Last week I was talking about the Common Tern youngsters that have taken over the reserve. This week I have had the pleasure of witnessing something amazing which has made all our good work trying to give terns a better home at Hodbarrow worth while. On Monday this week I was priviledged to be able to share some of the first flights from the last of our juvenile Common Terns. I knew instantly what was happenning as the island went quiet, the calls for food were taken over by silent determination. These sandy coloured youngsters took to the air with parents looking on for safety. They were a little shakey at first and could easily be picked out from the flocks of terns on the islands. Looking a little hap hazard they were off after a couple of tries swooping and dipping into the water and eventually flying over the sea wall out into the estuary presumably for the next lesson in catching fish. I felt really proud of the work the volunteers and ourselveshave done on the reserve. Although our key species was Little Tern it just goes to show that the good work done for one species inevitably benefits a whole host of other ones aswell. As they flew off into the estuary I also wondered what their journey to their wintering areas would be like it reminded me of the blog Clare Reed wrote and here . Hopefully next year they will find our work equally as suitable for them to be able to call Hodbarrow home for the summer.
We were out today working hard removing some of the willows from the ponds (again!) It seems to be a big part of the work we're doing at the moment. Last year they were under several foot of water so it has been essential we work with the weather and get it done while its dry underfoot. Anyway here are a few photos of our team working away. We managed to see instant results from our work as dragonflies moved in whilst we were having our lunch - it doesn't often happen like that so it was great to help show why we were doing the work.
If anyone is reading this and thinking that looks fun....get in touch!