The Faintest Sniff of Autumn

There’s nothing like the smell of freshly mown wet grass to stir the soul as far as I’m concerned. While it hasn’t rained that much it has certainly refreshed the air and the greenery.

It’s certainly revived Horseshoe Meadow somewhat. It was great to see a kestrel hunting over it yesterday. As ever I didn’t have a camera to hand to capture it but it brought back mental images…

Amazing August Continues

Welcome to the latest update from RSPB Blacktoft Sands as we drift into mid August.

It’s definitely been a hot one so far, not just the weather!

There’s been plenty to see at Blacktoft over the last week or so, so let’s dive straight in!

Here’s the highlights:

First off let’s start with a pectoral sandpiper.

It’s the smaller bird at the edge of the island next to…

Back at Blacktoft

It seems I must start this blog as I have others with an apology for the lack of writing here. I’ve been away with some long term health issues which are now, thankfully, resolved. I’ll be bringing updates on what’s happening at Blacktoft and around the Humber on a much more regular basis in future.

So let’s not hang around!

Passage waders have been starring at the reserve this…

Back in March, you may have seen mention of the RSPB purchasing land to expand Blacktoft Sands reserve. We look forward to visitors being able to see this area in time, but we need to do some work before it’s possible to do that safely and without disturbing wildlife. However, we’d like to tell you a bit more about it and have asked the previous owners, Andrew and Jiggy, to write a guest blog.

Island Farm…

As the nights draw in and winter looms it’s perhaps one of my favourite times of the year around the Humber.

It’s always great to see skeins of pink footed geese over head – especially first thing in the morning. It always puts a smile on my face. A recent wetland bird count at Reads Island threw up a record 27500 of them.

Clouds of pink footed geese from Island Farm (Pic:- Pete Short)

It is truly a…

What an amazing couple of weeks here at Blacktoft, around the Humber and the East Riding of Yorkshire.

I know it’s been a little while since our last blog. But then our small but dedicated team of staff and volunteers have been very busy looking after approaching 4000 visitors.

Of course the vast majority of those have come to see what is this years star bird, Larry the White Tailed Lapwing. It’s presence has been…

Firstly apologies !

It's been a fabulous time at Blacktoft over the last week and we've been brilliantly busy. Assistant Warden Stuart discovered an absolutely gorgeous White Tailed Lapwing early Thursday morning last week and it's still showing really well. Well done Stu amazing work. He'll definitely be dining out on this anecdote for many years to come!

This is the first time it's been recorded in Yorkshire…

Waders are still prevalent around the reserve especially marshland, xerox and townend hides with reports of 56 snipe around the reserve yesterday (17^th Aug). These quirky little characters aren’t always the easiest of spots especially when in amongst the reeds and vegetation .

Snipe

Black tailed godwits have turned up in good numbers too. Pete counted 120 earlier today.

The wood sandpipers are still featuring mainly…

The wader spectacle continues – here’s a quick update of what’s been spotted at the reserve.

This week’s (so far) star bird is wood sandpiper. There has been at least 2 of these little beauties showing between marshland and xerox hides.

Other sightings include:-

Spotted redshank

Green shank

Common redshank

Snipe

Dunlin

Common sandpiper

Black tailed godwit

Green sandpiper

Little egret

Lapwing

July has been a headlining weather month breaking record temperatures and lashings of rainfall combined with ear splitting thunderstorms. But the little feet around the reserve have continued to thrive.

Here’s a quick round up of some of the juveniles (and adults) seen around the reserve.

Young lapwing (Pic: Pete Short)

It looks like it’s been a great year for breeding lapwing at the reserve and across Yorkshire…

Please note the reserve is open from 9am – 6pm, covid guidance is in place e.g. test and trace, social distancing, reduced capacity and masks in enclosed areas. Please be kind to others especially if they are waiting for space.

Early summer. Hazy days and sunshine – or not as recent weather testifies. But chick season continues. It’s been fab to see the young ones emerging or trailing after their parents on the…

Please note the reserve is open from 9am – 6pm, covid guidance is in place e.g. test and trace, social distancing, reduced capacity and masks in enclosed areas. Please be kind to others especially if they are waiting for space.

Meadows matter. Wild flower meadows are one of the rarest habitats in the UK. We’ve lost 97% of our wildflower meadows since the 1930’s.

Horseshoe meadow (adjacent to our toilet…

Please note the reserve is open from 9am – 6pm, covid guidance is in place e.g. test and trace, social distancing, reduced capacity and masks in enclosed areas. Please be kind to others especially if they are waiting for space.

Humans! We have people back on the reserve after around 8 months. It’s been great to see so many of you experiencing the brilliant wildlife the Humber has to offer from the hides at Blacktoft…

We’re pleased to be open again.

What's open at Blacktoft Sands?

Here's a quick summary:

Car park open

Trails open

Hides open

 Toilets open

Reception remains closed for now, but we are working hard to open as soon as we can.

Refreshments/Cafe remains closed for now, but we are working hard to open as soon as we can.

 We’re open daily 9am - 6pm Greeting point outside reception closes 5pm.

Normal entry…

Please note. The reserve remains closed under lockdown guidance. Unlike at other sites, much of the reserve here at Blacktoft can only be viewed from the hides, so closed hides means a closed reserve. We will of course continue to monitor the circumstances and re-open at the earliest opportunity. Please stay local.

It’s been a strange time for all of us this past year. I’m pretty sure a lot of us feel a little ‘cooped…

Please note. The reserve remains closed under lockdown guidance. Unlike at other sites, much of the reserve here at Blacktoft can only be viewed from the hides, so closed hides means a closed reserve. We will of course continue to monitor the circumstances and re-open at the earliest opportunity. Please stay local.

Firstly let me apologise for the lack of a blog recently. Lockdown means that for much of the time office…

Happy New year to all from all of us (and our partners) that work in conservation around the Humber.

Let's hope that 2021 let's us do more of the things we love. For me that means spending more time along the Humber and the wider area exploring and watching our fantastic wildlife.

As you can imagine I usually spend a lot of time at the reserve. Which means I have the amazing privilege of seeing some of the finest…

2020 may be a year that many people would rather forget than remember but for one of our flagship reedbed species here on the Humber I thought it would be fitting to write a blog to mark what was simply the perfect year.

When I arrived to work here at Blacktoft way back in 1998, bittern was one of the of the species that I was asked to specifically manage the reedbed for and try and attract to breed. Indeed, it was at…

Although the reserve is still unfortunately closed to visitors the team have been working flat out to deliver as much conservation work as possible before the new year when we will be busy with our main reedcutting operations, that's if the weather is kind to us. 

But as we've gone about our work its been very notable that there has been distinct movement through and arrival of birds on site which have no doubt…

Well almost December and how time seems to fly at the moment despite the reserve still being closed to visitors. The last few weeks just seem like a blur as the team try to get on top of the work programme which has led to a very busy time for us all. 

Late November sunsets are always very nice

With not writing a blog for a while I seem to have lost my stride a little but hopefully today I can give you a little flavour…

Mothing … lots of mothing. And no that isn’t a typo. (nothing)

There’s real beauty in moths!

So it’s deepest darkest lockdown as late spring is merging into summer and I’ve been at home for what seemed like an eon. I needed something to do to keep me sane. Realising my 3 previous attempts to learn guitar had met with abject failure and I’m never going to be a rock star I looked back to nature for inspiration…

Firstly I will confirm that yes the reserve is still open 9am to 5pm last entry at 3.30pm every day. We will update you as soon as is possible if this changes, please bring a face mask and wear them in the hides and toilet block and I recommend that you bring hand sanitiser as it is not provided in the hides. Also just to say that we have limited parking and this means visitor numbers are restricted, so please think carefully…