Radipole Lake

Things are looking up...

2013-04-22T12:16:53Z

Following on from my last slightly cautious blog about the arrival of spring I can now safely say that things have definitely picked up at Radipole and Lodmoor. My walk to work yesterday morning was greeted with the sound of recently arrived Reed Warblers which were obviously keen to advertise their presence after their rather long northward journey from Africa. Likewise Sedge Warbler were doing the same under probably hundreds of Sand Martins and Swallows which were frantically feeding overhead. All very spring-like and very nice!

Other migrants on the move in recent days have included the first Whinchat of the spring, the odd unconfirmed reports of Cuckoo and Redstarts have featured a little more than in past springs. A Hoopoe was a nice surprise for a birdwatcher who was driving past the reserve last Thursday. It flew over Weymouth Way into the north end of the reserve. Wheatears have also been showing off, some of which were posing rather nicely for a photo...

Marsh Harrier action has led to some confusion in the last few weeks. Back in March things were looking as though Radipole was the chosen spot to set up home for the summer but things have dramatically changed with Lodmoor now being the favoured site but the appearance of another bird during the week might spice things up a little. Took this photo a couple of days when we both managed to surprise each other as our paths crossed!

To finish some very exciting news! You may have noticed that there’s lots of reed missing up near the North Hide? Well... it will be reappearing very soon in the form of a new roof for the Discovery Centre!

A 'spring' update

2013-04-12T12:43:00Z

Is this weekend the end of the cold weather? I’d rather not risk saying it is but at least the Weymouth reserves feel a little more spring like. There’s been some real spring highlights over the last few weeks, perhaps best of all being up to six Garganey which have been seen well from the North hide at Radipole most days. This was taken when a few were hanging around the buddleia loop a few weeks ago.

Yesterday a stunning Osprey flew over the Discovery Centre and was enjoyed by loads of visitors at the time. As usual, it didn’t hang around and was keen to carry on its northward migration which meant no time to get a photo but this picture I took last week whilst I was counting migrating birds of prey in Gibraltar. Ospreys were quite numerous compared to past years so we might see a few more over Radipole and Lodmoor in the coming weeks.

Warblers are now turning up in good numbers. Chiffchaffs being most numerous but Willow Warblers now seem to be a little more obvious. Goldcrests are on the move and if your lucky you might spot a Firecrest which have also been migrating through. This was one trapped, ringed, and safely released at our office garden adjacent to Radipole yesterday morning. Stunning little birds!

There’ll be a chance to learn more about ringing and the chance to get close to other wildlife tomorrow at Radipole. The current weather forecast isn’t too promising but as it stands there’ll be a ringing demonstration from 9am near the North Hide but rain looks to set in from mid morning so come along early to beat the weather. If the rain comes in early we’ll have to abort! But for the rest of the day there’ll be displays in the visitor centre and pond dipping and possibly more!

Lots more things to blog about over the coming weeks including pics from some of our events which have been a roaring success over Easter but here's a taster of whats been going on!

Wellies Required at Radipole Today!

2013-03-22T15:15:00Z

After more heavy rain overnight the water levels at Radipole have been rising once again. It started to rain heavily again as I went for a walk on the reserve.

Crossing the bridge I looked back at the Discovery Centre which is still safe above the water.

The island outside the window of the Discovery Centre was nearly submerged. The water level measure indicates how high the water level was this morning.

The Buddlia loop and North Hide are closed today as the paths are flooded. The board walks are still safely above the lake but water has flowed over the path to the Viewing Shelter. Wellies are definitely essential on the reserve today!

The river was flowing very fast under the concrete bride.

Several coots were valiantly doing battling paddling as quickly as they can against the fast flowing River Wey in the rain.

Despite the high water levels there are signs that spring is approaching. The Daffodils are flowering in several places along the footpaths which are still above the water and there is a clump of Grape Hyacinths emerging on one of the drier footpaths. There are also several large patches of Sweet Violets. After a wet chilly walk, the Discovery Centre was a welcome place to visit for a warm up and nice a hot cup of tea.

The 'RSPB Phoenix' Rises Above The Flood Waters

2013-02-22T12:31:00Z

In other words the Weymouth Wetlands Discovery Centre's second refurbishment has now been completed!

I visited the Centre this morning and took some photos of the newly refurbished interior.

It's hard to believe that nearly eight months have gone by since the 'Great Flood' in July 2012.

Ben and Michelle were there this morning welcoming visitors to the Centre. The cafe is once again fully stocked, up and running. (The hot chocolate is absolutely delicious as are the cakes!) The nature table is also back on display.

The children's activities table was in action on this sunny half term morning.

The kingfisher has returned brightening up the back wall along with the tables and chairs which were rescued from the flood.

A new improved local map showing our Weymouth Reserves is also back along with the information screens.

.... And a reminder of how high the flood waters were on that day back in July 2012. The sign is on display near the entrance.

For forthcoming events at the Discovery Centre over the Easter break, please look at our website: http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/r/radipolelake/events.aspx The staff and volunteers at the Discovery Centre look forward to welcoming you in the near future.

Spring is on the move at Radipole

2013-02-01T16:56:00Z

Now that January is behind us and hopefully the icy blast that it brought us, I had a wander around Radipole's footpaths to look for signs of spring on this first day of February.

The Winter Heliotrope is now in full flower having recovered from the icy blast last month. This plant is a member of the Aster (formerly the Daisy) family. The Latin name is Petasites fragrans, Petasites is from the Greek petasos referring to the felt hats work by shephards. The kidney shaped leaves are felt like and large so could be used as a head covering. Fragrans refers to the vanilla scent from its pink/white flowers. The plant flowers in winter from November through to the end of February. Heliotrope means sunloving, the flowers turning throughout the day to follow the sun. As one of the few flowers out in winter, it is a welcome nectar source as well as a splash of winter colour to our paths at Radipole and Lodmoor at a time when flowers are in short supply

Other plants I found in flower near the Winter Heliotrope were Cow Parsley and Hogweed. Cow Parsley normally comes into flower in late April and is abunduant in our reserve hedgerows. This very shortl and spindly specimen has been struggling to do its best effort to flower since mid January which is unusually early. Not far away there were several Hogweeds making an effort to flower. This plant normally flowers from June but is known to flower during the winter months. These plants though flowering well are very short giving us the opprotunity to appreciate the pinky tinged flowers close-up. In summer Hogweed reaches heights of 6 to 8 ft (1.8-2m) and the flowers are out of reach for vertically challenged people like me!

Elsewhere on the paths on Radipole and Lodmoor are patches of fragrant lilac Sweet Violets. Have you ever sniiffed a violet to appreciate its perfume and then find that you can't smell it again? That's because one of the chemicals in its scent is Ionine which has the power deaden smell receptors once it has been sniffed. So now you know! Sweet Violets flower from early Februaryr through to April but the flowers do not produce seed. Sweets Violets flower again in autumn. If you look hard enough you will find small inconspicuous flowers without petals or scent hidden away beneath the leaves which set seed in abudance.

On the paths there are several clumps of daffodils leaves which have been up for some weeks and are now coming into bud. It won't be long before we the daffodils are in flower.

On Radipole we have two Sweet Bay Trees coming into bud. In Britain Sweet Bay grow to about 25ft but in the warmer Mediterranean climates where the Sweet Bay originates they can reach heights of up to 60 ft. Over on Lodmoor's Beachdown Way are two early Blackthorn flowers surviving the frosts. It won't belong before the shrubs are in fulll blossom.

Hawthorn trees are also on the move with leaf buds bursting in late January and starting to 'green-up' our hedgerows. In damper areas the Lesser Celandine leaves are in abundance, a sure sign of spring. The yellow daisy flowers will follow soon. Lesser Celandines in flower have been seen near the reserve.

After a dark wet winter I am looking forward to the longer, warmer spring days when our reserves become alive again with our colourful flowers.

Blimey! It's the Big Garden Birdwatch...

2013-01-23T17:05:24Z

It’s that time of year again when we ask as many people as possible to top up their bird feeders and tell us what comes to visit. The Big Garden Birdwatch has been getting bigger and bigger ever since it started in 2001 when 52,000 people took part. Last year a staggering 609,000 people counted the birds in their garden for us generating millions of records. This we want to keep the trend going and get even more people taking part so if you haven’t done it before make it your new years resolution (although possibly a bit late for that now!) to get involved this year. It’s all happening on the 26^th and 27^th January.

It only takes up an hour of your time and we need you to note the species seen in your garden and highest number seen at any one time. This helps to stop double counting. Your results can be submitted on our website by visiting www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch and any information you need about how to do the survey can also be found there. Alternatively we have survey forms in the Weymouth Discovery Centre so feel free to pop in to collect one and have a chat to us.

Happy counting!

Let it snow...

2013-01-18T15:37:08Z

This is my fourth winter at the Weymouth Wetlands and I’ve come to realise that snow in Weymouth isn’t as common as it is back in my homeland of South Wales. However, when it does snow in Weymouth the place comes alive with birds. You would have almost certainly noticed that we had snow last night so birding expectations were high this morning. Got to the Discovery Centre just before 9am when it was still sleeting hard so birds were understandably scarce. I said to Danny that as soon as the weather eases we’ll be inundated with birds. My prediction was right and from about 10am birds were pouring through. I managed to keep a rough count of most species, totals went like this..

Skylark – 1658

Golden Plover – 1420

Starling – 180

Redwing – 175

Fieldfare – 47

Those were the main ones but small numbers of Meadow Pipits and finches also passed through as did a single Woodlark which was a pleasant surprise.

Most birds were flying over Radipole mostly heading west. This is all triggered by snow covering their usual haunts which forces them to move on to find unfrozen fields where they can feed. In past cold winters certainly species such as Redwings have really struggled and have had to resort to using gardens to feed. Thankfully this winter we’ve not had extremely cold weather which has allowed birds to feed reasonably well hence the relatively small numbers of Redwing and Fieldfare today, but the snow does affect certainly species which is reflected in the morning’s totals.

I love days like today, its amazing to see so many birds flying over a town. If the weather stays cold we can expect to see more bird movements over the next few days. We’ll keep you posted!

A big birdy told me...

2013-01-16T10:55:00Z

I had a slightly bizarre encounter with one of our wintering Bitterns yesterday afternoon. One of the great things about working at Radipole is having to walk through the reserve every time I need to get to the office. This enables me to sneak in a bit of extra birdwatching and in the past its lead to encounters with Great White Egrets, Glossy Ibis and Yellow-browed Warblers. A very strange sound caused me to look round on yesterday's commute and lead to the discovery of a Bittern flying along side me. Nice in itself but the fact it was calling made the meeting much more interesting.

Bitterns are famous for their booming call which is made early spring by males to attract a female. Sadly this sound has yet to become a familiar one in Weymouth but I’m sure things will change in the future. The sound I heard yesterday was a weird grunt rather than a boom which it made every few seconds whilst flying over the reeds. I’ve heard this once before at a lake in South Wales but I’ve got no idea why it was making this noise. I can only speculate that it was either annoyed by something and was just muttering to itself or it was telling me to blog as we’ve not posted for a week or two. If the latter I’d better also update you the recent sightings in Weymouth. The Bearded tits at the North hide are still putting on daily performances; up to 15 have been seen in the last few days. Marsh Harriers are still putting in appearances; I believe up to three birds have been seen at both Radipole and Lodmoor. Perhaps the most significant sighting was of two Otters which for the observer was a real delight as it was her first ever sighting of these elusive critters. She saw them last week but there are still signs such as spraint (poo!) and footprints appearing regularly.

Swanning around at Radipole

2013-01-09T11:20:00Z

Swans have long been associated with Weymouth and Radipole Lake. It all started with a generous gift from Abbotsbury Swannery to the town and people of Weymouth. You can probably guess what that gift was.... yes, a donkey.

Only joking, it was obviously a swan, in fact a pair. This all happened in about 1839 long before the building of Westham bridge which meant that Radipole Lake didn’t exist at the time, it would have still been an estuary. The pair of swans were released near the old Weymouth fire station but only after the appointment of a Swan Herd, now known as the Swan Warden. Another condition laid down by the swannery was that they were fed daily. Amazingly the role of Swan Warden is still undertaken to this day and the Weymouth and Portland council now carry the responsibility of feeding the swans daily though clearly not the pair released originally!

To celebrate this fascinating piece of the town's history we are holding a special weekend full of activities all focused on our superb mute swans. There’ll be arty things for the kids including decorating our giant swan, there’ll be a swan detective trail for folks to follow, a swan census, swan themed food (though not actual swan!) and plenty more.

So I would imagine you’d want to know the date? Of course you do! It’s all happening on the Saturday 19^th and Sunday 20^th of this month from 10am with most of the activities around the Discovery Centre, though the trail will take you to parts of the reserve normally out of bounds. Pretty exciting eh?

We’ll see you there!

Guess who's coming to dinner.

2013-01-03T14:22:00Z

Here at Weymouth Wetlands we have probably given the impression once or twice that we hold moths in high esteem for their delicate beauty, benign demeanour, cute little faces and intriguing names. The recent wet weather hasn’t been terribly conducive to moth-trapping and the quite sensibly named November Moths and Winter Moths making infrequent appearances at the window are the only species to set our moth sensibilities trembling of late. However, another species recently made an impression upon our discovering evidence of its summer activities.

Visitors to Radipole may have seen a video clip at the Discovery Centre showing Tree Bees coming and going in the summer at the entrance hole of a bird nest box that was attached to our workshop. The Tree Bee, which also answers to the name Bombus hypnorum, is a bumblebee species originating from continental Europe that was first recorded in the UK in 2001, in Wiltshire. Over the last few years its distribution has quickly spread through much of England and to a lesser extent into Wales.

Bombus hypnorum, Richard Revels (rspb-images.com)

Its growing abundance somewhat bucks the trend experienced by some other bumblebee species which are declining in the face of habitat degradation. Tree Bees have a preference for nesting above ground, in tree cavities or bird boxes, which might have something to do with their success. Being bumblebees, they come in peace, but unlike their close relatives they can quickly gang up and get a bit tetchy if you get too close to their colony. After I unintentionally proved this point, Luke and I had to keep a respectful distance when we pointed the camera at that nest box.

Curious as to what a disused bumblebee nest might look like, a couple of weeks before Christmas I removed the box from the wall to take a look at the contents. Opening the lid wasn’t easy; something was holding it shut and it had to be prised open with a great deal of effort. As these photos show, inside was a dense mass of silk-like threads, rather like cotton wool, a couple of inches deep and firmly stuck to the lid and sides. In the depths of the box was an untidy mess that looked like it might once have been a bird’s nest. The inside surface of the lid seemed to have lots of shallow gouge marks on it as if something had been nibbling at the wood.

Not knowing exactly what to make of this I contacted those nice people at Buglife to see if they could put us on the right track, which they kindly did. It turns out that the silky mass at the top of the box is the work of a species of moth, or more directly its caterpillars, and the mess at the bottom is the remains of the bees’ nest – they always go to the bottom of a cavity. The moth behind this scenario is a noctural species called the Bee Moth or Aphomia sociella, a member of a small group of moths called Wax Moths. To see what this one looks like, go here: http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=1331

It has the cunning ability to sneak unnoticed into the bumblebees’ nest hole and lay its eggs somewhere within. When the caterpillars hatch they weave protective silk screens and tunnels which enable them to make forays into the nest where they feed on the old wax cells, pollen, debris, droppings, dead bumblebee remains and sometimes even the bumblebee larvae. When the time comes for them to pupate they retreat from the nest and settle down behind a toughened silk mass, which is what was found inside our nestbox. Whether the gatecrashing caterpillars’ activity brought about a total collapse of this colony or just put a big dent in its productivity is uncertain – we were blissfully unaware of the abuse of hospitality that was going on within the box.

A rummage through the material from the bees nest for anything recognisable revealed some remains of dead bumblebee and other bits and pieces; any wax cells seemed to have been demolished.

Eric the Half-a-Bee perhaps. Are those brown grubs on the right of the picture bee larvae...?

Meanwhile the moth pupae remain blissfully unconcerned by the mess that they’ve left in their wake; they will remain in their cocoons until it’s time to emerge next summer when they’ll take their chances in the bat infested skies over Radipole - they won't have everything their own way.

Many thanks to Steven Falk at Buglife for his kind assistance towards getting to the bottom of this intriguing discovery. www.buglife.org.uk

p.s. I'm still wondering whether the caterpillars have anything to do with those gouge marks in the lid - they closely match the area of the silk…

Discovery Centre Closed for Christmas...

2012-12-20T16:37:39Z

Anyone visiting the reserve today would have been met with an ever familiar sight, flooding! Yes folks, its raining again and the River Wey is getting rather full so as a precaution we have moved a lot of the fixtures and fittings out of the discovery centre. This means it’s currently closed and due to more heavy rain in the forecast we have taken the decision to keep it closed until after Christmas.

Weymouth and Portland Council have been doing a great job of removing the extra water and Dorset Fire Service have also been very vigilant and have saved our centre from getting a soaking but there’s still more work over the next few days to keep the water out.

As a kid I used to love fire engines so imagine how excited I was to see all this going on!

I’ll also take this opportunity to wish our readers and Merry Christmas though we may squeeze in another blog before the festivities are upon us! The centre will hopefully re-open on Thursday 27th December but we'll keep you informed of any changes.

Beardies on the boardwalk

2012-12-18T13:41:00Z

If there’s one species of bird which Radipole is famous for it must be the Bearded Tit. Not a day goes by that a visitor doesn’t come into the Discovery Centre and ask us about them.

Back last winter you may remember us mentioning some reed cutting in preparation for thatching the roof of the Discovery Centre. New reed growth often results in a healthy crop of seed heads, which are a favourite food of our little bearded friends. The reed bed adjacent to the North hide board walk was one of the areas cut, which as you may expect, now looks rather lush. The Bearded Tits have discovered this and have moved in en mass.

A very brief look this morning revealed at least 15 and we were only there for a short length of time. So if you’re keen for a good view, get yourself up there soon! Ten minutes effort got me these few photos, which I thought were ok.

They have been so confiding recently that a local birdwatcher, one of our volunteer hide openers, managed to film several video clips. Check out this link:

http://dorsetwalks.com/blog/12-12-09.php

Other stuff about recently includes the regular Marsh Harriers at both Radipole and Lodmoor, Bitterns likewise plus growing numbers of wildfowl. Water Pipits have featured on the sightings board a few times in the last week but they aren’t easy to find! Like the Bearded Tits, the Reed Buntings have also been feasting on the seed heads as this photo perfectly demonstrates.

December Flowers and Silent Spring

2012-12-07T15:54:00Z

As the sun was shining and the skies were blue this morning, a welcome change after the grey skies of late, I had a meander around Radipole to see if there were any flowers still out. The first late flowers I came aross were several Hogweed plants, Their usual flowering time is high summer in July and August and they are normally 5-6 feet high. These Hogweeds are quite short, are flowering and seeding themselves in a hurry before the onset of winter. Another plant still in flower is the Yarrow, another late summer bloomer.

Winter Heliotrope is coming into flower now as its name suggests. Its pink and white flowers and large circular leaves provide some welcome winter colour. It's also a reminder that the winter solstice on 21st December is not far away and the days will start getting longer again. Another plant flowering now is the Ivy which provides our feathered friends with berries to sustain them during the winter. On my walk around the reserve I noticed the Buckthorn is loaded with juicy black berries.

There are signs all around the reserve that spring is quietly on the move. Cow Parlsey leaves are coming up in the hedgerows as are Wild Angelica and Hemlock Water Dropwort. Alexanders is the earliest flowering umbellifer, large plants can be seen near the Visitor Centre car park. Alexanders is in bloom from late February/early March. I also came arcross Sweet Violet leaves.

While I was wandering around the reserve, I saw Chaffinches, Long Tailed Tits, Dunnocks, Goldfinches and Greenfinches in the trees, foraging on the ground and in the hedgerows for food. This Robin was watching me and stayed in one place long enough for me to take a photo.

Home Sweet Home

2012-11-20T17:14:08Z

During the half term at the start of this month, visitors to Radipole got stuck into the construction of this rather odd looking thing.

It’s a bug hotel or as Michelle (centre manager) calls it, Buggingham Palace... and it was finished off yesterday with a very fitting thatched roof.

It is made of pallets stuffed with stones, sticks, reed stems, wood chips and other fragments. These provide thousands of nooks and crannies, places of safety out of the elements for creatures to hibernate and hang out in. Like the Lone Biker of the Apocalypse in the film Raising Arizona, the winter weather can be “especially hard on the little things” if they can’t tuck themselves away from the worst of the elements, so they benefit greatly from structures like this. Arne nature reserve has one and a vast variety of wildlife has been found taking advantage of it, not only invertebrates but also newts and common lizards. It will be interesting to see over the coming months who takes up residence in this rent-free property.

Whilst I’m blogging I should probably give you a summary of recent sightings, so I shall!

Starlings were the main feature of last week but this week their numbers diminished rapidly, but there are still plenty more things to see. Marsh Harriers have been very easy to spot recently with three, possibly four, individuals seen hunting over the reserves. Our other reedbed dwellers, Bitterns and Bearded Tits have been putting in regular appearances with the latter showing off really well very close to the Discovery Centre on occasions. Other scarcities on the reserves have included Water Pipit at both Radipole and Lodmoor, Green Sandpiper at Radipole, one, possibly two, Firecrest at Radipole which were joined by a possible Siberian Chiffchaff seen on Sunday morning. So well worth a visit at the moment! If it doesn’t get too cold it just might be worth still keeping a look out for a late flying Migrant Hawker dragonfly - one was spotted at the weekend at Abbotsbury. Talking of hanging around ‘til the last minute... four swallows flew over Radipole on Sunday - no rush obviously.

Is it a otter? Is it a Bearded tit? No! It's a man on a big machine!

2012-11-09T10:03:00Z

Recent visitors to either Lodmoor or Radipole may have been wowed with some wonderful wildlife in the past few weeks. There was a spectacular purple heron at Radipole a few weeks ago, looking a bit wacky and alternative. These relatives of the grey heron are ever so slowly moving up into the UK and have even started breeding on some RSPB reserves in the East.

As Luke mentioned in the last blog there is a pretty impressive starling murmeration over at Lodmoor (don't walk around with your mouth open whatever you do!!) I always think the best thing about watching huge flocks of birds is the noise as they pass overhead - have a listen. Other sightings have included plenty of squealing water rail, kingfisher, returning teal, shoveler and gadwall and it's the best time to see the wonderful bearded tit on the reserves as they fling themselves around the reed beds. It's also the middle of the best time to spot otter at Radipole - see our events page for details on evening walks. If you are visiting during the day, pop into the Discovery Centre ask to have a whiff of the otter spraint and then with your new found knowledge go off sniffing your way around the paths and see how many otter signs you can find.

Probably the most obvious sighting recently has been a lonely man chugging his way round the waterlogged ditches in a rather bizarre bit of floating machinery.

The aim of this is to keep the wateways clear from vegetation, not just so visitors can get better views but also to keep the reed beds healthy so that it continues to play host to all the amazing wildlife we have here. Both at Radipole and Lodmoor new sightlines have been cut by the machine opening up forgotten pools, ditches and water ways that were previously hidden away, it looks really great and is the perfect place to spot things like water vole, otter, bittern and water rail.