RSPB in the East

Champions stepping up to save turtle doves in 2018

2018-06-27T13:57:12Z

June has been a BIG month for turtle doves. One of the UK’s (and Europe’s) most threatened birds, their plight has inspired farmers, politicians, birders and nature-lovers to step up to help save them. We reflect on what could prove to be a pivotal time for this perilously rare summer visitor and British breeding bird.

Earlier this month, one of our most threatened birds, the turtle dove, gained a new champion. South Suffolk MP James Cartlidge is the latest Member of Parliament to join the Species Champion initiative, becoming an RSPB Species Champion for the turtle dove, a migratory bird for which his South Suffolk constituency is one of the last strongholds in the UK.

Today, nature-friendly farmers from around the country are meeting with MPs in Westminster to champion farming that works for nature as well as for food production and farmers. After visiting turtle dove-friendly Suffolk farmer Nick Oliver a few weeks ago, the turtle dove’s new Parliamentary Species Champion will be among those MPs who meet, speak and listen to these farmers and their hopes (and fears) for the future of British farming after Brexit – something that has the power to make or break the prospects for saving turtle doves in the UK.

Over on the continent, turtle doves have been thrown a vital lifeline in Europe with the launch in Brussels at the end of May of a new EU Species Action Plan for the declining bird. Back on this side of the channel, farmers and landowners in turtle dove hotspots are starting to roll out a new measure it is hoped will help prevent further losses: supplementary feeding (think feeding your garden birds, but in a bigger scale and on farmland).

Around 20,000 farmers and agricultural professionals attended the Cereals arable farming event in Cambridgeshire at the beginning of June. The RSPB spoke to hundreds of visitors to its turtle dove themed stand about nature-friendly farming, with guest farmers explaining and advocating the viability of farming that looks after wildlife as well as producing food and giving farmers a living.

If we’re able to capitalise on these and other efforts being made on behalf of turtle doves, together they may just mean we are able to prevent the loss of this beautiful and culturally iconic bird from our countryside.

Arguably the UK’s most threatened bird, numbers of turtle doves breeding here in the summer have been plummeting for decades. Since 1995, they have fallen by 94%. Put another way, for every 20 turtle doves in the UK in 1995, today just over 20 years later there is just one. The turtle dove is truly a bird on the brink, but why, and what role do farmers and politicians have to play in saving them?

The turtle dove is a bird on the brink. Photo: Les Bunyan (rspb-images.com)

Why do turtle doves need saving?

Like the now extinct passenger pigeon – once thought to have been the most numerous wild bird on earth – turtle doves face multiple threats to their survival: from habitat loss in sub-Saharan Africa where they spend the winter, to hunting and trapping in Africa and southern Europe (more on that later) on their migration back to their breeding grounds, where they then have to contend with shortages of food and suitable habitat for nesting in the countryside here and elsewhere in Europe.

The key to understanding the drastic decline seen in the UK though lies in one key fact: turtle doves breeding in the UK today have, on average, half the number of nesting attempts as they did in the 1970s. In the 1970s the average turtle dove would have at least two nesting attempts per season, today they are not even managing one. Effectively their chance of successfully rearing young today is less than half what it was in the 1970s.

Why do turtle doves today only try to nest once, if at all, when their ancestors would nest at least twice – often three times – in a summer?

Studies of turtle dove nesting point to one critical factor – food. Or lack of it. Turtle doves feed on the seeds of annual arable plants that grow around the margins of and on ‘unproductive’ farmland and disturbed ground. The abundance of these plants in the British countryside has decreased drastically since the 1970s and even before that, driven by agricultural policies with their origins in the post-Second World War drive to increase production and ‘feed the nation’.

Black medic, one of the turtle dove's preferred food seed plants. Photo: Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)

Without food, turtle doves are struggling to get into the peak physical condition they need to be in to breed fast enough to give them a chance to nest even once, let alone twice or more in a summer. Now that we know the why, how can turtle dove champions, whether they are MPs or farmers, help?

Championing turtle doves

Some of those nature-friendly farmers visiting Westminster today, and many others like them in the hotspots around the country where turtle doves are still found, are already doing what they can to address the problem of food availability. By planting strips of wildflower mix containing plants bearing seeds that turtle doves eat, they are replacing lost foraging habitat. By allowing hedgerows to grow thick and dense they are creating nesting habitat. This year, with support and advice from Operation Turtle Dove, a partnership dedicated to saving the turtle dove, they are also putting out supplementary seed food to help turtle doves where seed bearing wildflower strips aren’t able to do the whole job on their own.

Currently, farmers and landowners can apply for financial support to help cover the cost of using some of their land to feed and house turtle doves through the Countryside Stewardship ‘agri-environment’ scheme. As things stand, Countryside Stewardship is funded through our membership of the EU and our Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)-derived farming policy and payments system. Not un-ironically, since its introduction the CAP has also presided over (and arguably been largely responsible for) a lot of the changes in our farmed landscape that have wreaked havoc on wildlife including turtle doves, such as the grubbing out of hedgerows and reducing the unkempt margins around fields. Leaving the EU means that the UK has a chance – the best in several generations – to reform our agricultural policies to better look after wildlife and the environment, and crucially for turtle doves, to support farmers to deliver targeted conservation action in the farmed landscape. This is where politicians have a role to play.

MPs like James Cartlidge stepping up to champion the conservation of some of our most at risk wildlife give threatened species a rare and valuable voice in the Parliament. For turtle doves, and for the farmers and nature conservationists working hard to save them, this could make a world of difference to how easily and effectively they are able to implement the measures needed to bring these precious birds back from the brink.

Find out more:

Species Champions buglife.org.uk/specieschampions

Operation Turtle Dove operationturtledove.org

The RSPB and farming rspb.org.uk/foodandfarming

Farming for turtle doves in Essex

2018-06-13T13:00:00Z

Photo: Martin Smith, by Sam Lee (RSPB)

Burnham Wick Farm is a medium-sized arable farm. Since Martin Smith took over its management in 2003, he has worked hard to develop a thriving arable environment, whilst promoting habitat diversity. An appreciation of farmland wildlife and its coexistence alongside productive farming has clearly been a strong motivation for Martin’s work.

In recognition of his achievements, the farm has previous won the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group’s Farming and Conservation competition and a Nature of Farming award. The farm is also signed up to the Countryside Stewardship scheme at entry level.

In 2014, Martin and the RSPB worked together to develop a feeding plot for turtle doves on the farm. These migratory farmland birds have suffered a catastrophic 93 per cent decline since the 1970s and are in desperate need of support to reverse the trend. Their decline is linked to many factors, including a shortage of summer seed on farmland and the loss of habitat on wintering and breeding grounds. But because Suffolk and Essex support almost 30 per cent of the UK breeding turtle dove population*, conservation actions are vital in this region.

At Burnham Wick Farm, a feeding ground has been established with accessible, seed-rich plants. One of the turtle dove’s favourite food sources is the pink-flowering furmitory. The planting is not too dense – as the birds need to be able to retrieve the seeds from open ground. A water supply is also located nearby.

As well as habitat for turtle doves, a scrape for waders has helped numbers of nesting lapwings to increase, and overwinter stubble and supplementary feeding helps birds on the farm during the winter months.

Simple measures like these can make a huge difference to wildlife, much of which is dependent upon farmland for its survival. By working together, the RSPB and farmers can identify practical, sustainable wildlife-friendly farming techniques.

*data provided by BTO Bird Atlas 2007-11

Find out how you can help turtle doves

www.operationturtledove.org

www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/conservation-and-sustainability/farming/near-you/farmland-bird-declines/#Bt2hWKhGvBdVTotB.99

www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/projects/operation-turtle-dove/#TZWp8VFVBBFX2Y4T.9

A future for turtle doves as Springwatch stars?

2018-06-04T22:50:31Z

As I watched the first week of BBC Springwatch last month (is it June already?!), it was impossible not to marvel at the technical and cultural achievement of the series' producers in painting this intimate portrait of our native wildlife. Familiar recurring characters the blue tits and wrens sit alongside new cast members like the leverets (young hares) and little owl on our TV screens, while the perennially engaging presenters explain and interpret in effusive style. But between the inspiring story of the black-tailed godwit chicks being given a head-start by conservationists in the Cambridgeshire Fens, and the revelation – shocking to some – that even sheep occasionally get a taste for the eggs of ground nesting waders, I couldn't help feeling like there was something missing.

Where were the turtle doves?

Then it struck me, "Have they ever had turtle doves on Springwatch?", as if it were a talk show and all it would take is a call to a turtle dove's agent to arrange an appearance.

"I'm sorry, my client's away at their winter home in Mali and won't be back until May – oh, the show airs in May-June? Great, we'll be there!"

Of course, it's not that easy, and it's not the fault of the programme's producers that in little more than a generation, turtle doves have gone from being a common sight and sound of summer to one of the rarest and most elusive migratory birds to breed in the British countryside.

In little more than a generation, turtle doves have gone from being a common sight and sound of summer to one of the rarest and most elusive migratory birds to breed in the British countryside. Photo: Les Bunyan (rspb-images.com)

Two years ago, turtle doves did in fact make a brief guest appearance on Springwatch, when RSPB scientists fitted a satellite tag to a male dove they named Titan. It was by following Titan's journey from Suffolk to Senegal and back that the route taken by turtle doves that breed in the UK – south through France and Spain, across the Strait of Gibraltar, across arid Morocco and Western Sahara, to tropical West Africa – was first confirmed.

Momentous as this breakthrough was, turtle doves have yet to make a return to Springwatch, let alone get on the roster of regulars. It's not just that there aren't that many around. They make their nests in the deepest densest scrub and hedgerows they can find, and apart from when the males are singing to attract a mate, they prefer to keep a low profile.
There is hope for turtle doves though.

Last month saw the launch in Europe of a new continent-wide action plan to help reverse the long-term decline in turtle dove numbers. This plan focused on the need for feeding and nesting habitat to be restored across the farmed countryside where turtle doves breed throughout Europe, but it also recommended a temporary end to hunting in those countries where turtle doves are still a quarry species, until a sustainable level of hunting can be determined. This may just give turtle doves the respite they need for habitat restoration to start taking effect and increasing their numbers for the first time in 50 years.

The Operation Turtle Dove partnership has recently published new guidance for farmers in the UK to help provide supplementary food for hungry turtle doves in the summer, when they are in greatest need of energy to breed, feed and rear chicks. This and other initiatives to boost the birds' breeding success will be key to taking advantage of any relief turtle doves get from hunting in France and Spain.

Who knows, if British farming after Brexit is going to be better for nature and help reverse wildlife loss, as Michael Gove promises it will, turtle doves may yet have a future as Springwatch mainstays.

Find out more about Operation Turtle Dove's work to save turtle doves in the UK, Europe and Africa, including what you can do to help, at www.operationturtledove.org.

Visit a nature-friendly farm this Open Farm Sunday

This weekend, thousands of farmers around the country will be opening their gates and welcoming people onto their farms as part of a national open day for British food and farming. RSPB and Operation Turtle Dove Farm Conservation Advisors will be at Open Farm Sunday events on nature-friendly farms around the East of England to show people how farming can help wildlife like turtle doves.

Come and find us at the following farms:

RSPB Hope Farm, Knapwell, Cambridgeshire – Sunday 10 June 10 am – 4 pm
Park Farm, Thorney, Cambridgeshire – Open Farm Weekend, Saturday 9 & Sunday 10 June, 10am to 4pm both days.
Lindsey Lodge Farm, Lindsey, Suffolk – Sunday 10 June, 11am – 4pm
Barway Farm, Soham, Ely, Camns – G’s Open Farm Sunday, 10 June, 10am – 4pm
Wilkin & Sons Ltd, Tiptree Farms, nr Colchester, Essex – Sunday 10 June, 10am – 2pm

For details of these and other LEAF Open Farm Sunday events visit www.farmsunday.org

Find out more about LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) at www.leafuk.org

Great Yarmouth Air Show: Our position

2018-05-24T15:27:00Z

Author: Jeff Knott, RSPB in the East's Regional Director

Back in January, Theresa May launched Defra’s long-awaited 25 year environment plan. A plan slathered in promises to secure a generational turn around in the fortunes of our natural world. One key idea was to create a ‘world-leading environmental watchdog’ to ensure the interests of our environment had a strong voice in decision making.

This was a perfect opportunity to not only uphold our environmental laws, but also to deepen and improve their enforcement as we leave the EU. Any laws are only as effective as the institutions that enforce them, so a strong, independent body is crucial.

An effective ‘world-leading environmental watchdog’ would be one established through new legislation, which sets out ambitious new targets for nature’s recovery – so that governments and devolved bodies can be held to account.

Last week we anticipated its arrival, waiting to be ‘wowed.’ Would this new watchdog deliver for wildlife? Put simply: no.

The proposals do not pave the way for a world-leading environmental watchdog that the Prime Minister promised, in fact the proposals amount to little more than a toothless, green lapdog. Under current proposals, vital principles of environmental law will only be enshrined in UK policy, not law, meaning our environmental protections will be severely weakened.

This body would only have the ability to issue weak ‘advisory notices.’ These written notices would only request people to comply with the law, with no enforcement, or apparent consequences for those who refuse to comply. They’d have no real teeth and chances are they would just be ignored. Essentially, they’re little more than a written ticking off. It’s the environmental equivalent of writing a burglar a polite letter asking them to consider not robbing any more houses.

This lack of a strong voice for nature is already being felt. Natural England, our current environmental regulator has undergone a shift in their approach. Their emphasis seems to have shifted away from ensuring rules are complied with, and towards enabling and facilitation; asking where nature might be allowed to fit around other activities, rather than putting nature first. Natural England’s strength is being put to the test right here in our region, right now.

Just off the shore of Great Yarmouth, lies Scroby Sands. This sand bank acts as a sanctuary for wildlife. It is especially important for common terns and little terns, which struggle to find undisturbed areas to nest and breed on our coasts. Coated in seals, and dotted with seabirds, Scroby Sands continues to grow and develop its status as one of the best wildlife spectacles on the eastern coast.

Scroby Sands is a legally protected site of European importance for wildlife, and little terns (a species that has suffered chronic declines over the past 25 years) are a legally protected species. However, this summer even the sanctuary of Scroby Sands won’t remain untouched from human disturbance.

Great Yarmouth Air Show could pose major threats to wildlife, as a conservation organisation, we have raised our concerns since October 2016 to both Great Yarmouth Borough Council, the Civil Aviation Authority, and Natural England. We hope that Natural England, as a regulator, will act as a voice for nature and not assent the Air Show, during this sensitive time of the tern’s breeding season.

A strong voice for nature is vital to ensure our special places and wildlife are properly protected, now and in the future.

Luckily, the plans for the new regulatory body are not final, and the UK government have opened them up to consultation. As we hope Natural England will see sense and protect Scroby Sands, we hope the Government will see sense with a new regulator. Nature needs help and the RSPB will continue to speak up for its needs, but we need your help. To help our special species and places, please visit the RSPB website and join us in asking for an effective ‘world-leading environmental watchdog’, by signing up to add your voice at http://bit.ly/campaignchampion

10 ways to be a wild thing

2018-04-07T12:00:00Z

Our Wild Things at Easter events are now in full swing and running across RSPB in the East reserves throughout the Easter holidays - find your nearest reserve running events here. Whether you can make it to an RSPB reserve or not, RSPB volunteer Georgia Hebdige has pulled together the top ten ways to be a wild thing this spring.

Spring is here and come rain or shine, there is no better place to be than the outdoors! From mud pies to bug hunting, here at RSPB in the East we’ve gathered some ideas on how to bring out the wild thing within you this Easter, and make the most of being outside. Whether it's sunny, cloudy, or drizzly, nature calls, so wrap up nicely and get outdoors!

10 ways to be a wild thing

Wild Things at Easter at RSPB reserves

Head down to your nearest RSPB reserve to truly release your inner wild thing. Take part in loads of fun activities, enjoy the fresh air, and make everlasting memories. Find your nearest reserve here.

Marvelous Mud Pies

Don’t let soggy weather stop you from getting outside. Grab your waterproofs and go wild with mud. All you need is a muddy puddle and your imagination. Mould the mud into the shape of a pie and decorate it with different materials you find lying around – rocks, acorns, leaves, feathers.

Mud Painting

Leave your mark on nature in a creative way. When it’s damp outside, and the mud is wet, use your hands or leaves to make wild paintings on rocks or the ground – wherever you can! Use different types mud or clay to achieve different colours.

Stunning Nature Masks

Are you a nature warrior? If so, you’ll need the mask to show off your wild side! Trace a mask shape onto a piece of paper, to fit your face, and cut out with scissors. Cut out holes for the eyes and two holes for string on the sides. Glue natural materials like leaves, loose petals or feathers onto the mask, or colour in. Thread elastic string into the side holes, and your mask is ready for display. Now you look like a warrior!

Wild Wind Chime

Capture every last gust and blow of the wind that whooshes by with your very own natural wind chime. Venture outside and collect strong materials, like sticks, stones and acorns. Hit them together to test what sound they make. Now all you need to do is attach string to each item and tie them onto a branch, making sure they dangle so that they can move easily when the wind dances through them.

Bug hunt

Bug hunts are a great way to discover the wild things living in your back garden! Remember to always be gentle when handling bugs or when overturning rocks and leaves so you don’t harm them. You will need a few clear jars to temporarily put your bugs in and a camera or sketchbook at the ready to record your discoveries! Using a paintbrush, gently brush the bugs into your jar to take a closer look (a magnifying glass is good for this!) and once you’ve had a good look, remember to always release them gently.

Make a nature bracelet or crown

There’s no better accessory than one made completely from natural materials. Make your perfectly wild bracelet or by wrapping a layer of sticky-tape around your wrist/head (sticky side up). Go for a run-around outside and whatever fallen beauties catch your eye, stick them to your bracelet or crown. These can include things like fallen flower petals, leaves, grass or more.

Leaf rubbings

As the seasons change, leaves come and go, but there is a way to make them last forever. Grab a few different types of fallen leaves, place them under a piece of paper and rub them with crayons – you may have to stick them down with tape, but use very little as the tape edges will be picked up by the crayon as well.

Make rafts and boats

A rainy day is not a wasted day! Remember to wrap up in your waterproofs and get your wellies on before going outside. Rainy days are perfect for building boats and rafts and watching them float down a stream, you could even race them! Experiment with different sized sticks. Does adding a sail help with speed? Weave sticks together with string to create a strong and supportive frame – you don’t want your creation to fall apart! Find a rainy puddle or stream to test your handiwork.

Build a den

Create a temporary home out of nature's finest building materials. A good den needs good foundations. Find a tree with lots of nooks and crannies to support your den. Find some large branches to wedge into cracks of the tree, or on a low branch. Layer a few more large branches on your framework, make sure they are close together so your den has strong walls. Finally, layer leaves and small twigs onto your den to provide shelter and protection.

Have you release your inner wild thing? Make sure to take a picture of your activities and post them of social media with #WildThings and to find your nearest event visit www.rspb.org.uk/wildthings

Little tern volunteers needed

2018-04-04T21:51:23Z

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 to nest and feed their young, free from predators and human disturbance.

Over a third of the UK breeding population make a home in East Anglia. However, our beaches are busy places and the little terns rely on our help to ensure chicks thrive and are able to successfully follow their parents back to Africa in August. We're looking for volunteers to help protect, monitor, and spread the word about these wonderful birds across the region - there's different kinds of opportunities in different counties so take a look to see which opportunity and location suits you best:

Volunteer in Norfolk

Norfolk beaches are fantastic places to see little terns, the county is home to some of the largest colonies in the UK. We are currently looking for volunteers to help manage the little tern colony at Winterton-on-sea, but we're also interested to hear from anyone willing to check the beaches at Caister and North Denes, monitoring for little terns looking to raise families there.

As a Norfolk volunteer you will help to monitor the birds and help beach visitors understand how to make room for them during the breeding season. It's a great opportunity to learn more about bird ecology and witness the drama of an active tern colony, following these endearing birds as they raise their young from tiny bundles of fluff to intrepid fledglings before they fly back to West Africa for the winter.

Volunteering at a Norfolk little tern colony provides an opportunity to meet new people and be part of a team working on some beautiful beaches. There is also the opportunity to spend the night watching over the birds at Winterton-on-sea.

No specific skills are required, as all training will be provided. Some walking is necessary at some colonies, as is working outdoors in all weather conditions.

If you’d like to help protect this wonderful seabird in Norfolk, please get in touch: email norfolklittleterns@rspb.org.uk or call Sarah Gelpke on 07703470713.

Volunteer in Suffolk

There are some great beaches that little terns call home in Suffolk. We are looking for volunteers to be stationed at Kessingland, monitoring the little tern colonies and helping beach visitors find out more about the special species.

As a Suffolk volunteer you will help to monitor the birds and help beach visitors understand how to make room for them during the breeding season. It's a great opportunity to learn more about bird ecology and witness the drama of an active tern colony, following these endearing birds as they raise their young from tiny bundles of fluff to intrepid fledglings before they fly back to West Africa for the winter.

Volunteering at a Suffolk little tern colony provides an opportunity to meet new people and be part of a team working on some beautiful beaches. Suffolk volunteers will work day shifts.

No specific skills are required, as all training will be provided. Some walking is necessary at some colonies, as is working outdoors in all weather conditions.

If you’d like to help protect this wonderful seabird in Suffolk, please get in touch: email norfolklittleterns@rspb.org.uk (yes that's right! It's the Norfolk email).

Volunteer in Essex

Working with Essex Wildlife Trust, we are looking for a group of dedicated volunteers to help survey for little terns on the Essex coast this summer. Historically the Essex coast supported a significant number of nesting little terns. As recently as 20-30 years ago, several hundred pairs could be found within the county, spread across multiple sites. However over the past 20 years numbers have dropped dramatically as the birds face annual challenges in finding safe beaches to nest and feed their young.

However, the Essex coastline has lots of potential to provide little terns with the perfect conditions to raise their families. This year we are looking for volunteers to monitor the Essex coast for nesting little terns, as well as surveying existing and historic nesting sites, looking at their potential for hosting little tern colonies, which we can then work to enhance to attract little terns in the future.

We are looking to fill three different volunteer roles:

Little tern land surveyors: to help monitor and protect little terns and other beach-nesting birds on the ground during the breeding season from April to August.

Little tern boat surveyors: we are looking for little tern boat surveyors, with access to boats of any type including kayaks and canoes, to take to the water in search of out-of-sight little terns.

Little tern advocates: we are looking for sociable and inspiring nature enthusiasts, happy to talk all things little terns around the Blackwater Estuary, Hamford Water and Colne Estuary during the April to August breeding season.

Volunteering as a little tern surveyor or advocate provides an opportunity to meet new people and be part of a small team working on some of the most beautiful beaches in the Essex.

No specific skills are required, as all training will be provided. Some walking is necessary at some colonies, as is working outdoors in all weather conditions.

If you’d like to help protect this wonderful seabird, please get in touch with: sarah.gelpke@rspb.org.uk on 07703 470713 or kieren.alexander@rspb.org.uk on 01621 869015 or 07989982019.

Thanks to funding from the EU LIFE+ Nature Programme, the Little Tern Recovery Project is helping to ensure that our little terns have a successful trip to the coast of East Anglia, and return to West Africa with their young in September.

Top Five Wild Things to see this spring

2018-04-03T18:40:50Z

Saying goodbye to the winter has brought little sorrow. The sun has pushed its way through the gloom to introduce the arrival of the most exciting time in nature’s calendar. Spring is officially here! And with it, the natural world opens its sleepy eyes to celebrate the coming of new life. If you’re wondering what wild things you can expect to see this season, here at RSPB in the East we've come up with a few different ideas, so keep your eyes peeled to spot the wonders of spring! They may even appear in your back garden.

Blue Tits

One of the most vibrant and attractive garden visitors is always a favourite to watch in spring, which marks their nest-building period. The vivid colours of the blue tit makes them hard to ignore. Spot them in woodlands, hedgerows, parks and in your gardens while they weave their way to parenthood.

Spawning Frogs

During March and April, you may notice an orchestra of ‘croaks’ and ‘ribbets’ that fill the night air. These come from the abundant frogs and toads that hop their way into spring, bringing millions of jelly-like frogspawn. Watch them grow into wriggling tadpoles that eventually sprout arms and legs. Their growing patterns are remarkable!

Boxing Hares

If you’re looking for something else that hops, the brown hare, also known as boxing hares, can be seen this March. Spot them first thing in the morning or early evening in fields of spring wheat, coastal marshes and heathlands - or book onto a trip to see them at Havergate Island. They get their name because of the female’s tendency to ‘box’ males she doesn’t have an interest in mating with!

Migrating Swallows

Our travelers are in sight from an arduous journey across Africa, where they will sing songs of relief that mark a successful journey home. Swallows will travel almost 10, 000 km during their migration, covering up to 320 km a day. Their journey takes them through Western France, over the Pyrenees, through Morocco and across the Sahara to finally settle in South Africa where they stay for the winter, until they return back to the UK in April and May.

Brilliant Bluebells

There are plenty of woodland flowers emerging in spring, but nothing quite as dramatic as the bluebells that carpet the forest floors during mid-spring. As bluebells have a limited range globally, we are so lucky to find hundreds just next door to us, so don’t miss out on taking a walk in the woods to catch a glimpse of the vibrant colours these flowers give to our woods.

Have you spotted any of these wonders this spring? Make sure to take a picture of your sightings and post them of social media with #WildThings and to find your nearest event visit www.rspb.org.uk/wildthings

Pen a poem for nature

2018-02-22T12:00:00Z

I have always loved nature, ever since I was little. Hours wasted moving frogs from a rust and dirt mingled wheelbarrow to the pond, so obviously created for these very creatures. The place they were meant to be, enclosed in those four slab-paved sides, whether they liked it or not. There was nothing quite like the coldness of their skin on mine on warm spring days, and the feel of their quickened heartbeat on the palm of my hand. I knew, even if they didn’t, that I was doing them a favour. Saving them. Giving them a new lease of life.

This overwhelming urge to catch frogs stayed with me well into my teenage years. Even now I have to resist the idea of slimy skin on skin. I didn’t know of any peers that shared this fascination and I certainly wasn’t going to shout about it, it wasn’t something you discussed at state school.

Until one English lesson, when laid out in front of us was Seamus Heaney’s poem, Death of a Naturalist. I had never been interested in poetry before. Too abstract for me. But here, Heaney captured the beauty of my favourite amphibian, in the most disgusting way, true to their form. I loved it. I was there, with him, in the flax dam filling ‘jampotfuls of the jellied / Specks to range on window sills at home, / On shelves at school, and wait and watch until / The fattening dots burst, into nimble / Swimming tadpoles.’

Sadly for Heaney, his obsession with ‘gross bellied frogs’ didn’t last through later adolescence, and the naturalist within him died, disgusted by the froggy form. A reality we see all too often in tweenagers and teenagers who somewhere down the line lose that connection with nature.

The most beautiful thing about the poem though, was how Heaney had managed to capture everything I felt in so few words. I didn’t have to wade through it like a novel, this simple construction was one of the most relatable things I had read. Heaney had fixed this concept and his poem in his heart and mind, and in turn successfully shared his ideas with others, capturing their hearts and minds.

Each of us has a creative side, ideas, and relationships with places and nature, and it is so important that we take the time to express them. Writing is not only cathartic, but rewarding. Even if your work isn’t published, it will always be personal and something to be proud of.

The RSPB, together with The Rialto, BirdLife International and the Cambridge Conservation Initiative are encouraging more people to write poetry in their latest poetry competition, themed around ‘Nature and Place’.

The competition is important in two ways: entries raise money for nature, providing vital conservation funding wherever it is most needed, additionally, everyone who sits down to write a poem for the competition, who then carries it with them, thinking about it, crafting and re-drafting before finally submitting, is working with some part of the natural world.

If the craft alone is not enough of a draw, there is a fantastic selection of prizes on offer, including: 1st prize – £1000, 2nd prize – £500, 3rd prize – a place on a creative writing course at and generously donated by the Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre, and finally two additional prizes including a personal tour with Mark Cocker of his most cherished wildlife places in East Anglia, and a personal tour with Nick Davies of his beloved Wicken Fen to learn about his research there.

Poems must be submitted by March 1st 2018 and for more information visit www.therialto.co.uk/pages/nature-poetry-competition-2018/

Good luck!

Top tips for writing the perfect poem:

Get outside with a pen and paper: spending time outside, whether it’s just in your garden, or sat on a park bench with a coffee and some homemade sandwiches during your lunch break, is the perfect way to feel inspired. Jot down whatever comes into your head: you never know what you might want to use later!

Consider what nature and place means to you: Does nature offer you a sense of calm? Maybe there’s a certain place that’s your sanctuary? Everyone associates certain places and the nature that inhabits them with memory and emotion.

Don’t forget people too: We want to hear about animals and plants, but we also want to read about human nature within nature.

Nature and place can be anywhere: local or global! Some of us will feel inspired by the blackbird in our own back garden, others may take inspiration from elephants in Africa. Previous winners have written about everything from cow pats, to Panamanian golden frogs, to black kites in Delhi, to a single marsh thistle. Competition judges will give a wide interpretation of the theme ‘nature and place’.

Show the Love for Halvergate Marshes

2018-02-12T18:01:00Z

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, traditional English seasons and their associated rain fall patterns that controlled my working life on farms throughout the early 90s and in more recent times for the RSPB as Site Manager of Berney Marshes.

If we want to maintain our reserves to provide high quality habitats for our existing wetland species, and create new habitat for the species that we are expecting to gain in the future, then we have to make changes. We also have to change our approach to water management.

Drone image of Halvergate Marshes works - Jeff Kew (RSPB)

At RSPB reserve Berney Marshes, in the heart of the Norfolk Broads, we have been trying to think outside the box, developing water management systems that will not only protect the reserve from times of drought, but also ensure the provision of water to one of the UK’s largest areas of wet grassland, Halvergate Marshes.

Berney marshes is a 700ha grassland site that sits within the 3500ha of Halvergate marshes. The ability to hold and manage water is one of the biggest challenges we face in the management of this amazing landscape.

Water is the life blood, the very elixir that draws in wildlife through the spring and winter months, but it is becoming difficult to achieve the levels that are needed in terms of quality, quantity and at the right time of year.

Without water, the area would not be able to support approximately 300 pairs of breeding waders or the 100,000 wintering waterfowl, or provide local farmers with safe grazing for their cattle and enable them to deliver their High Level Stewardship commitments.

Over the past 2 years, we have been working closely with the Water Management Alliance (on behalf of the Broads Internal Drainage Board) and the Environment Agency to design and build a water storage system that will overcome some of these problems as well as create new habitat for our expected new colonists.

Drone image of Halvergate Marshes - Jeff Kew (RSPB)

The current situation

Two sides of the area are surrounded by tidal rivers. More and more salt water is being pushed up these river systems from Great Yarmouth, meaning it is increasingly difficult to find points in the tide when fresh water can be drawn in through the main sluice onto the marshes.

When the sluice was first located on the River Bure in pre-Victorian times, it was never anticipated that salt water would start being pushed further and further up the system, reducing the time that fresh water was available.

But this is what we are seeing today. The time window available to let water onto the site has dramatically reduced, particularly in the summer when river flows are at their lowest, allowing the salt water to be pushed up the river systems.

Map showing the new fleet scheme. The blue line and red route (which depicts the new fleet route) show the existing main water supply. The green line shows the lower level drain. Blue hatch demonstrates new semi-natural washland, and the buff areas are existing RSPB managed land.

Cue the innovative new design

Thanks to the construction of our innovative new design, more water can be stored in a purpose-built washland right in the heart of Halvergate Marshes, all on RSPB land. This area, approximately 80ha, (equivalent to 80 football pitches) will be filled up when water quality is suitable through the winter and spring months, then gradually fed across Halvergate Marshes when required. With time, this semi natural washland will develop to support a rich habitat of wetland species which might include include long-legged colonists such as crakes, herons, spoonbills, black-winged stilts and ibises.

New channel being excavated

The beauty of this design is that we are using the natural contours of the ground to create a network of ‘islands’ surrounded by shallow water. The water will come and go as water is let on and off the washland into the surrounding grassland. This will ensure that ditch communities full of important aquatic plant, invertebrates and mammals are supported on the reserve and across the rest of the marshes and ensure local farmers can continue to safely graze the marshes with livestock as they have done for centuries, without the risk of the animals becoming poisoned by salt water.

When fresh water is available at the sluice it will be let in to refill the area, thus creating an ever-changing dynamic system. The partnership of the WMA engineering expertise coupled with the RSPB wetland management and creation expertise has ensured a design that will work for everyone. It won’t be the standard reservoir type design with high bank holding back large volumes of water back. It will take us back to what the area might have looked like pre-1400 before the Dutch drained the marshes to convert them to grazing marshes.

One of 6 aqueducts that have been installed

12,000 cubic meters of clay have been excavated to enable the construction of 6 aqueducts, creating 8km of new bank, and 4km of new channel ranging from 7-15m wide, allowing us to hold an additional 60,000 cubic meters of water! By the time the work is completed 6 new scrapes will have been dug to provide material for the new banks and 12 new water control structures will have been installed.

All of this will have been carried out with little to no impact on the native wildlife, as demonstrated by the breeding waders who had their best year in 2017, but to reduce the impact on some of the specialist ditch species such as water voles, large scale mitigation works were and continue to be carried out before the main engineering works begun.

Water vole mitigation prior to the main work starting

All in all this has been a huge project, but one that I am proud to say will ensure a good water supply for years to come.

Why we need to show the love for people, places and species

2018-02-06T12:42:00Z

James Robinson, Regional Director Eastern England

This piece first appeared in the Eastern Daily Press on 31st January 2018.

What will you be doing this Valentine’s Day? Romantic dinner? Trip to Paris? Buying a last-minute gift? Indulging in a takeaway with friends?

Chances are, you’re not going to be dwelling on the state of the planet. It’s not a topic that generally comes up on the most romantic day of the year. More likely you’ll be thinking about your loved ones: the time spent together, the most meaningful ways to show your appreciation for each other.

We know how to show our love for our nearest and dearest, but how do we show our love for places that shape us? For that nature that we are part of? For the water, air and soil that give us life? For the landscapes that define us?

Recently I visited one of the most important landscapes here in the east, a landscape I feel very passionate about. Halvergate marshes lies in the heart of the Norfolk Broads, hugging the Acle Straight from both sides for miles. It’s an engineered landscape which now holds the title of region’s largest grazing marsh; a source of freshwater, livelihood, and a wealth of wildlife.

All of which is threatened by the impacts of climate change. Sea levels are rising and the regularity of tidal surges is predicted to increase, having major consequences on inland landscapes, like Halvergate.

The River Bure is a source of freshwater for Halvergate marshes. However, rising sea levels and rising high tides are pushing more and more saltwater down the River Bure, a problem exacerbated by reduced rainfall, another predicted consequence of a changing climate in the east. Less rainfall means less water to hold back the salt, resulting in fewer opportunities to move freshwater from the river onto the marshes during spring and summer.

A supply of freshwater is needed throughout the summer at Halvergate to provide a home for rare and important freshwater plants and invertebrates, as well as the essential ditch systems which act as ‘wet fencing’ and allow traditional grazing – a practice enshrined in the culture of the Broads - to continue.

It goes without saying that overcoming climate-induced threats is a challenge, but it’s not impossible. It starts with dedication, passion, commitment, and imagination – all the ingredients for love, which create a solution.

Working with the Water Management Alliance on behalf of the Broads Internal Drainage Board, local landowners, and with funding from the Environment Agency, together we have created a scheme that will ensure freshwater is always available in this important landscape. A new four-kilometre watercourse – known as a ‘Higher Level Carrier’ - leading from the River Bure will allow freshwater to be stored and used for farming and wildlife.

It will be made from clay and enable about 60,000 cubic metres of freshwater to be stored at any time. When freshwater is available (when there is no salt adjacent to the inlet sluice on the River Bure) it allows a lot more water to be let in and stored ready for times when we can’t let more water in because it’s too salty. This will offer a reliable supply of freshwater, especially in times of drought or flood, supporting and protecting freshwater species and wet grazing practices and ultimately allowing the marshes to adapt to climate change in the future. As if the project couldn’t be any more innovative, the clay used to form the carrier has been sourced from RSPB-managed fields to create shallow lagoons for nesting waders. A combination of this shallow-flooded wetland and a series of natural islands is perfect for long-legged birds like crakes, herons, spoonbills and wading species such as black-winged stilts, which are expected to move to the UK as climate change makes their current habitat unsuitable.

If we are to keep special places like Halvergate marshes safe and sound, we need to act now, so that habitats have time to develop and become suitable. This will require more innovative work from us, other conservation organisations and governments. However, it also begins with us.

To influence governments, businesses and organisations we need to start the conversation. We need to show our dedication, passion, commitment and imagination in saving places, people and species from climate change that are important to us. We need to show the love.

So this Valentine’s Day, take some time to think about the people and places that are dear to you. Join in with the Climate Coalition’s ‘Show the Love’ campaign. Make a green heart. Wear it with pride. Start a conversation. Show the world that you care.

Big Garden Birdwatch: Which birds took the top 5 spots last year?

2018-01-23T18:13:08Z

Can you believe that #BigGardenBirdwatch is only 4 days away! Following on from last week's countdown, we're now taking a look at some familiar faces that made the top 5 in the Big Garden Birdwatch charts here in the east last year. If you haven't downloaded your free Big Garden Birdwatch pack yet, there's still plenty of time, just visit rspb.org.uk/birdwatch

5. Down two places, it's the blue tit - a colourful mix of blue, yellow, white and green makes the blue tit one of our most attractive and most recognisable garden visitors. In winter, family flocks join up with other tits as they search for food. A garden with four or five blue tits at a feeder at any one time may be feeding 20 or more.

Blue tits dropped two places in the 2017 Big Garden Birdwatch charts after a 16% downturn in sightings. Changes in weather during breeding seasons can have a big impact on these small birds.

2016’s prolonged wet spell meant there were fewer caterpillars about for feeding their young. It’s likely that this led to fewer younger birds surviving than usual, meaning there were fewer seen in gardens.

However, long-term trends are slightly less worrying, with a small 2% decrease in the region since 2007.

4. Up one place at number four is the woodpigeon - the UK's largest and commonest pigeon. It is largely grey with a white neck patch and white wing patches, clearly visible in flight. Although shy in the countryside it can be tame and approachable in towns and cities. Its cooing call is a familiar sound in woodlands as is the loud clatter of its wings when it flies away.

Woodpigeons have successfully made the most of our feeders and tables over the last ten years, increasing by an impressive 56% across the east, and a whopping 1060% across the UK over thirty years! When times are tough in the wider countryside, woodpigeons will happily munch on whatever seeds are going in our gardens.

3. Another climber, taking the number three spot is the blackbird - males live up to their name but, confusingly, females are brown often with spots and streaks on their breasts. The bright orange-yellow beak and eye-ring make adult male blackbirds striking.

These familiar garden visitors have soared by 38% in the region since 2007, and are now the region’s (and the UK’s) most widespread bird, having been seen in 96% of our gardens. Gardeners can help this success to continue by avoiding the use of garden chemicals, and by planting shrubs that provide blackbirds with caterpillars, berries, or both.

2. Holding on to second place is the starling - at a distance starlings look black, but when you see them closer they are very glossy with a sheen of purples and greens. Their flight is fast and direct and they walk and run confidently on the ground.

However, despite being the second most seen bird in our gardens, the drop in starlings over the last 30 years is somewhat more depressing.

A 79% reduction in numbers nationally since 1979, and a 22% decline in the region since 2007, are largely undetermined. It is known though, that starlings are heavily dependent on soil invertebrates like earthworms and leatherjackets, and it is possible this food supply has either declined or perhaps become less available during dry summers.

1. Another non-mover in at number 1, it's the house sparrow - noisy and gregarious little birds, house sparrows are cheerful exploiters of man’s rubbish and wastefulness, having managed to colonise most of the wild: the ultimate avian opportunist perhaps.

However, since 1979, the house sparrow population has decreased by 57% since 1979. Here in the east, the decline has not been so severe with a decrease of 7% since 2007.

Possible reasons for this decline include a reduction in the availability of their preferred foods, increased levels of pollution, loss of suitable nesting sites, increased prevalence of disease, and increased levels of predation. However, the exact causes of these rapid declines remain unclear.

How will these birds fare this year? Sign up for Big Garden Birdwatch to let us know.

Big Garden Birdwatch: Which birds took the top spots last year?

2018-01-19T12:00:00Z

There's just over a week to go until #BigGardenBirdwatch! So we thought we'd take a look at some familiar faces that topped the Big Garden Birdwatch charts here in the east last year, starting this week's countdown at number ten and finishing at number 6 - look out for the top five next week!

10. In at ten, it's the long-tailed tit - easily recognisable birds with distinctive colouring, long-tailed tits look like a ball on a stick with long tails and small bodies. Gregarious and noisy residents, long-tailed tits are most usually noticed in small, excitable flocks of about 20 birds. Greater numbers of long-tailed tits are surviving our milder winters, meaning the number of birds seen in our gardens in the region has increased by 128% in ten years.

9. Moving down one place from 2016 is the great tit - the largest UK tit; green and yellow with a striking glossy black head, white cheeks and a distinctive two-syllable song. It is a woodland bird which has readily adapted to man-made habitats to become a familiar garden visitor. It can be quite aggressive at a bird table, fighting off smaller tits. Changes in weather during breeding seasons can have a big impact on these small birds.

8. Jumping two places from ten to eight is the robin - the UK's favourite bird - with its bright red breast it is familiar throughout the year and especially at Christmas! Males and females look identical. Young birds have no red breast and are spotted with golden brown. Robins were seen in 90% of the region's gardens last year.

7. Non-mover, the goldfinch, remained in seventh place in the charts - a highly coloured finch with a bright red face and yellow wing patch. Sociable, often breeding in loose colonies, they have a delightful liquid twittering song and call. Their long fine beaks allow them to extract otherwise inaccessible seeds from thistles and teasels. Increasingly they are visiting bird tables and feeders – there’s been a 35% rise in the number of goldfinches visiting gardens in the east since 2007.

6. Coming in at number six, another non-mover, the collared dove - these pale, pinky-brown grey coloured birds, with a distinctive black neck collar (as the name suggests), have declined by 27% in the region since 2007. They have deep red eyes and reddish feet. Their monotonous cooing is a familiar sound to many and it’s easy to mistake them for a woodpigeons, however they are a lot smaller than a woodpigeon.

How will these birds fare this year? Sign up for Big Garden Birdwatch to let us know, and look out for last year's top five next week!

Make a pet-friendly bird kebab

2018-01-12T12:00:00Z

Not a kebab made of birds! A kebab for the birds in your garden to eat, and one that's not toxic to your dogs and cats either.

This kebab is very much like our other kebab, but without the raisins, and with a few cute dogs thrown in.

It's the perfect way to get ready for the Big Garden Birdwatch: cheap and fun to make. Oh and you can sign up for the Big Garden Birdwatch for free here!

All you'll need to make this is:

Apples
Bread
Hard cheese
(cut all of the above into cube-sized pieces)
Floral wire
String

1. Taking floral wire, thread through chunks of cheese and apples leaving about 8cm at either end.

2. Bend the wire to form a circle, holding the ends together.

3. Tie a loop of string on the wire circle.

4. Hang your scrumptious kebab up for the birds to feast on.

5. But don't worry if your pets get hold of it...

For your free Big Garden Birdwatch pack, which includes a bird identification chart, plus RSPB shop voucher and advice to help you attract wildlife to your garden, text BIRD to 70030 or visit www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch

Make a bird kebab

2018-01-12T12:00:00Z

No, not made of birds! A kebab for birds to eat!

This simple homemade feeder will help attract birds to your garden for this year's Big Garden Birdwatch - now only a couple of weeks away (sign up here!) It's cheap and fun to make, and all you'll need is:

Apples
Hard cheese
(cut all of the above into cube-sized pieces)
Raisins (do not use if you have pets - these can be toxic! Instead check out our pet-friendly bird kebab recipe)
Floral wire
String

1. Taking floral wire, thread through chunks of cheese and apples, and raisins leaving about 8cm at either end.

2. Bend the wire to form a circle, holding the ends together.

3. Tie a loop of string on the wire circle.

4. Hang your scrumptious kebab up for the birds to feast on.

Make an apple bird feeder

2018-01-04T15:30:00Z

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 may wish to get an adult to help you with this.

2. Make perches for your birds by pushing one stick into either side of the apple, near the bottom. Again, if this is too tricky, get an adult to help you. Take care when holding a stick too, particularly if other people are around!

3. Tie the string around the last stick and thread it through the core of the apple.

4. Push the sunflower seeds into the top half of the apple for the birds to eat.

5. Once you have made your apple bird feeder, tie it onto the branch of a relatively sturdy tree in your garden or green space, and wait for the birds to descend!