Hello

Hello, hello, hello. Thought it was about time I said hello to all you blog readers out there. I have been here for three weeks now and am thoroughly enjoying it. What a special place it is, but then you know that already, well those that have been here do and those that haven’t really should come soon. But I get a bit ahead of myself, maybe I should start at the beginning .......

Hi, my name is Richard Humpidge and I am the new Site Manager for the RSPB Grampian Reserves. A few weeks ago I moved up here from the wilds of North Yorkshire where I was working for the National Trust as Countryside Manager right in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales. This was not a part of Scotland that either my wife or I knew before coming here and already we can see that we will be very happy here, all the wildlife, sea, birds, mountains not far away.

Whilst I have just joined the RSPB from outside I have worked for the Society before, doing time on both the Ouse Washes and Ramsey Island reserves 8-14 years ago. I am really pleased to be back with the birds and seabirds have always been special for me. I have been a birder since before I can remember and have worked in many different places for different organisations.

First impressions of Strathbeg ...... WOW !! what a fantastic place. I had my first WeBS count 10 days ago, sitting there watching the sun come up and about 15,000 geese flying off to feed, silhouetted against the moon and the backdrop of a glorious pink, orange and red sky. I knew I should have taken my camera as well. A cold start and an early one for a Sunday morning but well worth getting up for. Long tailed duck in the lagoon that morning was also a lovely surprise, a very long time since I have been so close to one of them. This week we have had regular short-eared owl from the visitor centre as well as otter on the pools in front.

The Koniks are lovely too, but can be a little hard to see for the visitors. They seem to have come through the winter very well, just starting to loose their long shaggy winter coats now, so I hope we don’t get a significant downturn in the weather. We are hoping to get some more before too long, so the team are very busy getting things ready. With a growing herd we need to be sure we can look after them properly so we are building handling facilities and access gates to move them from Mosstown Marsh where they are now onto the Low Ground in a couple of months.

Ok that is more than enough from me at the moment, don’t forget to come and say hello next time you are visiting this wonderful place.