Titchwell Marsh Volunteering

Titchwell Marsh - 17th to 24th June 2017

On the 17th June I headed to Titchwell Marsh for a weeks residential volunteering with RSPB. The residential placements are an amazing way of getting real world conservation experience while enjoying time away. I'd been to Titchwell once before and was super excited when it was offered to me for volunteering. It's a stunning coastal reserve with fresh and salt marsh. It attracts a wide range of species and some exciting vagrants as it's very close to The Wash. I also spent a day at Snettisham which is a reserve further up the coast. 

The lack of internet and TV signal was actually a great detox. Allowing me to surround myself with wildlife all week. Being outside on the reserve means not only did I came back with a tan, I also managed to see lots of wildlife! Such as a mole looking for a good place to dig, common shrew running around and marsh harrier fledglings finding their wings. Titchwell is an amazing place for spoonbill which are my favourite to see, I saw them everyday, including an adult feeding an juvenile later in the week. The turtle doves also fledged a chick while I was there, the first one for many years, it was very exciting!

I had quite a few firsts during the week: turtle dove, bar-tailed godwit, treecreeper, spotted redshank, knot and bearded tit. 

My lists otherwise included:

Titchwell - avocet (plenty of babies around), spoonbill, little ringer plover, little gull, med gull, marsh harrier (inc fledglings), ruff, turtle dove, peregrine falcon (in the village), treecreeper, bar-tailed godwit, jay, mole, red kite, dark green fritillary, spotted redshank, knot, common shrew and bearded tit.

Snettisham - Muntjac deer, common tern, sedge warbler, reed warbler, reed bunting, whitethroat, ringed plover, Egyptian goose, avocet, redshank, oystercatcher with young, linnet and marsh harrier. 

Holme Dunes - little tern. 

Strumpshaw Fen (in a failed attempt to see swallowtail) - common lizard and stoat. 

A Week in Anglesey

I write this amidst exchanging tweets with other Anglesey fans about our love of the place. On my last visit I fell in love with the wild cliffs and edges of Holyhead and couldn't wait to visit them again. We went away to Anglesey for a week, I came back with 747 photos and that was with memory card issues! I have so many photos I'm not sure which to choose! The reason for our trip was to visit the nesting guillemot, razorbill and puffin on South Stack. We stayed close by on Holyhead, to enable us to visit them often.

We started by walking the coastal path around Holyhead, which, however tiring, is a treat. Filled with meadow pipit, skylark, whitethroat, linnet and stonechat. Looking out to sea to see gannets and auks flying by. For us, this culminated in the dramatic South Stack cliffs, filled with thousands of nesting auks. Mainly guillemot with clusters of razorbill and a small 'circus' of puffins. The sound of the colony was amazing, they were certainly drawing a crowd. Although many thought all the guillemot were puffin, it was nice to see so many people enjoying bird life.

This trip developed my love for Anglesey further as the longer break allowed me to explore more of the island. Allowing me to realise what makes it so special. From the wading birds at the Alaw Estuary, to the harbour porpoise of Lynas Point, to more auks at Puffin Island and red squirrels in Newborough Forest. There's wildlife at every corner. Although not as undisturbed as Scotland, Anglesey's dramatic backdrops of Snowdonia and wild peninsulas certainly come close. Being more accessible it makes it my perfect regular getaway from the everyday grind.

As a birder, I didn't manage many more bird ticks on my journey. I feel I'm getting to that stage now! I did add a few butterflies such as the common blue, dingy skipper and small heath. The heathlands that border the island are perfect butterfly territory! After a particularly wet start to the summer I'd been getting concerned about the lack of butterfly activity in my home patch. However, the heathlands and woodland of North Wales were buzzing with speckled wood, common blue, painted lady, wall and red admiral. No fritillaries for us, maybe next time!

I've already booked to go back in August. Hoping to add more to my lists and explore more of the island. Every time I go my list of places to visit just gets longer. In the meantime, I might just decorate my apartment with some of my photos.

My lists:
South Stack - common whitethroat, stonechat, oystercatcher, linnet, raven, skylark, guillemot, razorbill, puffin, meadow pipit, rock pipit, wall butterfly, chough and greater black-backed gull.
Penrhos Coastal Park - shelduck, oystercatcher (in high numbers), curlew and black-tailed godwits.
Cemlyn Bay - nesting sandwich, common and arctic tern, dunlin.
Point Lynas - harbour porpoise, gannet, linnet, meadow pipit, swallow, house martin and whitethroat.
Newborough Forest - common blue, missile thrush, red squirrel and dingy skipper.

May Day at Attenborough

Attenborough Nature Reserve - 1st May 2017

I try to get out for a walk every weekend. Feeling particularly drained this morning I didn't think I'd make it out. With the promise of a coffee I managed to get myself to Attenborough. I'm so glad I did! I got some shots I'm really happy with and wanted to share them. Notable species: reed and sedge warbler, common tern, blackcap and white throat. There had been some good wader sightings including various sandpipers but I didn't have much luck with those! My highlights were the friendly sedge warbler and kestrel. 

A Trip to Minsmere

RSPB Minsmere - 16th April 2017

On Saturday I made my way down to Thetford for the BTO Spring Members Day. We had a walk around the Nunnery reserve and went on a nest recording session. I had a great time and saw my first Stone-Curlew! While in the area I took the opportunity to visit Minsmere the next day, my first visit to the famous reserve! As of yet I'd failed to see a bittern but had high hopes for Minsmere. One of the staff told me they have 10% of the UK's population of bittern at Minsmere. 

At the first hide I saw what makes Minsmere so special. Across the scrape was such a high density of birds. Instantly I saw barnacle geese, redshank and avocet. You do have to give yourself time to search through the birds to see everything. I headed off and stumbled upon linnet and wheatear on my way to the next hide. I'd been at Minsmere under an hour and already seen more than I would at my local reserve. 

Living in the midlands makes any coastal reserve special, I love being by the sea, I used my recently gained skills from Orca surveying to spot seals feeding around a 1km out to sea. However, the south hide provided the best views to increase my species count, adding notable species such as, sandwich tern, greater black backed gull, common tern and black tailed godwits. Further along a group pointed out a grey plover to me, another first adding to linnet, sandwich tern and wheatear. 

Finally I made my way around to the levels in hope of bittern. Approaching the bittern hide I could hear them booming. Such a unique sound! Joining a growing crowd in the hide we were kept entertained by marsh harriers hunting. Then my first bittern flew over, not too far from the hide, I got a good look as it landed! Not long after a second flew along at the back of the reed bed. Sadly I didn't catch the bearded tits or otters, but was very happy with five firsts in one day. I'd recommend Minsmere to anyone! Such as fascinating place with a wide variety of wildlife, I'd love to go back!

Birding - for all.

I recently read an article in BTO News regarding gender equality in birding. This is something that's often hit me in the face like an off course pigeon. Alison Johnston talks about how "subconsciously most of us think that men have greater interest and skill at birdwatching". This is something many of us are guilty of. I'm lucky that I work in an environment where everyday I can, and I'm encouraged to, challenge my subconscious preconceptions of people. However, I'm finding in the birding world I'm often overlooked as a female. From my experience, and commonly known, birding is a middle-class, older, white mans game. A young female, hard hit by the mid-twenties baptism of fire of council tax, national insurance and pensions, results in me and my crap gear being overlooked.

What do I mean by overlooked? When talking in hides if I say I've seen an interesting bird, I'm met with looks of almost sympathy. As if "bless her, she thinks she's seen a goldeneye". Or, more commonly, I'll be out with my partner and they address him. Not me. To put this in perspective, I've volunteered with RSPB for years, I have a first-class biology degree where I specialised in wildlife conservation. I spend most weekends birding. My partner, is supportive and frequently goes with me, but is proud he can identify an oystercatcher. When he says 'oh I have no idea, this is her thing', we're met with shock. One man even ignored this and commented on how I must be bored and want to go shopping. It took a lot of control for me not to push his scope (probably worth more than my car) over.

Obviously, this isn't everyone. Some lovely individuals don't talk down to me, allow me to borrow their scope to look at far away birds and say how we need more young people in the birding world. It's a worry for many that the generations interested in wildlife are ageing. However, if we really want to encourage everybody into birding, regardless of gender, race, age or any characteristic, we need to challenge our subconscious preconceptions. So next time your out birding, challenge yourself, don't make assumptions based on an individuals characteristics. This way, we really can group together to save the wildlife we love so much.

WWT Slimbridge

WWT Slimbridge - 12th March

It's been a long time coming but I finally made it to Slimbridge. A much talked about reserve in the birding world! I'd spent a few days keeping my eye on the sightings twitter to catch up with what was still around. Most of the Benwick's had gone which is a shame. Slimbridge has captive birds and otters too, I'm a big otter fan and seeing the captive ducks and geese up close was great! Most weren't native species but some were, they had some captive avocets, redshank and shelduck. Photographing them felt a little like cheating. All the photos below are of wild birds, the black swan above isn't one of Slimbridge's captive swans, it recently appeared, unringed!

We spent a lot of time around south lake where lots of avocets had already arrived. The black-tailed godwits were also gathering, likely getting ready to move to summer grounds. A few snipe were hiding around the edges and a ruff popped up every so often. We didn't find many notable species on the west of the reserve, although a very noisy rookery provided entertainment. Walking through the middle of the centre we spotted a cetti's very briefly. Pure luck but no chance of a photo! It was my first cetti's but I really wanted to find the cranes and white-fronted geese. We had success in the hides on the east, where lots of white-fronts were gathering. There was also four cranes, one of which was displaying. Looking over the estuary we also spotted a large group of barnacle goose.

Four firsts for me: cetti's, cranes, white-fronted and barnacle geese!

On the way out we spotted the handful of Benwick's still around in a field by the entrance, another first! A fab place for birding and we'll be heading back in the summer!