We had some wonderful news last week, a community trust has pledged another £5,000 to Rebuild Snettisham Hide which takes us ever closer to raising the money we need to rebuild the hides we lost in the 2013 storm surge.
Since crowdfunding closed we have also received many personal cheques from people who heard about the appeal after the crowdfunding appeal ended. We are so grateful to everybody that has donated, either through crowdfunder or offline.
Behind the scenes we’ve been busy getting the rewards ready to send out to those of you who selected a reward when making a pledge. We hope you like them! For those of you that pledged for a mug or a t-shirt, these will be arriving with us very soon, and once their with us we'll be sending them straight to you.
We have also tendered for contractors to work with us to build the hide and we continue to work hard, trying to raise the further funding required. Our fundraising team are looking into further charitable trust and grant applications and we will let you know of any other successes we have.
Meanwhile, on the reserve, resident and migrant wading birds are beginning to gather in good numbers. Flocks of knot, dunlin and oystercatchers remain favourite sights for visitors and are best seen on a high spring tide when they take to the air in vast flocks, wheeling and soaring across The Wash before settling in the lagoons. By mid-October they will be joined by thousands of pink-footed geese who overwinter at Snettisham to escape the colder climes of Arctic homelands. At first light these birds leave their night time roosts on The Wash and fly inland to feed. The sight and sound of thousands of geese flying low against the pale amber of a Norfolk dawn creates an exhilarating spectacle best witnessed in the company of our friendly and knowledgeable guides. We have pink-footed geese walks available on selected dates in November through to January.
Finally, if you have any contacts you think we should be talking directly to, or would like to make a further donation, do let us know at: snettishamproject@rspb.org.uk.
Thank you, as always, for your kind support.
With very best wishes,
The Snettisham Crowd