Another day, another pond

 The pond by the hide was the second pond to be tackled this year by the Campfield Thursday volunteers. Brambles and grass had grown up in front of the pond and trees around it were shading it and shedding leaves into the water

nearly done

It was a cold day, but bright and sunny. Because of the frosty weather of the previous days, the ducks and waders had already left the big field in front…

The first storm of the year, Storm Erik, coincided with the high tide here on Campfield Marsh at 2.15pm. A Met. Office Yellow wind warning forecast a SW gale with winds up to 70mph in the Irish Sea.

As the tide was making, huge waves came rolling in across the Solway Estuary. Skeins of Barnacle geese, already flooded off their Inner Estuary roosts, came streaming by on their way to the saltmarshes of the Outer Estuary…

When the volunteers got together for the Thursday work party the job sounded quite straightforward, but it turned out to be a morning full of surprises, not least of which was the bright blue sky and full sun.

We set out to clear the grass and brambles in front of one of the ponds along the lonning at North Plain, and to take out some of the trees overshadowing the pond. By opening up the pond to more light and reducing…

The high tides have been peaking over the last few days, consequently the saltmarsh has been flooding. However, frosty nights have resulted in lingering hoar frosts and misty days. All this has had a profound effect on estuary birds.

On the 24th, with frost and mist all day, all the pools back over on the Reserve were frozen. Wigeon, Mallard and Teal, which usually frequent the Reserve wetlands, migrated to the saltmarsh…

Don't forget to do your count this weekend.  

For full details click: https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/

You can also pick up a leaflet locally from the Solway Wetlands Centre, North Plains, Bowness-on-Solway.

Incidently the 'Christmas' Robin chose to perch on the millennia old Bog Oak dug up from nearby farmland, which is now on display in Campfield car park.

by Dave Blackledge - Sites Manager, RSPB Cumbria Coast Reserves.

The picture shows the first phase of the work done with money from the DEFRA Peat Fund, set up to help rehabilitate peat bogs in England, and lock up carbon in actively growing peat.  The fields which had been reclaimed from Bowness Common for agriculture are being re-wetted once more with a series of bunds to prevent drainage of water.  Over a number of…

Every year the Work Party volunteers join with the Visitor Centre Vols in a Christmas barbecue on the last Thursday of the work party year. A strange concept perhaps to have a winter barbecue but after many years of practice we have it off to a fine art. Dave and Mhairi set up the barbecue outside and take care of the cooking (one of the many talents the Campfield staff possess), while in the Visitor Centre the rest of…

A blog for you by one of our amazing volunteers - Marjorie. I'd just like to say that we are a small team here on the Cumbria Coast and we would be lost without the dedication and help from our volunteers. It's not only their helping with practical work or in the visitor centre but their continued support with everything over the years. The good news is you too can be part of this amazing team! Fancy volunteering…

Some six months ago Mhairi MacLauchlan (RSPB Cumbria Coast Warden) installed a stamp collection bin in the Wetlands Centre on Campfield Marsh RSPB Reserve. Due to the diligence of visitors to the Reserve and particularly to Dave Smith who has been collecting stamps from the local West Coast Group for quite a while now, we were recently able to dispatch our first posting of in the region of 7,000 used stamps in aid of this…