It was a glorious morning on the reserve yesterday. The lagoon was still with reflections - a huge change from the wind driven waves of the last few weeks. I was just aware of the birdsong and the warmth of the sun as I walked along towards the stone lighthouse. Red Pond was still very flooded, but the birds were flitting about and a thrush was searching for food. There was a bit of activity in the pond and a closer look…

I think that is what we call the sun! And what a difference the sun shinning makes here in Cumbria. It was a lovely day today and the reserve was certainly ringing with the sound of activity. Accompanying the birds singing in the trees was the sound of people walking through the reserve enjoying the good weather. How long will it last? Who knows? 

At the weekend I underwent this years beached bird survey. I was one…

We've had a bit of a battering here at Hodbarrow yesterday and the day before. Although we weren't treated to the full extent of the winds and rains.

We spent the morning bashing some gorse and getting a roaring fire going. After this we went around to the hide to assess the damage.  Having expected our Little Terns islands and fences to be write offs we were pleasantly surprised yesterday when they seemed in…

We try to have a regular volunteer litter pick  with the aim of keeping the environment at Hodbarrow pleasant for walkers and safe for wildlife.

A gentle stroll, a friendly chat with other volunteers and fill a carrier bag or two with the odd crisp packet or plastic bottle.

But a few of us knew there was a job that was out of sight and out of mind. We were putting off but it had reached the point where it simply…

We have survived another high tide and storm this weekend at Hodbarrow and Haverigg. We will be writing a blog about that soon.

On the reserve today the wind was still quite strong and was fairly rattling the doors of the hide. Having a look out from the hide I couldn't find our Slavonian Grebe which was first seen a couple of weeks ago. There were plenty of Goldeneye with Tufted duck, pochard, red-breasted mergansers…

Volunteer Andy Deacon writes about the recent storms and the legacy they have left behind at Hodbarrow.

Last week the strong winds and high tides swept plenty of rubbish up onto on the beach at Hodbarrow Point. Only a very small percentage of the tons of rubbish entering the sea reaches land like this. Mainly consisting of plastic this debris creates an environmental hazard to wildlife on and off the shore in two ways…

Hodbarrow has fared better than most places with the recent high tides. A surge last Friday meant that water levels around the seawall were particularly high. This didn't affect the reserve at all except paths are a bit more muddy than usual. Wellies are recommended! Unfortunately this isn't the case for other places around the estuary. The picture below shows the river lazy at the harbour in Haverigg. Anyone who has…

What a day! Strong winds and heavy rain showers have really made for an interesting count today. The wind direction meant at high tide many wildfowl were choosing to roost in the lagoon - tucking themselves into the edge out of the wind. The sea wall provided excellent cover from them but unfortunately not for me. Two cups of tea later and I'm thawing out (just). Despite the bad weather it was definately worth getting…

The following blog was written by Andy Deacon who talks about a volunteer walk on the reserve on 11 Dec 2013.

Volunteers who have helped at RSPB Hodbarrow during 2013 enjoyed an interesting guided walk on Wednesday lead by Karen Pugh who is the Museum Officer at Millom Discovery Centre (They have a brilliant website http://millomdiscoverycentre.co.uk/) .

Karen leading the walk (Photo:Andy Deacon)

The transformation…

We seem to have not been impacted by the great storm too much at Hodbarrow although surrounding towns and villages have been.Wildfowl seem to be using the sheltered lagoon as a safehaven from the wild waters. The pick of the lagoon today were 4 male Goldeneye and 3 scaup. Other wildfowl included large numbers of coot alongside the usual Red-breasted Mergansers, pochard, tufted duck, teal and gadwall. As the tide rose redshank…

It was such a still day at Hodbarrow today sound was carrying all around the estuary. The teal whistling sounded brilliant and lovely with the sunset. We have been doing a few improvements to the hide here at Hodbarrow so I'm sorry if this has inconvenienced any visits. I put the last coat of varnish onto the shelves today and barring a couple of other things to do we should be finished soon. We also managed to get up…

Hodbarrow is fun for all the family. There is not only great wildlife but lovely walks for everyone to enjoy.

Starting at the carpark have a look at the information board to help you find where to go and some of the sights you might see whilst you're getting there.

Harry and Suzanne spot something near the reserve sign

Use our new rolled stone paths to start your walk alongside the large open water lagoon where…

I quick update from Hodbarrow today. With small window of good weather there is plenty going on.

Having a chat with one of the regulars on the reserve we heard an all might racket going over head and were greeted with a large flock of Whooper swans landing in the lagoon and making themselves know. Altogether there were 70+ of these noisy swans on the lagoon. Other highlights included the usual redshank with snipe and…

Over 2 years ago now Norm wrote a blog about funding we had recieved to create new ponds at Hodbarrow thanks to the Million Ponds project and Biffa (read about it here). The ponds were created in areas where the rare fern Pillwort had been found in the past. Machinery was brought in to create them and a hardy team of volunteers followed  to tame the scrub.

One of the original Scrapes made with machinery two years a…

Down on the reserve today the Slavonian grebes continue to show well. There are two on the reserve at the moment.  Plenty of waders with redshank and turnstone on the island. Also the usual snipe are feeding around there too. Wildfowl numbers continue to rise. Pochard, goldeneye, shoveler, gadwall and teal all starting to show well from the hide. Finally we have had an influx of whooper swans today with reports of 25.

(Photo Derek Dixon)

Water Witch you might ask.....well it's another name for one of the birds we have on the reserve at the moment.....more about that later!

Down on the reserve today the wind was blowing and the clouds were threatening some down pours. Black combe was cloaked in mist but it managed to stay dry as I walked around to the hide to see what the work party had been up to yesterday. I was able to attend…

Here at Hodbarrow we are constantly telling people how peacefull and beautiful the reserve is. It's a great place for taking a stroll or watching wildlife. It's brilliant when people see for themselves. This blog by the website Western Lakes describes Hodbarrow as a landscape gem.  Don't worry Sophie we don't mind you letting the cat out the bag!

http://www.western-lakedistrict.co.uk/blog/2013/09/02…

Last Monday we put up our new mural which has been designed and painted by pupils at Millom School. Very colourful I'm sure you'll agree!! You get extra points if you can name all the birds and animals depicted and the hill in the back ground aswell. Big thank you to Millom School and our brilliant vols who helped prepp and put up the boards.

Mural arrives and the bare wall behind.

Lined up ready to be…

On 28 August a varied group of keen and enthusiastic people armed with cameras ranging from DSLRs to 'point and press' met at the car park for a photography walk. Mhairi led the walk and our first port of call was the duck feeding station where there were plenty of ducks, coots, moorhens and gulls about. They didn't get any food, but plenty of photos were taken.

Aye, Aye, Cap'n.

We headed for the…

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…

A busy week last week. We had a brilliant photography walk last Wednesday which was attended by some really enthusiastic phtographers all eager to learn. It was run by Andy and Chris who helped people to really discover not only their cameras but the reserve and wildlife! It was brilliant. If this is something you would be interested in drop us a line and I'll send you through details if we do another one. Hopefully when…

Below is a different view from somewhere on the reserve at Hodbarrow. Any ideas? John has cleared the vegetation away from the wall here and it provides a very nice place to have a rest. I was surrounded by butterflies and the sun was shining.

 Well I have been a little quiet on the blogging front lately.  However Chris has been writting some really informative pieces which I'm sure you will agreed have made interesting…

.....wild flowers abound!

Walking round the reserve, I set myself a task. I would find a small area and see how many different wild flowers I could find. I chose a small, grassy clearing between gorse bushes and looked around. The beautiful orchids on our reserve are now over, or nearly so, but there is still an abundance of lovely flowers everywhere. Not counting the obvious ones such as bramble, dandelion and white…

Further Delays to Safeguarding Sealife

Guest blogger: Clare Reed, RSPB Marine Conservation Officer (North West)

You may remember at the beginning of this year I asked you to write to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to ask that they designate a network of Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) as soon as possible in order to protect England’s threatened marine wildlife and habitats.…