As we leave summer behind and head into the colourful months of autumn, it’s also time for change on the Coombes Valley team! It’s time to introduce the new interns who will be getting stuck in at the reserve over the next 6 months.
My name’s Rachel (on the left) and I’m the new warden intern at Coombes Valley reserve. It’s been a rather soggy start to my placement with the first signs of autumn beginning to show, but I have still been getting out and about discovering the reserve and the wondrous wildlife it holds. It’s a very different environment to my previous placement at Leighton Moss and I’m looking forward to getting stuck into some practical work, helping the team to maintain the integrity of the natural oak woodland by selectively thinning areas of trees around the reserve.
Hello I’m Lauren (on the right) and I’m the new Visitor Officer Intern here at Coombes. I’ve spent the last 6 months at Fairburn Ings which is a wetlands habitat, so I’m very excited about discovering the wild woodlands here. We got our first chance to explore the reserve on Monday as we were given a tour through our new surroundings. The sun was shining as we set off but there was definitely a chillier, autumnal feel to the air.
It wasn’t just the weather that was a reminder of autumn around the corner, the wildlife and woodlands are changing too. We spotted lots of different types of fungi on our walk of various shapes and colours; some bursting out of the ground with others creeping up the side of trees. I’m a complete beginner when it comes to identifying fungi and even with the help of a book; I wasn’t able to identify many. They look pretty amazing though! I’m looking forward to the Fascinating Fungi walk on Saturday 28 September, if you want to join us check out our events page http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/c/coombeschurnet/events.aspx
Brightly coloured berries decorated the woodland and these will be providing food for birds like song thrushes and blackbirds, plus the redwings and fieldfares which will be returning over the next few months. This guelder rose shrub had vibrant red berries as did the rowan trees making them easy to spot. There’s still a fair few blackberries around but the birds have had all the bilberries!
We heard the cries of buzzards as we wandered through the Valley, as well as the call of a tawny owl. I was surprised to hear a tawny owl in the day but according to the other volunteers it is quite common. Ravens nest here on the reserve and we caught a glimpse of one flying over the tops of the canopy.
So, first impressions? Beautiful! It’s a peaceful and tranquil place where you can get close to nature and revisit those fairytales from childhood. I imagined scary trolls hiding under the bridges and fairies at the bottom of the valley! There’s definitely a magical feel to the woodlands and we can’t wait to get to know it better.