Image Credit: Ben Hall, RSPB Images
We are now two thirds of the way through the summer holidays, more than halfway through August, and it is now significantly closer to Christmas 2022 than it is to Christmas 2021. But save the existential crisis for another day because you have a blog to read! We’ve had another busy week at Saltholme, so read on to find out more.
News from the Estate:
Every week is a busy week for our estates team, but this one has been particularly so. Here’s why:
We are creating a new wetland area at Cowpen Marsh. Works should last for around six weeks, and should provide much-needed wetland habitats for a huge variety of wildlife. Image Credit: Chris Francis
Saltholme is situated on land that used to be surrounded by intertidal habitats (see our history of Saltholme blog for more detail). These intertidal areas were covered in water at high tide, but water levels dropped regularly and predictably to reveal a series of pools and mudflats. Most of this habitat has now been lost due to changes on the Tees estuary. One of these areas is Cowpen Marsh. The marsh is now managed by the team at RSPB Saltholme, and already provides a feeding area for a variety of species. However, we want to provide a habitat for an even more diverse array of wildlife. By connecting existing drainage ditches to newly-dug channels (hence the large diggers you may have seen this week), we will allow water to once again flow through these fields. This will reopen the old intertidal pools and networks, providing a haven for waders, dragonflies and much more. There are also benefits for locals (besides the opportunity to see more birds); creating an ‘overflow’ area will reduce the risk of flooding, and this new Cowpen Marsh wetland will also sequester carbon (see our blog on why wetlands are so important for more details) and thus contribute to the fight against climate change.
We will be keeping you up-to-date with this and other projects over the coming months. Keep an eye on our website, social media pages and this blog for more details!
Image Credit: Sarah Porter, RSPB Images
On top of this exciting new project, the team have also been ensuring existing projects are kept going. For example, in a previous blog we mentioned that the work party were trialling different methods of bracken management. They continued these trials this week.
Image Credit:
Another project that is ongoing is the creation of a hedgerow along the Kestrel Trail. The team have been weeding around the hedgerow saplings, giving them the best chance of growth over the coming months.
What’s On:
The weather has been slightly cooler this week, meaning the minibeasts living in our ponds have come out of hiding in shady patches. This is very good timing, as we have been running pond dipping this week. We have caught fish, caddis fly larvae, water lice, water mites and much much more! Harry Otter joined in (he’s an otter, so anything involving water is a winner), after promising he wouldn’t eat any of the fish we caught.
Recent Sightings:
This week, it’s been our main lake where the species have been congregating…
Female sparrowhawks can be up to 25% larger than the males. This is the largest size difference in any bird species! Image Credit: Ben Hall, RSPB Images
A male sparrowhawk was looking for breakfast on our main lake on Wednesday. How did we know it was male? Well, male sparrowhawks are much smaller than the females, with darker feathers on their back and orange-brown stripes across the chest (rather than pale stripes).
Image Credit: Mike Langman, RSPB Images
Hiding amongst the common terns was a black tern in the early part of this week. It spent Tuesday amusing itself by staying very still until all the telescopes and cameras were just about focused on it, before going camera-shy and flying off.
Kingfishers wait on reeds and overhanging branches, before diving into the water to catch fish. Image Credit: Ben Andrew, RSPB Images
And, skulking around the edges of the main lake, a kingfisher was seen (briefly) in the early stages of this week. We know we have a good stock of fish in our main lake (hence our well-fed tern colony) which would explain the presence of this beautiful- but elusive- bird.
Image Credit: Mark Stokeld
But the big buzz this week was caused by something not with two wings, but with four. A pair of southern migrant hawkers graced the dragonfly pools with their presence this week. These dragonflies are a beautiful bright blue, with eyes of the same colour. As well as this striking appearance, we were very pleased to welcome this species to the reserve as we believe it is the first sighting of this species in the north east region!
Not satisfied with our species round-up? Neither are we to be honest; in our humble opinion, our reserve is simply too good and has too much amazing wildlife for us to adequately outline it all here. That is why it is also our humble opinion that you should come and visit us, to see these special Saltholme species for yourself. In the meantime, we will finish with a link to this video, filmed by Ian Robinson, that will whet your appetite for your next visit!
References and Additional Reading
British Dragonfly Society (2022). Southern Migrant Hawker [webpage]. Accessed through https://british-dragonflies.org.uk/species/southern-migrant-hawker/ [last accessed 19/08/2022].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2022). Black Tern [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/black-tern/ [last accessed 18/08/2022].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2022). Common Tern [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/common-tern/ [last accessed 19/08/2022].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2022). Kingfisher [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/kingfisher/ [last accessed 18/08/2022].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2022). Sparrowhawk [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/sparrowhawk/ [last accessed 18/08/2022].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2022). Tree Sparrow [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/tree-sparrow/ [last accessed 19/08/2022].
The Wildlife Trusts (2022). Kingfisher [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/birds/woodpeckers-cuckoo-kingfisher-and-waxwing/kingfisher [last accessed 18/08/2022].
The Wildlife Trusts (2022). Sparrowhawk [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/birds/birds-prey/sparrowhawk [last accessed 18/08/2022].