through their journey.

Our sand martin bank, which is now proving a popular nesting site.

Sub-Saharan Africa provides a warm climate for sand martins during the winter months, and it is from there that they begin their journey north when the climate begins to change. Much like their close relations the swallow and house martin, sand martins are very particular about how they prepare for their journey. For instance, before crossing the Sahara Desert they store up just enough fat to keep them going through the journey without needing to refuel. Without enough fat, they won’t have the energy to make the crossing but if they store too much fat they’ll be weighed down and their flight won’t be efficient. Their preparations have to be finely tuned for each obstacle they face – the Sahara requires a different fat level to the Mediterranean sea, for example. So these really are migration specialists!

Sand martins are not in the habit of travelling alone, during their 10,000 mile migration they are usually seen in large flocks. Once they reach continental Europe these flocks gradually disperse as groups return to favoured nesting sites, but they remain in small colonies in these areas.

Once they reach their destination, sand martins use their sharp claws to dig out burrows in vertical sand banks where they can safely nest. If you watch our own sand martin bank closely, you can see the sand martins scraping out any excess sand from the burrows to make it the perfect shape for their nesting needs!

(Please visit the site to view this video)

The sand martins remain in the UK until around August, at which point they get ready for their equally taxing return journey. If you see them gathering on telephone lines in the midsummer, you’ll know they’re getting ready to go again!

Enjoy this wonderful visitor to Saltholme over the next few months, and keep in mind the hard work they’ve done just to get here!

Also, don't forget that many migrant birds have struggled in recent years and need our help to survive. The RSPB is currently running a birds without borders campaign, that seeks to protect migrant species both at home and abroad in Africa. We ask that you read about the campaign, and consider contributing to the fight to protect these wonderful birds.

Many thanks,

Andrew

Home Hunting sand martins

Josh McGowan — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:52:27 GMT

This morning the sand martins were inspecting potential homes; this was on the sand bank that we have been improving over the winter. The sun was out and a growing number of sand martins were examining the work that has gone on, I saw over twenty today and possibly the numbers will grow in the upcoming weeks. The sand bank is visible from the visitors centre and there are a growing number of birds diving past the windows showing off their abilities to twist and turn in the wind.

During today’s volunteering work I heard the great spring bird songs of a black cap, wren and the chiff chaff, these calls are distant and subtle behind the sounds of ducks and geese but once all of them have arrived after migration they will become more frequent and dramatic in the hedgerows around Saltholme.

Birds are already building nests and sitting on eggs around the reserve, if you are planning a visit now is a good time to see pairs of Canada geese, some siting on eggs and others protecting nesting space around the lakes. Most of the ducks and swans will be doing the same in the weeks to come. Above the lakes there is a number of swallows arriving and I’ve even seen a few pheasants.

In the fields around the main lake the spring lambs are growing in strength and size but there are lots of small and very recent babies as well that are bleating and bouncing around. The foxes are still a very popular character and have been sighted recently. Just before leaving today I came across these cowslips, these are flowering with bright lemon colours in the grasses.

- From Josh McGowan

Saltholme Recent Sightings: 5th – 18th April 2013

Adam Jones — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:23:00 GMT

Hi,

It was a fortnight of two halves here at Saltholme. The first was dominated by northern and easterly winds which created unfavourable conditions for bird migration. However on the 13^th April the winds swung round to a southerly direction allowing summer migrants to flood into the UK.

The rare Lesser Scaup kept eager visitors on their toes as it toured around the reserve, however by the end of this period it looked to have settled on the Allotment Pool. A pair of Greater Scaup remained on East Saltholme providing a fantastic opportunity to compare the two Scaup species. April’s WeBS count was undertaken on the 7^th, the survey highlighted the large scale departure of many of our wintering species like Wigeon, although Coot numbers were still pretty high for the time of year.

This pair of stunning Black-necked Grebes arrived on 17th April (Many Thanks to Ian F for the photograph).

From the 13^th April summer migrants started to arrive on the reserve with many species at least two weeks later than last year. Swallows, Sand Martins and House Martins could be found in reasonable numbers hawking over most of the water bodies by the 15^th, an early Swift was sighted over the Visitor Centre (15^th), Chiffchaff could be heard singing from most of the hedgerows, a Willow Warbler was at Haverton Gate (13^th), good numbers of Yellow, Pied and White Wagtails could be found on the wet grassland, 11x Wheatear were feeding in the Fire Station Field (16^th) and a female Common Redstart was observed in the Wildlife Watchpoint Hedgerow (17^th).

The first Yellow Wagtail of the year was sighted on the 13th (Many Thanks to Ian F for the photograph).

It was an excellent week for wading birds as spring passage kick started with the following species, 3x Avocet (Saltholme West, 17^th), 2x Little Ringed Plover (Main Lake, 14^th), 8x Ringed Plover (Back Saltholme, 16^th), 18x Dunlin (Saltholme West, 17^th), 1x Green Sandpiper (Fire Station Field, 13^th-16^th), 1x Common Sandpiper (Main Lake, 15^th-17^th), 1x Spotted Redshank (Saltholme Pools Hide, 16^th-18^th), 5x Black-tailed Godwit (Back Saltholme, 18^th), 2x Whimbrel (15^th) and 1x Jack Snipe (Back Saltholme, 16^th).

On 17th April the first Common Tern of the year was sighted, surprisingly it was 7 days earlier than last year! (Many Thanks to Chris S for the photograph).

Other notable sightings included, a passage Osprey (15^th), a cream crowned Marsh Harrier (5^th, 7th and 15^th), Arctic Tern (Allotment Pool, 13^th-14^th), 3x Dark-Bellied Brent Goose (wet grassland, 13^th), 1x Common Buzzard (over, 11^th) and 2x Grey Partridge.

This Little Egret was still managing to eat well despite its deformed bill ( Many Thanks to Renton Charman for the photograph).

Cheers,

Adam