Arne

Inside Arne | March to April 2023

2023-04-13T14:07:00Z

Another month at Arne, and Spring is moving forward at a rapid pace. The sound of birdsong on the reserve reminds us that warmer times are ahead, especially the distinctive call of the chiffchaffs. The curly green fern shoots are unfurling, and the ...(read more)

'A special place in my heart' - Volunteering at RSPB Arne with Special Guest Amy

2023-03-21T12:54:00Z

This week we hear from former volunteer Amy about her experience volunteering at Arne, and why it is has such a special place in her heart. "I started volunteering at Arne in 2018 to give myself a regular break from the stresses of running my ow...(read more)

Happy International Women's Day 2023!

2023-03-08T15:26:00Z

It's International Women's Day... so here is Staff member Laura writing about what International Women's Day means for her.

Being a women in the nature conservation sector does have its difficulties, and many women* don't feel safe or comfortable to enjoy the countryside alone. I don't want to touch too much on this today, but have a read of this blog as it highlights many of these difficulties. https://community.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/b/martinharper/posts/being-a-good-man-a-reflection-on-what-can-be-done-to-ensure-the-countryside-is-welcome-and-safe-for-all

Instead, I'd like to focus on the positive things. Let's focus on 3:

Events for women. I have had the absolute pleasure of organising and leading women only events over the last 2 years. For several months of the year, I lead Full Moon guided walks alongside other female members of staff and volunteers. It is wonderful to see like-minded, nature loving women enjoying each others company, with the incredible backdrop of the shining full moon over the darkness Poole harbour.
Women doing many roles. I work within the Visitor Experience Team, organising and leading events, family activities and school visits. My role is varied and takes me across several different nature reserves throughout Dorset, as well as engaging with a diverse range of people of all ages and backgrounds. While some of my female colleagues have roles similar to mine, there are women throughout our workforce taking on so many different aspects of reserve life. Many work within the Estates team, coordinating the habitat management across all the Dorset reserves to maintain and improve our reserves for wildlife. Some work in surveying, to keep track of the numbers and general health of populations of different species of wildlife. Others work in our café team to source and sell local, eco-friendly products or our retail team who love to equip visitors with the knowledge and resources needed to get better connected with nature.
Embracing equity. This year's theme for International Women's Day is Embracing Equity. While equality means providing the same to all, equity means recognizing that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and make adjustments to imbalances. This is true for all aspects of life, not just gender. To me, this is what International Women's Day, in a nature conservation setting, is all about - not bringing down men, but raising up women to feel safe in their ability to enjoy nature. At Arne, we also have Men-Only wellbeing walks on offer to (dates and details to be confirmed). Just as we've identified that women often struggle to enjoy nature at night time, without fear of their safety; men often find it difficult to talk about their mental health. We hope that these walks, created by men for men, will work to dissolve this stigma.

*(It should be noted that when I use the term woman throughout this blog, women and female, I mean this in the most inclusive way to include trans women, genderqueer women and cisgender women).

If you'd like to read more about International Women's Day and this years theme of equity, please follow the link here: https://www.internationalwomensday.com/

If you'd like to book onto our women only or men only events, follow the link to our event's website (men's walks coming soon): https://events.rspb.org.uk/arne

To keep up-to-date with all of the latest Arne news, check us out on:

Inside Arne | February to March 2023

2023-02-17T15:41:00Z

We’ve had a wonderful month at Arne so far. We are all starting to feel the beginnings of spring and the warmer weather on the way. There have been many amazing sightings recently, including regular sightings of white-tailed sea eagles across t...(read more)

Create a Home for Wildlife

2023-02-16T11:23:00Z

It’s national nest box week this week (14^th to 21^st Feb) and the perfect time to think about adding some extra nest sites to your garden, house, garage or shed, ahead of the nesting season.

If you know the birds that frequent your outside space, whether you have a flock of sparrows, see blue tits flitting about or regularly spot robins - providing a box for them will massively increase their chances of raising the next generation successfully.

Different birds obviously have different requirements, in terms of size of box, type and size of entrance and location of the box.

House sparrows like to nest close to each other, so a sparrow terrace (a row of joined boxes) or several boxes located close to each other on the side of a building, at least 2 metres up, are perfect. They need a larger hole, around 32mm diameter, facing north or east to avoid the prevailing winds and bright sun.

Great tits and blue tits prefer single boxes, on tall fence posts or in trees, again at least 2m up to avoid predators, with cover and suitable foraging nearby, but a clear flight path into the box. Great tits need an entrance hole 32mm diameter, while smaller blue tits only need a 25mm hole. Depending on the birds that regularly visit your garden you might be lucky and get coal tit nesting.

For everything you need to know to make your own box, go to our website: Where To Put A Bird Box | Nestboxes - The RSPB

Birds like dunnocks and wrens tend to nest closer to the ground, so will benefit more from an untidy area with dense undergrowth, than a purpose-built nest box. Similarly, blackbirds and thrushes don’t often use boxes, but both like dense thorny bushes and hedges, like climbing rose, holly, blackthorn, hawthorn and pyracantha to prevent predators snatching their eggs and chicks.

Robins on the other hand will nest in all manner of places, dense undergrowth near the ground, sheds, garages and even in old teapots!! If you want to provide a nest box an open fronted one is best, not too high, but near/in shrubs or hedges.

A great alternative to an external box is a purpose made nest box fitted into the structure of your house, shed or garage, especially if you’re doing some renovations or extending your home. Starlings are declining and it’s thought this is in part due to a lack of suitable nest sites, they love nesting in buildings – up under eaves and slightly into roof spaces. For more advice, see our website: Bird Nesting Boxes In The Roof - The RSPB

If you’d like to make your own bird box, but aren’t sure how to go about it, why not join us for our next bird box making session and take home the finished article - Sat 25th Feb, 10am – 1pm at RSPB Arne: Family Wild Weekend - Build a Bird Box! Or you can always buy a nest box from our Arne shop or online: Bird Houses & Nesting Boxes for Wild Birds - RSPB Shop

Whatever you decide to do, we hope you enjoy the sight of tiny fledglings emerging from your nest boxes later in the spring.

Photos: all rspb-images.com top to bottom - Eleanor Bentall, Rob Carmier, Oliver Smart, Michael Harvey and Ben Andrew.

Big Garden Bird Watch 2023 at RSPB Arne

2023-01-24T16:57:00Z

We’re all looking forward to the RSPB’s 44th Big Garden Bird Watch this weekend (27-29th January). But what is BGBW, and why is it so important to the RSPB? What is BGBW? The RSPB describes BGBW as ‘the world’s biggest...(read more)

Winter Wonders at RSPB Arne

2023-01-23T13:28:00Z

Discover the winter wildlife of a frosty RSPB Arne. (read more)

Confessions of a Beginner Birdwatcher

2022-12-21T15:25:00Z

New RSPB Arne volunteer Annie shares the highs and lows of her first forays into birdwatching.(read more)

Exploring RSPB Arne on a Tramper

2022-12-12T14:09:00Z

RSPB Arne is a fantastic nature reserve to visit all year - there's always something new to see, whether you're a keen birder or just enjoy immersing yourself in nature. Arne includes a variety of habitats from all important lowland heath, to woodland...

(read more)

Pull a Pine 2022!

2022-12-05T16:32:00Z

The mulled cider has been drunk, the Christmas wreaths have been made and the pines have been pulled… at least for this year!

Pull a Pine was over the weekend of the 3^rd and 4^th December and was a raging success.

This year, Pull a Pine was on our Hyde’s Heath. Hyde’s heath is the most recent patch of heathland we have bought, and therefore needs the most help to restore it. This former plantation was once heathland, the ‘missing link’ in the Arne peninsular, like a jigsaw piece of missing habitat. Since it was bought in 2019 with help from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we have been managing the land to encourage the heathland habitat to regenerate.

A large part of this regeneration is the removal of Scots pine. Scots pine on lowland heathland are an introduced invasive species. Every winter, RSPB staff and volunteers cut down and pull up thousands of pine saplings that are growing on the heath to protect this incredibly biodiverse and rare habitat. On one occasion each year, we ask the public to come along and help us with this gargantuan task. The result is a win-win-win-win; we get significant areas cleared of small pines and a healthier heathland, the public learn more about the work that goes into maintaining a heathland, we raise money for our conservation work, and visitors go home with their very own hand-picked, sustainably sourced Christmas tree.

This year, over the two-day event:

1651 people came in festive spirits assist conservation efforts
Upwards of 13,000 invasive Scots pine trees removed from Hyde’s heath
35 new RSPB memberships made
120 volunteers joined staff to manage the smooth-running of the event

With such a large area of pine cleared from Hyde’s heath, we have vastly improved the habitat for the species that call Arne’s lowland heathland home. Some of these species include:

Birds: Dartford Warbler, Woodlark, Nightjar

Reptiles: Sand and Common Lizard, Smooth Snake and Grass Snake.

Insects: Green Tiger beetles, Grayling butterfly.

The above colossal figures are a testament to the achievements from all who helped with the hard work and planning to make this event such a wonderful success.

We’d like to give particular thanks to:

Our RSPB Dorset volunteers who rose to the task of planning and coordinating the event as well as assisting with the running of the event on the day.
The RSPB staff who don’t usually work at the Dorset Reserves, who came and helped with various tasks across the event.
Dorset Search & Rescue (DorSAR) for helping so brilliantly with the car parking.
Wareham Fire Station for coming along and raising awareness of the heathland and its fire hazards, for bringing their Unimog and for their continual assistance throughout the year when fire emergencies do occur.
The Urban Heaths Partnership, Dorset Dogs, Diverse Abilities, Bournemouth University students and Bird and Recreation Initiative (BARI) for coming along in festive spirits and volunteering in numerous roles across the weekend.
Nordic Walx for manning their stall and for volunteering where help was needed.
Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) for manning their stall and teaching visitors about the heathland species resident to Hyde’s heath.
The Purbeck Quire, 16 String Jack and Quinns Quinney for their live music across the weekend.

The biggest of thank yous goes, of course, to each and every individual who came and cut down pine trees, and joined our festivities in the largest event of the RSPB Arne calendar. We truly couldn’t manage the heathland for nature on the scale we do, without the year on year pulling of pines that this event sees each December.

We hope everyone enjoys their hand-picked, sustainably sourced Christmas trees and we hope to see you next year for Pull a Pine 2023!

Thanks all!

To keep up-to-date with all of the latest Arne news, check us out on:

(Photos thanks to Pam Bowyer-Davis)

Pull a Pine is almost here!

2022-11-25T13:15:00Z

The biggest event in the RSPB Arne calendar is looming – Pull a Pine. As a volunteer at Arne, I’m giving an overview of why Pull a Pine is so important and a behind the scenes look at how we prepare for the big day as a reserve.(read more)

Life as a Residential Volunteer

2022-11-10T13:14:00Z

Have you ever wondered what it's like to live and work on an RSPB reserve? Our new residential volunteer Annie talks about her experience so far.(read more)

Inside Arne | October 2022

2022-10-31T15:42:00Z

October 2022

Sightings

Back in September we reported 4 White trailed eagles around Poole harbour. For the October update I am very pleased to announce we have 5 spotted in the harbour. Not least one from the new Rock Lea Viewpoint we spoke about last month.

As the clocks went back yesterday and Autumn is well upon us, the reserve is alive with mushrooms and fungi. Here are few of the beautiful specimens that have been spotted lately.

Shaggy inkcaps, Fly Agaric, Jelly fungus, Yellow slime mould

Stewart Milburn & David Blake

…And a lovely toad relaxing in the undergrowth.

David Blake

Conservation news

The warden team have been busy as always, we are well into the coppicing season and much effort has gone into helping with the Rock Lea viewpoint project.

Here are few images from cutting back the gorse. We cut on rotation and aim to remove the ‘leggy’ gorse. It has little value to wildlife and won’t make a cosy home for the Dartford Warbler over winter! By coppicing it, we encourage new growth that is denser and makes a better habitat for overwintering birds. It can get a bit spikey at times, but definitely worth it.

Hollymay Gladwin

We’ve also been doing some running repairs to Lytchett Fields and repaired a handrail across the pedestrian bridge. Great work team.

Ant Smith

A look ahead to what’s on next month

Discover RSPB Arne guided walks are running throughout November. They are taking place on 1^st, 2^nd, 8^th, 15^th, 16^th, 22^nd, 23^rd, 29^th & 30^th November – all starting at 10:30am. Its £10 non-members and £8 members.

Nature tots – This month its Fabulous Fungi Activities! Taking place on 29^th November.

Wild weekend - Join us for a FREE* family friendly event on the café lawn at Arne. This #WildWeekend focuses on Ivy. Come and learn all about one of the most ignored plants in your garden. you'll be able to pot up some ivy to take home and make yourself an (ivy) bee from recycled materials. Find out who relies on ivy and what lives on and in it! You'll discover much more than just ivy as well, with loads of information on late season pollinators and their importance to nature. *(Car parking charges apply for non-members).

Check out our full listings page here.

Volunteer News

This month we have a piece written by Peter Farrington. He’s one of the many amazing garden volunteers that helps to make the café garden such a beautiful place and alive with Nature.

Garden Autumn update October 2022

October is the time when the garden seems to be preparing for its winter sleep but in fact there is still plenty of activity.

We have been hosting a German wasp nest in the main flower bed and the workers are still to be seen going in and out, presumably feeding the larvae.

Meanwhile, a colony of European hornets have been harvesting the sap from our lilac tree which has been fascinating to watch.

Plants of the month in terms of continuing to attract pollinators have been the bog sage (salvia uliginosa) and red-hot pokers. It has also been fun to see the cistus flower for a second time this year!

A highlight this year has been the discovery that a female grass snake used the compost heap as a safe place to lay several clusters of eggs which hopefully led to successful hatching.

There have been some first sightings of invertebrates this year in the garden: philanthus triangulum (male beewolf), ectemnius continuus (digger wasp) and hemophilia triittatus (tiger hoverfly).

On a more practical front, the garden team is down to two teams of dedicated individuals, one on a Monday and one on a Tuesday and we are really keen to increase the number of regular garden volunteers to keep on top of things and to develop what the garden can offer to visitors and wildlife alike.

The garden team: Peter, Jan, Josh, Rob, Richard, and Frances.

Volunteering general

We are looking for volunteers who can help with all our visitor engagement activities, from welcoming people on arrival, to leading events and activities. Our events and activities are aimed at all age ranges from toddlers to families, new to nature and those who are already nature lovers. Click here for more info.

We are also looking for one-off volunteering for Pull a Pine on 3 and 4 December. Some of the roles include visitor management, heathland helpers, car parking and assisting in the crafting tent. Your help will grant you free entry and you take home a free tree. Contact arne@rspb.org.uk for more info.

The Pull a Pine festive weekend is back on 3 & 4 December

Join us at RSPB Arne, in one of the biggest conservation events in the country. Invasive pine trees, planted in forestry plantations, have taken over our heathland. We need your help to remove them, restoring the heath and saving the rare animals that call it home.

Get your wellies on, dig out your hats and scarves and join us for a wonderful festive day in nature.

Live Music | Our outdoor kitchen will be serving hot winter warmers | Stalls selling a range of local and festive wares | FREE festive crafting for the children | Partner stalls including Dorset Search and Rescue, Wareham Fire Brigade, Urban Heaths and much more…

Tickets will not be sold on the day. Advance booking is essential as this year spaces are limited.

Inside Arne | September 2022

2022-10-02T09:15:00Z

Sightings

At Arne, there's a bit of a raptor fest going on with ospreys, 4 white-tailed eagles, hobbies, marsh harriers, peregrine, goshawk, and buzzard all being seen around Poole harbour this month.

In other exciting wildlife news, we have just got the results of some wildlife surveys which has revealed a new population of the incredibly rare Southern Damselfly. This is excellent news for the species population across Purbeck.

Ben Andrew

Conservation news

The warden team cover all the sites for Dorset and September has been concentrating on sites away from Arne, working at Weymouth, Garston and Lytchett fields.

Shaun Robson

This is a new viewing platform at Lytchett Fields to give people views of Poole Harbour without venturing onto the saltmarsh and causing disturbance. As part of this project, fences have been realigned, allowing the grazing units to be extended and the ditch has been improved - creating more diverse habitats, suitable for a wider range of species, across the reserve. A Huge thanks to our funders Urban Heaths Partnership BARI and Wessex Water and, of course, the Lytchett volunteers.

Arne has also had some conservation work going on with heather cutting, this is an important aspect of heathland management to diversify the age structure of heather and without it would revert to scrub and woodland.

We’ve also had an ancient tree survey led by Sarah Spurling of Purbeck's Precious Past project.

A look ahead to what’s on next month

Ben Andrew

Halloween at Arne. This year we have Pumpkin carving in the café garden where you can select your pumpkin and we’ll be on hand with tools and ideas to make your own pumpkin masterpiece.

Also available will be our ever-popular half term trail. This season’s theme is hibernation Hibernation Trail - As Summer draws to a close and the cold creeps in, the animals at Arne decide it’s time to get cosy. Follow the trail round the habitats of Arne to see how each creature prepares for the cold.

Nature tots – This month its Awesome Autumn Activities!

Discover Arne walks – Running all through October mainly on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

Wild weekend - You will be able to build a cosy hedgehog home to encourage them to rest, hibernate and raise their hoglets in your garden. In the 1950s, there were an estimated 30 million hedgehogs in the UK. Recent estimates suggest there are less than a million left. Come a find out about their hibernation and all things hedgehogs. What to feed them and how to make your garden great for them.

Check out our full listings page here.

Book signing

Join author Sophie Pavelle on a low-carbon journey around Britain in search of ten animals and habitats threatened by climate change in the 21st century.

Sophie challenges herself to travel the low-carbon way, travelling the length of Britain on foot, by bicycle, in an electric car, by kayak, on cargo ferries and in lots of trains. From Bodmin to the Orkney Islands, Sophie encounters wildlife and habitats on the front line of climate change in Britain. In her authentic, engaging style she asks some serious questions – which species are going to be seriously affected, and why? Which species might turn the corner and bounce back from the brink?

Sophie Pavelle is joining us on Oct 27 at 1pm for a talk and Q&A session about her new book 'Forget me Not' . Why not join us for a relaxing chat about her book in beautiful surroundings in the Arne Shop and Café garden.

Copies of her book will be available on the day.

Click on the link for event details https://fb.me/e/2Qr6AtqO9

Café and Shop news

Christmas has arrived! There is an Early Bird deal on Christmas Cards. Our Christmas Products have a sustainability theme this year, helping you to celebrate Christmas without costing the earth.

As always we have a fantastic selection of optics with demonstrations and the ability to try before you buy. Everything from a first pair of youth binoculars to Advanced scopes.

The café is also having a makeover, with decorating currently well under way and some minor structural improvements to improve the whole café.

The shop will open throughout with business as usual, and refreshments can still be purchased form the shop and welcome area. Its just the café that will be closed for a few days from 3 October, until the works are complete.

Volunteer News

Terry Bagley

We are also looking for one-off volunteering for Pull a Pine on 3 and 4 December. Some of the roles include visitor management, heathland helpers, car parking and assisting in the crafting tent. Your help will grant you free entry and you can take home a free tree. Contact arne@rspb.org.uk for more info.

The Pull a Pine festive weekend is back on 3 & 4 December

Terry Bagley

Get your wellies on, dig out your hats and scarves and join us for a wonderful festive day in nature.

Tickets will not be sold on the day. Advance booking is essential as this year spaces are limited.

RSPB Arne’s Big Wild Sleep Out-BACK for 2022!

2022-08-18T14:15:00Z

RSPB Arne's Big Wild Sleep Out BACK for 2022! After a two year hiatus, the opportunity to camp out under the stars was back at RSPB Arne for the summer of 2022-read our blog post to hear how it all went and what everyone got up to!(read more)