Charlie's Blacktoft Blog

Another thought provoking and very timely guest blog from our neighbour Andrew on the last few months and the challenge its giving everyone who manages land for both wildlife and farming in the local area, everyone is having a tough time especially with the added issues of Covid 19 and the stress that puts upon everyone including people who are working in the countryside. Thank you very much Andrew. 

There’s a famous old…

Not a lot of time this week for a blog as we've been pretty full on with work. 

Just a quick update in terms of the reserve closure - the Reserve will remain closed as we are not currently able to open our hides or toilets under government guidelines. 

This week has been another hot and dry one and this has meant birds have been getting on with raising their young, lots of insects emerging too particularly butterflies…

Just a quick reminder that the reserve is closed for the foreseeable - for more information please read the start of the last blog. Straight into the blog this week without further ado. 

Mid to late May is always a time when worlds collide as the breeding birds are in full swing around the reserve but yet there are still species such as the arctic waders that are passing through on their way to exotic places such as Greenland…

A quick update on the Corona virus closure - the reserve will remain closed for the foreseeable future unfortunately due to the issues of how social distancing can be maintained and cross contamination of the hides and toilets is controlled. We also have to respect the local community and how they would feel if lots of visitors arrived in the area, but its not been an easy thing to have to come to terms with that the…

May already and of course typically the weather just isn't doing what it ought to, those northerly winds just don't want to give in and then no rain or sign of summer, but then my last blog did warn of the uncertainty of spring weather.

One thing though that is certain is that the reserve is still well and truly locked down for visiting, work however continues apace especially with the arrival of the cattle this…

Well May hasn't even started but it looks as though the weather is changing somewhat for May and giving real meaning to the old saying 'ne'er cast a clout till May be out' - mind you I never try to take my coat off in the middle of a Yorkshire summer unless I have to as I've experienced far too many cold ones over the years! 

Certainly for the birds its seems to have been causing quite a bit of confusion…

Well its certainly not a typical April at all is it? With the reserve closed to all visitors, just two of us staff that aren't furloughed and then a dry April with constant nagging North Easterly winds then there is nothing typical about it in many regards! 

But then for much of the wildlife its business as usual, albeit slightly affected I suspect by this weird spring weather. Also writing the blogs so far apart…

Firstly apologies for the lack of postings over the last week and a half, we've been reduced to just two staff what with all the lock down and reserve closure but off course livestock and related work does not stop and the last few days has been a blur of stock fencing, ensuring the ponies were safe on the high tides and organising all sorts of other jobs to try and keep the boat afloat. So not quite sure what sort…

Just a reminder that the reserve is shut to all visitors and locked down for only essential management duties such as shepherding the livestock, however I've managed a few photo's during my brief visits and checks that the ponies and site are all ok, fed and watered. 

Koniks enjoying some fresh water 

The arrival of Spring has been as per usual from recollection of past ones been held back a little longer than…

You may know that I did request people to write a guest blog to help keep everyone's spirits up in the current situation and for people to help me out a little, well here is the first blog from our neighbour Andrew who felt inspired to put 'pen to paper', a fascinating blog which I myself have learned a thing or two - I do hope you enjoy it as much as I did and hopefully it will inspire one or two of you, it doesn't even…

Well most but maybe not all by from what I'm hearing have already heard about the national lock down, here on the Sands we closed our gates seven days ago and went into lock down knowing what was almost a certainty to come as it has now.

Nobody knows how long it will take for the country to get back to how it was but its likely that we will be talking about months before the reserve re-opens rather than weeks. I…

As many of you will already have heard unfortunately we have had to close the reserve due to Corona virus concerns mainly due to the issue of contamination within the hides and toilets of surfaces where the virus can survive for long periods. It was a difficult decision and not taken lightly, but we felt that without the long trails you have on other sites we could just not operate safely and without risk to visitors…

Following the latest government advice we have made the difficult decision to close the reserve as at end of play today 18/03/2020. This is to prioritise the health and welfare of our staff, volunteers, supporters and members of the public.

Its been a difficult decision for us as we know how much people enjoy visiting and seeing the fantastic birds and wildlife we have in Spring, it was not taken lightly.

However, we…

Our cup is certainly running over at the moment with yet another massive series of tides and currently most of the reserve paths flooded to above wellington height and therefore closed. However, we have endeavoured to keep the site open as Ousefleet hide is apart from at high tide, open and accessible along the bottom of the flood bank as indicated on the sign at the second entrance gate to the reserve. 

Flooding up! Ousefleet…

Its certainly been an amazing last few days here on the reserve in terms of the beautiful spring weather but its also been an exciting time for the birds and wildlife. March is certainly one of my favourite months as it can bring so much diversity and also a mix of both winter and summer birds. 

Last Friday though my 'highlight of the week'  was the discovery of a large colony of scarlet elf cup fungi as I was having…

Well I think wet is an understatement for the marsh but then for us that's good! The past few winters have seen our habitats far too dry so its nice to have them wet for most of the winter, creating the wet and boggy habitats that makes the marsh come alive. No problems with the paths though, all are clear although the path up to Ousefleet is somewhat a little boggy at the moment so you'll need strong boots or wellies…

Mild, stormy, and wet both from the sky and on the tides, yet the the reserve has been outstanding this month with the wetland birds giving our habitat management the thumbs up by using both the lagoons and grazing marsh in impressive numbers. Time after time I've sat in Ousefleet hide in particular or looked from the field side gate and just thought 'fantastic' this is what large swathes of our countryside should be…

The last few days have really seen the weather almost boiling as the winds rage and squalls of rain filled clouds push constantly across the Humber landscape, but in many ways the scenes have been particularly beautiful and certainly the birding on site has been pretty good too with plenty to see from waders and wildfowl to birds of prey and passerines. Birding of course at its best is not always a fair weather pastime…

At times that's just what its felt like here on the Sands at times over the last few days with particularly over the weekend and Monday a fantastic 2800+ wetland birds using the lagoons and grazing marsh to roost and feed on. There's been plenty of variety too and the odd returning rarity with the green-winged teal returning from its brief holiday over at Weldrake Ings!

Simply lots of birds!

Green-winged teal…

For the last three weeks we've really been tied up in the winter reed cut and there's no doubt about it I've not had much time to get out and about around the reserve, particularly when the sun is shining. But yesterday we finished and this morning I manged to get a quick look around site and get a better understanding of whats about, I certainly wasn't disappointed! 

Lapwings in front of Ousefleet hide…

Yesterday morning I walked out of the House in the early hours to be greeted by a distinct beautiful dawn chorus of robin's, song thrushes and blackbirds, consciously this is the first time I've noticed a distinct togetherness of song and it certainly gave me one of those small but welcome smiles that unexpected wildlife moments like this can often give.

(And just to say at last the road works have finished so…

It very much seems that this current mild and soggy winter is suiting many of the reserves wetland birds with some nice numbers of ducks and now a few more waders about site.

Xerox lagoon this morning - full of wigeon and teal 

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Certainly this morning the 7 marsh harriers were 'beating' up the wildfowl with 340 wigeon, 460 teal and a great supporting cast of

With no sign of ice or snow down here along the Humber its certainly seems to be a case of suits you sir! No shortage of birds right across site but also it seems the mammals are becoming more active while with mild and damp there has been some lovely fungi to see along the trails. 

Sunrise earlier in the week - there's been some real corkers this winter

But before I start just to remind everyone that the road through…

2020, who would have thought it! But the new decade seems to have just breezed in as the old one left with some outstanding birding on site, decent numbers of wildfowl, the odd rarity and some top general wildlife watching just to add that little extra to the day. 

There have been some lovely evenings - I think these may be lenticular clouds - but I'm no expert so please correct me if I'm wrong!

The raptors have…

I'll start with a brief summary of the last couple of days.............

Well there's certainly been some great birding on the reserve over the last few days, yesterday there was the ringtail AND grey male hen harriers hunting around the reserve and a fantastic adult male merlin, add in lots of marsh harriers, barn owl, peregrine, buzzard, kestrel and sparrowhawk then it's been a bit of a raptor extravaganza.…