Image Credit: Leslie Cater, RSPB Images
Welcome to the penultimate week of April. There, we’ve said it. It’s also 2023, in case you were wondering. But don’t worry, that means we’ve got a whole week of sightings, conservation work and events to tell you about! So, grab a cup of tea (or coffee, we don’t judge), put your feet up and unearth a week in the life of RSPB Saltholme…
News from the Estate:
Common terns migrate from Africa to spend the summer in the UK. They are very similar to Arctic terns, but have a distinctive black spot on the end of their bills. Image Credit: Chris Gomersall, RSPB Images
We have been ‘tern-ing’ the tables this week. Or at least, preparing tern rafts for the soon to re-tern common terns. That will be a tern up for the books, won’t it? The rafts have been weeded and given a fresh coating of cockle shell. As common terns like to nest on shingle or beaches, the cockle shell mimics their natural nesting environment and so encourages this behaviour.
Why aren’t the rafts out already? The answer is common terns aren’t the only ones who like to nest on these man-made islands. Black-headed gulls come back to our reserve earlier in the year than the terns and also like to nest on cockle shell-covered islands. By waiting until the first terns fly in before putting the rafts out, we ensure there is some nesting space left for them!
And the work didn’t stop there. The work party have also been busy planting up the beds by our Waterworks (in the Discovery Zone). By using a variety of meadow plants, we not only treat visitors to a fantastic floral display later in the summer but also give pollinating insects a good meal. It’s a win-win situation!
The first broods of the year started to hatch last week. It’s an exciting time at Saltholme! Image Credit: Adam Jones.
Whilst all this is going on, our Estates team are also busy monitoring the nests, eggs and chicks that are springing up left, right and centre. It’s an understatement to say this is a busy time of year for our wardens but their hard work means we have a record of population sizes for a huge number of species. This means we can track population trends, review reserve management techniques and celebrate conservation success stories. So, the early mornings and late finishes are worth it (especially in hindsight).
What’s On:
Some bat species eat up to 3000 insects in one night’s hunting! Image Credit: Tom Marshall, The Wildlife Trusts.
Whilst the Estates team’s workload is ramping up, the Visitor Experience team are having a bit of a breather after a VERY busy Easter holidays. But that doesn’t mean the fun has stopped! Here’s what has happened recently, with some future events thrown in for good measure…
On 15 April at 7:30pm, a group of 22 people set out on a guided walk of Saltholme. Accompanied by Cleveland Bat Group, we set off armed with bat detectors, multiple layers of clothing and a can-do attitude to find as many bats as possible. As the sun set, we watched barn owls hunting in the last of the evening light and saw marsh harriers skimming over the reedbeds. But it wasn’t until the last rays disappeared over the horizon that the bat detectors started picking up the tell-tale clicks and whirrs of flying mammals…
By the time we got back to the visitor centre, we’d seen (and heard) common pipistrelle, soprano pipistrelle and noctule, meaning we had seen both our smallest and largest UK bat species. Not bad going! We will be running more of these events in the future, so keep an eye on our website and social media pages.
A grand total of 261 children took part in our pond dipping and Brilliant Birds sessions over the Easter holidays. That’s 261 children who learned about their local wildlife; 261 children who had a great time and want to come back to learn more; 261 children who may well be the conservationists of tomorrow. Not bad going! We will be running these and other sessions on bank holiday weekends and during upcoming school holidays, so once again keep an eye on our website and social media pages for more information.
We don’t rest on our laurels here. In fact, something new is coming to Saltholme. On 15 May, there will be a pilot session for Nature Tots. Aimed at pre-school children and their accompanying adults, this morning session will give young explorers the opportunity to discover what lies beneath the surface of our ponds and how tadpoles grow into frogs. Sounds interesting? We think so too! Book tickets by clicking on the link above.
Did you know that Saltholme ran sessions for over 2500 schoolchildren last financial year?
Our Learning Team has hit the ground running after the school holidays, with not one, not two, not even three but FOUR school trips this week. In fact, this equates to a grand total of 195 children that have pond dipped, hunted for minibeasts, learned about our meadow plants and much more. Once again, encouraging these children to explore their surroundings and develop and appreciation for the natural world is a crucial step in ensuring the continued protection of nature in future generations. So next time you see a member of our Learning Team with a crazed look in their eye and several cups of caffeine in-hand, tell them they’re doing a great job.
Recent Sightings:
The wheatear is another bird that spends the winter in central Africa. Image Credit: Adam Jones.
Let’s kick the sightings off with some DRAMA. Our wardens were admiring the beautiful wheatear that is pictured above that had just touched down for a well-earned rest after migrating from Africa. Not long after the picture was taken, a sparrowhawk saw an opportunity and, quite literally, seized it. It resulted in the wheatear pinned to the ground with a very large and very hungry bird of prey on top of it. But don’t worry, the story is not over yet! It’s very hard to keep your talons on something that is flapping around and attempting to wriggle out of your grip. In fact, this was a task that proved too difficult for the sparrowhawk. The wheatear launched its way to freedom and- to the best of our knowledge- lives to see another day. We now also have a faintly sulky sparrowhawk lurking at a different corner of the reserve. Don’t feel too bad for the sparrowhawk though- there are plenty of other meals available for it.
The call of the grasshopper warbler is what gives this bird its name. Image Credit: Ben Andrew, RSPB Images
Moving onto some less adrenaline-fuelled sightings, we now have grasshopper warblers on site! Another species that travels from Africa to breed in UK reedbeds, this bird can be hard to pinpoint despite its loud song. This is because the bird moves its head whilst calling, effectively ‘throwing’ its voice like a ventriloquist!
The lapwing is often known as a ‘peewit’ due to its call. Its official name derives from its wavering flight. Image Credit: Amy Millard, RSPB Images
We couldn’t ignore the fact that the first lapwing chicks of 2023 have hatched! Not only is this a brilliant sign of spring, but lots of healthy chicks are a good sign of this red list species (being on the red list means having the highest level of conservation concern in the UK. For the lapwing, this is due to rapid and severe population declines). So, next time you visit is, scour the wet grassland and scrapes for these tiny grey chicks!
The little gull can be distinguished from the black-headed gull by its dark grey underwing. Image Credit: BirdGuides
As well as the black-headed and Mediterranean gulls currently on our Main Lake, we have also had a little gull visiting Saltholme this week. It didn’t hang around for long, but caused a stir while it was here. The little gull was very rare in the UK up until the 1950s, but is becoming much more common and breeding much more regularly in this country. So, watch this space!
Well, that’s all we’ve got time for this week. As you can see, even outside of school holidays Saltholme is full of busy. There are always species to spot, events to attend and conservation work to admire. You can also help fund conservation by eating our scones, buying from our shop and admiring/buying our pin badges. So why not come along and give us a visit?
References and Additional Reading
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2023). Barn Owl [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/barn-owl/ [last accessed 20/04/2023].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2023). Black-headed Gull [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/black-headed-gull/ [last accessed 20/04/2023].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2023). Common Tern [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/common-tern/ [last accessed 20/04/2023].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2023). Grasshopper Warbler [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/grasshopper-warbler/ [last accessed 20/04/2023].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2023). Lapwing [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/lapwing/ [last accessed 20/04/2023].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2023). Little Gull [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/little-gull/ [last accessed 20/04/2023].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2023). Marsh Harrier [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/marsh-harrier/ [last accessed 20/04/2023].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2023). Mediterranean Gull [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/mediterranean-gull/ [last accessed
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2023). Sparrowhawk [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/sparrowhawk/ [last accessed 20/04/2023].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2023). Wheatear [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/wheatear/ [last accessed 20/04/2023].
The Wildlife Trusts (2023). Common Pipistrelle [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/mammals/common-pipistrelle [last accessed 20/04/2023].
The Wildlife Trusts (2023). Grasshopper Warbler [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/birds/tits-crests-and-warblers/grasshopper-warbler [last accessed 20/04/2023].
The Wildlife Trusts (2023). Noctule [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/mammals/noctule [last accessed 20/04/2023].
The Woodland Trust (2023). Soprano Pipistrelle [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/animals/mammals/soprano-pipistrelle-bat/ [last accessed 20/04/2023].