Marching Forward

Image Credit: Owen Lyons.

If you, like us, are slightly terrified with how quickly the year is going…congratulations, it’s now March. MARCH. 2024. Last time we looked it was 2019 and nobody had even heard of coronavirus!

Existential crises notwithstanding, it has been a fantastic week at Saltholme. The first signs of Spring are beginning to appear and the wildlife is noticing this too. As well as lots of recent sightings to tell you about, we also have conservation tasks to discuss and some heartwarming stories from the Visitor Experience Team. Read on for more!

News from the Estate:

Sea Buckthorn is most easily spotted in the autumn due to the presence of its bright orange berries. Image Credit: Sue Kennedy, RSPB Images. 

With it being a leap year, the Estates Team had a whole extra day in February that they put to good use; Buddleia and Sea Buckthorn cuttings were removed from the scrubland at Haverton on the 29^th of February. Why are we removing plants and cut material, particularly Buddleia which attracts butterflies and bees? Well, here’s why:

• Buddleia is a great food source for butterflies and bees. But, did you know that it isn’t native to the UK? It also grows in dense thickets and so can shade out smaller UK wildflowers. Therefore, the Buddleia at Haverton was simply in the wrong place; we remove it from here to give the rarer wildflowers more room to grow, but welcome the Buddleia as a food source for pollinators in other areas of our reserve. In the spring and summer, make sure to look at what butterflies are on the Buddleia by our main entrance!
• Sea Buckthorn is found on sand dunes, where it is important for stabilising the ground and therefore creating a habitat in which other plants can grow. However, Sea Buckthorn has spread inland and, as inland isn’t as harsh an environment as sand dunes, spread incredibly quickly. In fact, it’s spread so quickly that it is now considered an invasive species in some areas of the UK. So, once again, the Sea Buckthorn is a case of good plant, wrong location.

As you can see, conservation is anything but straightforward! Our knowledge of the environment and how ecosystems operate is improving and changing all the time. Alongside this, the environment and ecosystems are constantly facing new threats and pressures. This makes looking after these places a challenging but crucial task…one that our Estates Team is well-prepared for!

What’s On:

As February half-term becomes a distant memory (yes we know it was only last week, but let us be over-dramatic for literary effect), the Visitor Experience Team is gearing up for the rapidly approaching Easter Holidays. But before we tell you about all the amazing events coming your way, we wanted to share a story that summarises beautifully what working on a nature reserve can be like…

This picture was taken in our Saltholme Pools hide. The full story is below! Image Credit: Owen Lyons.

This blog doesn’t often mention our Hide Guides, but they are the amazing volunteers that travel around our bird hides and help visitors identify all the amazing wildlife they have seen. Sometimes, the wildlife is even in the hides with the Hide Guides and visitors.

It was one of our Hide Guides- Owen Lyons- that discovered the mouse who had made a very cosy little home in one of the chairs in the Saltholme Pools hide. What a tail (geddit?!) to tell! What’s even better is the mouse did not seem to be at all phased by his presence and posed for some absolutely gorgeous photos that we can now share with you!

Needless to say we are also ordering some new chairs…

Say cheese! Image Credit: Owen Lyons.

 Right, now onto upcoming events. Our Easter holiday activities will start on 23 March and run until 14 April. So come along for:

• The return of POND DIPPING on selected weekdays and weekends throughout the school holidays.
• EASTER EGG HUNTS on 29-31 March (book tickets here)
• Our BIRTHDAY PARTY TRAIL
• And last but certainly not least, our BIG BIRTHDAY PARTY on 6 April.

Saltholme turns 15 this year! To celebrate, we're hosting a birthday party on 6 April. So bring along a picnic (or buy one from our cafe) and your fanciest party hats because we'd love you to join us! Get ready for a full day of fun, with something for everyone! We will be hosting a variety of guided walks, presentations, pond dipping, deadwood hunting, garden games, crafts and much more. What's even better is, for this day only, these activities will be offered at a vastly reduced price. The picnic will run between 12 noon and 1:30pm, and will feature cake cutting to mark 15 years since RSPB Saltholme opened. There will be a science show to keep people of all ages entertained as you munch on your sandwiches and get involved with the garden games available.

Keep an eye on our website and social media pages for more information. Pass the word on, because we'd love as many people here as possible!

Recent Sightings:

As well as a very cosy mouse, we have had lots of wildlife sightings at Saltholme this week…

We have had an ‘irruption’ winter for Waxwings, meaning conditions on their migration route has led to more individuals making the journey to the UK. Image Credit: Ben Andrew, RSPB Images. 

It’s been a ‘Waxwing’ sort of week at Saltholme, so let us wax(wing) lyrical about it for a bit. There has been one individual that has taken a fancy to the trees in our car park, posing beautifully for visitors throughout the week. It’s lovely when visitors walk up the path to our Visitor Centre, already grinning broadly because they’ve been introduced to our wildlife before they’ve even entered the reserve. So here’s hoping the Waxwing sticks around for a bit longer!

The Black-headed Gull only gets its eponymous black head when they are ready to breed. Image Credit: Tim Hughes, RSPB Images. 

If the Waxwings are a sign of beautiful crisp winter mornings, Black-headed Gulls are a sign of approaching spring. And Spring must be approaching! The Black-headed Gulls are back on-site and checking out potential nesting spots on the Main Lake islands! So watch this space…

Image Credit: Ben Andrew, RSPB Images. 

Speaking of Spring, we now have over 30 Avocets at Saltholme Pools! Avocets breed at Saltholme so it’s fantastic to see so many at this stage in the season.

Whitethroats are another migratory species, spending the winter on the continent of Africa. Image Credit: Richard Carlyon, RSPB Images. 

At last but certainly not least, a Whitethroat was spotted at Haverton just before this blog was due to be published. It may not be the first of this species to be seen this year, but it’s still a real encouragement that the warmer weather is on its way.

Well, that’s all we have time for today. As usual, we definitely have not had enough time to do Saltholme justice. The only way to really get to know what Saltholme is like is to visit us! So we hope to see you soon!

References and Additional Reading

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2024). Avocet [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/avocet [last accessed 01/03/2024].

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2024). Black-headed Gull [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/black-headed-gull [last accessed 01/03/2024].

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2024). Waxwing [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/waxwing [last accessed 01/03/2024].

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2024). Whitethroat [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/whitethroat [last accessed 01/03/2024].

The Wildlife Trusts (2024). Buddleia [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/trees-and-shrubs/buddleia [last accessed 01/03/2024].

The Wildlife Trusts (2024). Sea Buckthorn [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/trees-and-shrubs/sea-buckthorn [last accessed 01/03/2024].