Sunset over Saltholme
Image Credit: Ian Chadwick.
This week, the team at Saltholme have been preparing for the upcoming half-term holidays. With all the gorgeous autumnal sunlight we have had this week, and the array of wildlife that has been spotted on the reserve, we are hoping lots of you will be visiting us next week for Halloween fun and wildlife sightings.
News from the Estate:
On Sunday 18 October, some of our volunteers and members of the estates team took part in the monthly Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS). Since 1947, this vital data collection project has monitored Britain’s populations of non-breeding waterbirds. Therefore, our estates team and volunteers are contributing to a national database that informs current and future conservation initiatives. If you would like more information on the WeBS, please see the ‘References and Additional Reading’ section of this blog.
In addition to scientific data collection, this week has also seen path and vegetation maintenance completed at the Dorman’s Pool hide. Whilst it is important to us that the reserve is tidy and safe for visitors, you’ll notice that we don’t cut back all the vegetation that lines our walking routes; vegetation height and type varies from one part of our reserve to another. This is because creating and maintaining a variety of habitat types is known to boost biodiversity. As a habitat is where certain species live and breed, more habitats mean Saltholme can support a much greater variety of life. This means our visitors will have more to see when they visit us, but it also creates a more stable natural system. Again, there is more information on these concepts in the ‘References and Additional Reading’ section.
What’s on:
With half term just around the corner, we have been busy prepping for the launch of our Halloween trail, the Saltholme Sorcerer’s Spell. You’ll notice that the visitor centre has been decorated with spooky spiders, bat bunting, outlandish owls and loads more. We’ve also made sure we have a good supply of magic wands, spellbooks and potion ingredients to help our young visitors complete the Saltholme Sorcerer’s Spell.
Our visitor centre is decorated in preparation for our upcoming Halloween trail. We’re particularly fond of the bat bunting!
The trail will be available from tomorrow until 31 October. You can find out more at https://events.rspb.org.uk/events/8535
Sightings:
With onset of colder temperatures and shorter days, the winter migrants are starting to arrive at Saltholme in much larger numbers.
For example, several flocks of whooper swan have been seen flying over, and landing at, Dorman’s and Saltholme Pools. Although smaller than the more commonly-seen mute swan, these birds fly south from Iceland to over-winter in the UK.
Image Credit: Ben Andrew, RSPB Images
The UK gets about 11,000 whooper swans visiting every winter. However, fewer than 30 pairs breed here. Most of those few will breed in the north of Scotland.
As you look into the hedgerows lining many of our footpaths, keep an eye out for the redwing that have been seen feasting on the berries. There are around 13 breeding pairs of redwing in the UK, but we get over 8 million visiting redwing every winter!
Despite being the smallest true thrush species in the UK, the redwing packs quite a punch. They migrate from Iceland, the Faroes and Scandinavia every autumn! They were also the first birds that were proven to use ultraviolet vision to detect fruit.
Surprisingly, we still have a couple of common terns flying over the main lake by our visitor centre. Most of our common terns fly south for the winter; the two seen at the reserve this week are thought to be juveniles who haven’t quite caught onto this idea yet.
Image Credit: David Tipling, RSPB Images
The common tern is often confused with the arctic tern. The best way to tell them apart is to look at their bill. Common terns have a black spot at the end of their bill, whereas arctic terns do not.
Well, that's all for now. Keep an eye on our social media pages for sightings, events information, stories from the reserve and much more.
References and Additional Reading
British Trust for Ornithology (2021) Wetland Bird Survey [webpage]. Accessed through https://bto.org/our-science/projects/wetland-bird-survey [last accessed 21/10/2021].
National Geographic (2021). Habitat [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/habitat/ [last accessed 21/10/2021]
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2021). Common Tern [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/common-tern/ [last accessed 21/10/2021]
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2021). Whooper Swan [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/whooper-swan/ [last accessed 21/10/2021]
The Wildlife Trusts (2021). Whooper Swan [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/birds/waterfowl/whooper-swan [last accessed 21/10/2021].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2021). Redwing [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/redwing/ [last accessed 21/10/2021]
The Woodland Trust (2021). Redwing [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/animals/birds/redwing/ [last accessed 21/10/2021]