Dove Stone

Photo: Some freshly harvested Sphagnum ready for translocation, Credit: Callum Goff

          We've made it! After what’s felt like hundreds of cold, wet days of hard graft in the moors, we’ve finally reached our target of planting 40,000 plugs and 4,000 handfuls of sphagnum moss. This work, undertaken by our dedicated and hardworking volunteers, will help keep the bog at Dove Stone good and wet. It will soak up lots of…

Photo: Willow harvested from Griffin wood and Blacktoft Sand driven into eroding peat edges at RSPB Dove Stone, Credit: Toni Bradley

On the 4^th of March 2021, staff and volunteers from the RSPB based at Dove Stone (near Oldham) visited the Mersey Forest’s Griffin Wood to harvest willow to trial an innovative new technique in peatland restoration. This valuable resource added to the 800+ coppiced willow poles kindly…

Colletes succinctus (Heather Colletes) is on the wing now. A bee to look out for at Dove Stone.

Notes on fascinating invertebrates seen at Dove Stone. This post features the spider hunting wasp Anoplius nigerrimus

A fire started on land managed by the RSPB at Dove Stone on 23 April. A team made up of the RSPB, land owners United Utilities, and partners from the Peak District National Park Authority and Life for a Life Memorial Forest , all trained in dealing with moorland fires, are working with the fire service to try and bring the blaze under control.

Despite visitors being encouraged not to come to places like Dove Stone in line…

Have you ever wondered how we know the migratory routes of birds? Where do they come from or where do they go? This is all possible due to bird ringing, a scientific study method of bird populations that consists of individualising the specimens by placing a metal ring with a unique inscription on its leg, all while respecting the animal welfare.

Blue tit being ringed, picture by Ángel Sánchez de Vera

This…

The peregrines are back at Ashway Gap. On a glorious day at Dove Stone we were treated to a great aerial display by a pair of peregrines who at one point were taking a keen interest in a raven. Other visitors included a pair of dippers in the spillway near the picnic area, long tailed tit, coal tit, blue tit, robin, chaffinch and goldfinch.

Although it was a glorious winter's day the Binn Green feeding station was relatively quiet with blue tit, great tit, blackbird, wood pigeon, chaffinch, goldfinch, nuthatch and a great spotted woodpecker.

Down at Ashway Gap we had several long tailed tits, song thrush, pheasant, robin, a weasel and a field vole. Other sightings included a buzzard and sparrowhawk.

If you are out walking in the hills around Dove Stone, you may be lucky enough to spot the large black silhouette of a Raven soaring above you.They are the largest member of the crow family (corvidae), with wingspans up to 1.5m (bigger than a buzzard!). Distinguished from the commoner Carrion Crow by their size, thick set heavy bill and diamond or wedge shaped tail in flight. If you hear them call it is a noticeably deeper…

Our team of dedicated and passionate volunteers play a massive role in helping us to make Dove Stone a more resilient nature reserve, from restoring the blanket bogs, to checking that our trails are safe for people or greeting our daily visitors on site, just to name a few of many tasks… Most of them have been supporting our work for many years and are very experienced.

However, what about the new generations that…

Although a grey day we were treated to visits at Binn Green by a treecreeper, nuthatch, goldfinch, chaffinch, greenfinch, coal tit, great tit, blue tit, long tailed tit, siskin, robin, blackbird, dunnock, pheasant and great spotted woodpecker.

From Ashway Gap we spotted a cormorant and wigeon and had a report of a goosander near the sailing club.

As a visitor to Dove Stone you may have seen our lovely interpretation boards explaining habitat, environmental features and wildlife around the reserve. However, our work spans a much wider area than a board can provide so we have decided to write t...

A lovely bright day at the feeding area at Binn Green attracted nuthatch, treecreeper, a pair of great spotted woodpecker, brambling, goldfinch, chaffinch, greenfinch, siskin, blackbird, robin, great tit, coal tit, blue tit, dunnock, wood pigeon and jay. Additionally we had a small flock of long tailed tit at Ashway Gap's feeding station.

At this time of year it's possible to see many types of fungi at Dove Stone, such as the colourful (but poisonous!) Fly Agaric and the vibrant Amethyst Deciever.

Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) Image by Ken Gartside

Separate from the animal and plant kingdoms, fungi serve important functions in the ecosystem. They are well known as decomposers (growing on and helping to rot down organic matter) but some species also…

Brambling are back at Binn Green. A solitary visitor was spotted amongst a small flock of chaffinch. Other feeders includes goldfinch, nuthatch, robin, great tit, blue tit and coal tit.

Elsewhere were stonechat, raven and a grey heron.

Every year the RSPB holds a parliamentary reception in Westminster to showcase the organisations work to a number of MPs and peers from around the UK.

This year was no exception, on Wednesday 4th September members of the RSPB Dove Stone team accompanied by representatives from United Utilities, journeyed down to London to showcase the partnership we have at Dove Stone.

With more than 40 MPs and peers in attendance the…

The feeding station at Binn Green is back in business with visitors including a pair of nuthatch, robin, great tit, coal tit, chaffinch, goldfinch and blackbird. Elsewhere on the site were song thrush, dipper, grey wagtail, mallard, black headed gull, house martin, crow, jackdaw and jay.

The highlight though was an appearance of a stoat near Chew Brook.

One of our volunteers, from Greenfield, who has gone above and beyond for wildlife conservation here at Dove Stone, has been honoured with a prestigious volunteering award by the RSPB.

James Minchin is 27 and has volunteered for the us here since 2014. He donates hundreds of hours of his time to nature conservation at Dove Stone and so has been presented with the RSPB's ‘President's Award’ which is given to only six out of…

It's International Bog Day, so we thought it was a great excuse for us to celebrate the wet and wild blanket bog here at Dove Stone. Blanket bog is super important not just here, but across the Peak District National Park and beyond, so grab a cuppa and a biscuit, sit back and discover our Top 10 facts about this weird and wonderful habitat:

Blanket Bog Fact 1: Blanket bog is the main peatland habitat found in wet, upland…

A beautiful day at Dove Stone started for us up at Chew where we saw skylark, meadow pipit, snipe, common sandpiper, golden plover and stonechat.

Down at Ashway Gap were jackdaw, swallow, willow warbler, kestrel, mistle thrush and peregrine. The added bonus was a relatively close view of a hare.

It's the final day of National #VolunteersWeek so we wanted to say a huge thank you to all the wonderful volunteers who support us here at Dove Stone. From tasks in the office and social media, to leading walks and engaging with visitors on site, from early fire warning marshals to helping us carry out the vital conservation monitoring and practical work that takes place here. We have a fantastic bunch of volunteers who…

Today's visitors included pied wagtail, blackbird, great tit, robin, pheasant, mallard, meadow pipit, goldfinch, common sandpiper, chaffinch, grey wagtail, swallow and a flock of 40+ jackdaw.

Additionally good views of a peregrine at Ashway Gap.

A mixed day for weather but still saw wren, blackbird, mallard, canada geese, willow warbler, meadow pipit, goldfinch,blue tit, jackdaw, pied wagtail, great spotted woodpecker and robin.

With the unseasonably scorching weather over Easter weekend, we've sadly once again had some fire issues at Dove Stone.

Arnfield Moor here was affected by quite a large fire Sunday night/Monday when around 30 hectares was burnt, all on the moorland edge habitats and stopped on the edge of the blanket bog (a very degraded area of dry bog that hasn't yet been restored).  The bog edge had an hour of helicopter water…

The good news of the day was a cuckoo calling in the woods near the sailing club. Sadly no sightings of the peregrine today although one was seen at Ashway Gap yesterday.

Other sightings included goldfinch, chaffinch, jay, nuthatch, wren, blackbird, wood pigeon, pheasant, mistle thrush, meadow pipit, pied wagtail, robin, mallard and jackdaw.

A curlew and swallow were seen on the tops.