The Campfield meet and greet volunteers generally man the Visitors Centre in pairs on Saturdays, Sundays, and Bank Holidays, 10 am to 4 pm, and if you like meeting people, chatting to them about all sorts of things, and generally enjoy being out and about then it’s a brilliant way to spend the day, especially when you have the wonderful surroundings of Campfield Reserve.
Obviously, things became tricky in March 2020 when lockdown struck, and it was good to be back in action just as soon as relaxation of restrictions allowed. As a means of volunteers keeping in touch with what was happening on the reserve, a volunteers WhatsApp group was set up and is still running. It’s interesting that this has also become a forum for some of the volunteers to post a report of their day - number of visitors, what’s been seen, etc - and as a general indication of what we do, I’ve put together a compilation of seven reports from July provided by Dave, Patti, Anne, Peter, Cynthia, and Sheena.
The total number of visitors was 223, an average of 32, but the lowest daily total was 17 and the highest 48, July 29th and 30th respectively.
July began with Dave and Patti on duty on Saturday 1st and Dave reported that after a quiet start in a blustery wind with showers, the afternoon weather improved along with the visitors giving a total of 29. They welcomed recently appointed Assistant Warden Dan's parents, along with Dan, of course. The feeders attracted Greenfinch and Goldfinch. On the coast sightings of Shelduck, Bar-tailed Godwit, Cormorant, Oystercatcher, Blackheaded Gull and Herring Gull. Paisley Pool had Marsh Harrier, Mallard, Heron, Kestrel, Sedge Warbler and Chiffchaff. In the late afternoon, visitors including Dan's parents witnessed the Marsh Harriers food pass over Holton Fen.
There was no sign of the cattle egret that had been seen regularly with the belted Galloways, but Patti had been watching the Spiny Knee Potter Wasps on the clay wall in the afternoon, and one was apparently excavating an existing hole. It did this for a few minutes and eventually brought out a small pea sized clay coloured object and flew away with it. Patti agreed the day had been very enjoyable - blustery but sunny and warm. She hadn’t seen a Potter Wasp before and was pleased it had been pointed out. She reminded Dave about the dragonfly he’d seen - thought to be a Ruddy Darter Dragonfly (female). Dave had looked through the guidebook and it appeared to be the only one that fitted what he’d sighted briefly and the couple who left just before 4 pm also commented on having a brief sighting of it before it headed back into the hedge.
Saturday 8th saw Dave and Anne on duty. Dave reported after a slow start and perhaps when the forecast of thunderstorms did not materialise, they finished the day with 28 visitors. A visitor who had retired locally after a lengthy period living in the USA might be interested in volunteering on Thursdays when the working party meet and do practical work on the reserve and would make contact if he wished to take it forward. It was very quiet on the bird & wildlife front. The Marsh Harriers were seen. Greylags on Holton Fen. Little Grebe and a Heron on Paisley Pools. The usual visitors to the feeders with Pied Wagtails in the car park. Swallows and Oystercatchers frequently took to the air across the reserve. Ringlets and Meadow Browns flew the lonning together with Red Admirals and a Green-veined White. Anne added she’d had an interesting day, had left a parcel addressed to Mhairi and the delivery man may well return with his grandchildren for pond dipping. A visitor had spent some time at the pond and, much to their delight, the sun came out briefly and so did an Emperor Dragonfly. It was patrolling the edge of the pool about a metre above the water and landed opposite them on some reeds.
Peter reported a reasonably quiet day with only 31 visitors on Sunday 9th. Everyone he spoke to said how peaceful the reserve is and how much they appreciated that. The marsh harriers were busy with most visitors seeing one or both adult birds. Surprisingly, no lizards or snakes were seen on the boardwalk. There were all the usual birds on the feeders at the centre with good visits by great spotted woodpeckers. He’d enjoyed meeting some very nice folk. A visitor had also seen a number of Blue-tailed Damselflies ovipositing on the vegetation in the water and a male Four-spotted Chaser patrolling round the edge of the pool.
And that’s the first half of July. The second half continued in fairly similar vein, although it must be said no two days are the same.
Saturday 15th saw Cynthia and Sheena manning the fort and Cynthia reported that despite an awful weather forecast, there was no rain at all until 4.15 when she was on her way home. There were 34 visitors, and she attached a list of what was reported. It included a variety of birds, butterflies, moths, other insects, and wildflowers and was very comprehensive. However, she noted that perhaps the most exciting sighting was a Marsh Harrier with a snake. Dan later replied he, Dave, and Mhairi (site staff) had thought they might have seen it with one the previous week and was a bit concerned about his adder surveys. Cynthia replied that the visitor who had witnessed this did not say it was an adder, but she assumed it was. Sheena commented she’d had a good day and was glad to be back volunteering.
Anne was back in action the following Saturday, the 22nd. Anne reported she arrived at a rather damp Campfield to find a visitor had beaten her to it. The drizzle continued all morning, but she filled the feeders, where there were no unusual sightings and the visitors arrived fairly regularly, including a group of 4 celebrating a 65th birthday and staying in the holiday rental next door. A man thought he had seen avocets on the estuary, but it was unclear as they were quite a way out. There was a damp group of 6 cyclists (all men) from Norfolk and they decided to go to the Pear Tree Tearoom for refreshments.
The afternoon was reasonably dry and the final total for the day was 36. There were several regular visitors, but the last two of the day were a couple from Leeds, staying in Bowness and mainly doing a recce for another visit the next day. So far, they thought the area generally was wonderful. In the late afternoon at high tide, a visitor reported seeing large flocks of oystercatchers along the saltmarsh west of the viaduct, oystercatchers preening, several little egret and grey heron, a grey heron foraging along the high tideline and some juvenile lapwing on a saltmarsh pool. In addition, Mhairi commented she’d been talking to a haaf netter, and he said he’d seen a flock of 18 and Anne noted she’d seen a recent photo of 13 avocets at Port Carlisle, mainly immature birds. A local birder had records of five avocets with the oystercatchers round the end of the viaduct. The next day the rain never let up and there were few visitors, although a visitor did see a juvenile cuckoo on a fence post next to the Kingsland viewpoint, an aerial display from two swifts over the fen, and a whitethroat on the thistle heads with a caterpillar in front of the hide. Birds remained active on the feeders including a juvenile greater spotted woodpecker.
Saturday 29th saw Dave and Patti on duty. Dave thought the blustery wind and a few heavy showers had kept the visitors away with 17 braving the elements. There were no reported sightings of note, and most conversations were weather related. There were the usual birds on the feeders and the visit by a regular local was upstaged by a shield bug, not the usual green but brown with an orange central spot and pale dots on the wing edges. Patti had taken a photo, Dave said it was a Pentatoma, according to iNaturalist; a genus of shield bugs in the family Pentatomidae. Anne asked if it was the red legged shield bug but, according to Insects of Britain and Northern Europe, it was a Forest Bug, of the family pentatoma rufipes and more numerous on the continent. Finally, Peter reported another good day on Sunday 30th with 48 visitors, including a group from Eire and some from the USA. Everyone enjoyed their visit; some saw the marsh harrier and at one time there were three greater spotted woodpeckers on the feeders. It was a wet morning, but the weather improved and two ladies with four children had a wonderful time pond dipping and were very excited to tell Peter what they had caught.
And that more-or-less wraps up July. During the last two weeks of the month there was general activity regarding the boardwalk. Site Manager Dave reported that finally, the new boardwalk sections for the middle of the bog were being transported out ready for assembly and this should help prevent future erosion in the area around the compass. Site Manager Dave also reported an osprey was sitting on the nest platform.
The first few days of August on the reserve have been amazing, I think. There have been several references to marsh harriers in my report so far. On Sunday 30th July a regular visitor saw two chocolate-coloured heads pop up out of the rushes as the female hovered above. On Tuesday August 1st Dan sent a WhatsApp message that he’d just watched the adult marsh harriers pass food to two chicks on Holton Fen. Early evening on Wednesday 2nd a birdwatcher observed the male marsh harrier fly in over the rushes and instead of landing it hovered, and eventually the two young birds took to the air. They also reported having seen an adult osprey with two juveniles on the ‘nest platform’ the previous day. In reply to a general question, Site Manager Dave said over the past 10 years or so there’s been one or two marsh harrier sightings a year at Campfield, usually in August/September post breeding. More recently, perhaps the last two or three years, there’s been more regular year-round sightings. They bred at Bassenthwaite in 2017 raising two young - the first in Cumbria for about 150 years. This is the only other successful nest in Cumbria. Monday lunchtime, August 7th Dan reported watching two marsh harrier fledglings hunting and play fighting over the fen. Very lucky Dan.
Report by Anne Stott
We are always on the look-out for new volunteers to join our Visitor Meet and Greet team at Campfield Marsh. Volunteers are based at the visitor centre at weekends and on Bank Holidays. If you are interested in helping out, please feel free to email dan.cropper@rspb.org.uk or mhairi.maclauchlan@rspb.org.uk.