This month we have had more fantastic news from the #SnettsHide appeal. An individual has kindly donated £30,000 towards rebuilding the hide at RSPB Snettisham! And, the icing on the cake? We also received a cheque from a community trust for £2,000. This means we are nearly half way to reaching our target.

We continue to apply for further funding and if you do have any ideas, thoughts, suggestions or contacts…

When i was a young girl, my summer holidays were longed for. We would dream about those hot summer days in the depths of winter and when they finally came round, the freedom was overwhelming. No school for 6 weeks! Only now that i’m an adult does it dawn on me how tough summer holidays can be for parents. Juggling your annual leave, asking favours from relatives, and what on earth do you do when it’s raining?!…

Blogger: Matt Parrot, RSPB Membership Development Officer

I am really enjoying our new campaign, Giving Nature a Home.  It provides me with a brilliant way to talk to people about how they can help nature without going any further than their own back gardens.

My job is to influence people to support the RSPB and rather than speaking about our reserves or species conservation, I now spend a lot of time talking about…

Blogger: Erica Howe, Communications Manager

It was full of highs and lows, sweat, smiles and cheers, but we made it! The EastCoasters completed their relay from RSPB Minsmere to RSPB Titchwell in 10 hours and 45 mins on Sunday 29 May. The weather was kind to us, there was a little breeze blowing but that certainly didn’t knock anyone’s enthusiasm!

Becky set off at the unsociable hour of 7.45am running the…

Blogger: Adam Murray

Hard Landscaping – bringing in the big guns

I don’t know about you but the 1980s was never a good decade for fashion. I am sorry cool kids with your high waist jeans, stone-washed denim and patterned leggings – it was never cool. The same goes for technicolour paving slabs. I know that I will probably look back at this blog post in 10 years time and think the same about my contemporary-meets…

Blogger: Matt Howard, Community Collections Scheme Officer

I was delighted to be asked by Waveney and Blyth Arts to join them on their Breydon Water ‘Poetry and Birds Walk’. The brief was simple, talk about birds in poetry and how such work brings us closer to nature, and then set a writing exercise for the group to try. This gave me a chance to think more about the connections between two of my interests, but where do…

Today, we are so proud to have welcomed Mandy Foyster back from her incredible adventure, dedicated to raising funds for the RSPB and Norfolk Wildlife Trust in memory of her mother in law, Doreen.  As well as daily updates on BBC Radio Norfolk, she shared her experiences along her travels with us over email. Over the next few days we’ll be posting excerpts from her 12 day trip!

Mandy sets sail

Pre-launch upd…

Blogger: Adam Murray, Communications Officer

Last June you may have remembered my Swift, Swallows & House martins - I am a bit clueless blog post, well just as think I have nailed some of my bird ID skills I recently went on my hols to Osea Island.

We went as a family with my brother and his gang and spent the time walking the island when the causeway (as seen on the Woman in Black movie) was covered by the tide…

Today I’d like to tell you a couple of stories about crowds.

To set the scene for the first story, imagine you’re in the Castle Mall in Norwich on a busy Saturday before Christmas.
You’re wandering through and you pass a shop, empty of merchandise but there are people inside; two artists painting gorillas. You do a double-take then stop and read the sign, which tells you about the Go Go Gorillas! trail in…

Blogger: Lex Gardner, RSPB Volunteer

A few months back, I jumped a bicycle for the first time in a decade. As a kid, riding bikes round my home village of Wicklewood was a favourite pastime but as I grew up, I grew out of my little bike and never bothered to buy a new one. However, I have rediscovered my love of cycling.

It was a rare, sunny day in April and I decided to be spontaneous and jump on my granddad’s old…

Show the Love for Halvergate Marshes

Mark Smart - Senior Site Manager of Berney Marshes and Breydon Water

 

The impact of climate change

Whether you’re a climate change sceptic or completely accept it, we must all appreciate that our weather systems are changing and becoming increasingly unpredictable.

Gone are the balmy summer days I remember as a child and teenager in the 80s, and gone are the predictable…

Blogger: Lotte Large, RSPB Conservation Team

In the East of England, water is a major issue.  It’s fundamental to the environment, the economy, our health, agriculture... to life on earth.  What some people don’t realise however is that the East of England is the most water-stressed region in the UK, meaning there isn’t always enough to go around. 

An example of this would be at a site called Catfield…

Back in late January we asked you to help us. Help us with something very close to our hearts. Hintlesham Woods is one of the largest remaining blocks of ancient woodland in Suffolk and is nationally important for its size, archaeological features and the communities of plants, birds, insects and other wildlife that live there.  

www.youtube.com/watch

However, it is threatened. National Grid is planning to construct new…

RSPB in the East is looking for little tern volunteers in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.

Why volunteer to help little terns?

Little terns are one of the UK’s rarest seabirds, having suffered serious declines over the past 25 years. These tiny chattering birds travel a 6,000 mile round trip each year to breed on the beaches of the British Isles, but their numbers have been declining as they struggle to find safe beaches…

Blogger: Simon Tonkin, RSPB Senior Conservation Officer

Andrew and Allison Bond are brilliant examples of wildlife friendly farmers, and like their namesake, 007, they too are heroes, in their own, understated, way. 

Whilst they are not seen in pursuit of baddies across the vistas of iconic cities, their ideals and actions are just as heroic as any Bond plot line.  Andrew and Allison Bond are protecting the very foundation…

Blogger: Sammy Fraser RSPB Brecks Community Engagement Officer

A new exciting landscape partnership scheme is coming to the Brecks in the shape of the Breaking New Ground Project; this three year scheme was successfully awarded £1.5million by the Heritage Lottery Fund and will form the umbrella for 37 individual projects.

The aim of Breaking New Ground Project will be to deliver new landscape heritage and community…

The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch is less than a month away (sign up here!), so now's the time to start encouraging more birds into your garden. Don't worry, you won't have to spend lots of money. For this homemade feeder, all you'll need is:

• An apple
• A corer
• String
• Sunflower seeds
• A few relatively thin sticks

1. Carefully remove the core from the apple, preferably by using a corer. You…

Author: Rupert Masefield

I used to dream I could fly. Or more accurately, I flew in my dreams. Lots of people do – flying is one of the most common themes for our dreams. Theories abound as to the ‘meaning’, symbolism, and causes of dreams about flying. Don’t ask me to interpret their significance, that’s not what this is about and it’s not really something I want to understand. I’d much rather focus on the sensation…

This week has been National Insect Week! It doesn’t mean that all the insects in your garden gather at the local pub for a drink and put the world to rights. But It means that we get the opportunity to celebrate all those creepy crawlies, bugs and butterflies that often get neglected when we swoon over the wonderful wildlife of the UK. The good folk at the RSPB in the East put on a series of fun, interesting events…

Blogger: Erica Howe, Communications Manager

We reported on some rather shocking news this week. The hen harrier is the bird most likely to become extinct in England because of human pressure. I’ve only ever seen a hen harrier once; on a visit to RSPB Titchwell Marsh last Christmas. As I stood on the path i was freezing with the bitter wind blowing through my rather unsuitable, not-very-winterproof-coat! My eyes were…

The Lodge in Sandy, Beds, isn't just the home of the RSPB's UK and international headquarters. It's also a fantastic nature reserve with rare habitats that are home to some special wildlife.

One of the creatures thriving in the sandy heathland and seasonal pools that have been created for it (and other wildlife) is the natterjack toad, and this month RSPB Picture Researcher Ben Andrew was able to join the…

Author: Rupert Masefield Some of its nicknames may sound less-than-flattering – goggle-eyed plover, heath chicken, thick-knee – but there aren’t many birds that have captured the hearts of the people that share the land where they...

Blogger: Aggie Rothon, RSPB Communications Officer

Behind my house is a belt of trees - an ancient jumble of oak and ash, beech and sycamore. The tallest tree stands perhaps forty five metres high from its statuesque base to sky-skimming crown; a king amongst a princely crowd. The trees tower over my cottage, branches linked together like a football team defending an opponent’s penalty kick.

Today the copse…

Blogger: Emily Field, RSPB Volunteer & Farmer Alliance Project Officer

The other day was walking home from school with Tommy (age 5) whinging in the usual way "come on Tommy what's keeping you?”

he replied "I'm looking at the bees going into the ground mum!"

I go back and find, with Tommy, to my surprise, lots of tiny little bees, with shiny tails, and orange legs, digging holes into…