Image Credit: Markus Craig, All About Birds.
June has brought many things to Saltholme- mainly sunshine, rare birds, bees and existential crises about the passing of time. But we’ll only talk about the first three in this blog. Read on for more!
News from the Estate:
Image Credit: Ben Hall, RSPB Images
This week, the Estates Team have been bracken bashing, reed raking and bramble breaking. We’ll tell you a bit more about why they have been doing this…
Bracken Bashing
This took place in the Haverton Scrub at the back of our reserve. Bracken bashing- yes, that is the technical tern…really, it is- is about more than just releasing pent-up emotions; the process of bracken bashing has huge benefits for Saltholme’s biodiversity. Bruising the stem of the bracken weakens the plant, leading to a future reduction in bracken cover. As few plants can grow in the dense shade cast by the bracken fronds, reducing the amount of bracken should lead to a greater diversity of plant species on our site. As mentioned previously, more plants mean more insects, therefore more biodiversity in general!
Reed Raking
Ok, it may have been a whole range of vegetation that the Estates Team were raking. But the alliteration of ‘reeds’ just sounded so nice. Anyway, the raking of reeds and everything else took place in front of the Sand Martin nesting bank (incidentally, the first Sand Martin chicks have been spotted poking their heads out the end of the burrows!).
Sand Martins come to Saltholme every spring to breed. It is quite the spectacle to watch them digging their nesting burrows- which can be 1 metre long- and wheeling through the air catching insects. It’s even more of a spectacle when you don’t need to peer through vegetation to see the birds. Thanks to the wonderful estates team cutting the vegetation in front of the artificial nesting bank, you can now enjoy these spectacles all the more!
Bramble Breaking
Brambles are tough. They can grow in nutrient-poor environments and as such are a familiar sight on disturbed ground (want to learn more about Ecological Succession? Follow the link!). They have an important role to play in providing a home and food source for a variety of wildlife. However, we are removing brambles from recently-strimmed areas by the Dorman’s Pool hide. This is because these patches have been strimmed to create patches of bare ground for basking butterflies and other pollinators. By removing the brambles, we ensure these beautiful insects have suitable places to warm up, giving them plenty of energy to go out and perform their important pollinating work.
What’s On:
Join in with our Mindfulness Art Session next week!
Aside from all the incredible wildlife sightings and important conservation work, there are always a wide range of eventful events (see what we did there?) with which to get involved at Saltholme. It doesn’t matter what age you are, what interests you have or what your favourite birdwatching place is (although we know it’s Saltholme), there is an event for everyone! Here’s what’s coming up soon:
Life can be…somewhat manic at times. That’s not always a bad thing, but it is important to slow down and take time for yourself. People use this time in different ways- some take a relaxing walk through nature; some escape reality through drawing or reading. We’re giving you the opportunity to combine the two in our Mindfulness Art Sessions! On 12 June and/or 17 July, join us for a relaxing afternoon of creativity, finding inspiration from around the reserve to make your own mindfulness art creations. Focusing on slow drawing and collage, we'll use patterns in nature to spark our creativity to make a piece of art to keep. Sounds good? Book tickets using the link above!
If you’re looking for calm and mindful reflection, maybe go for the art sessions rather than the Big Wild Sleepout. If you’re looking for adventure, voyages of discovery and the opportunity to throw yourself into a huge range of activities, this is the event for you!
A ticket to this event gives you 48-hour access to Saltholme, the chance to camp on our amazing reserve, and the opportunity to take part in a wide range of activities! These activities include pond dipping, meadow sweeping, deadwood hunting, a twilight walk, campfire quizzes and moth trapping. We even give you dinner and breakfast! This is an event you will never forget, so book tickets using the link above!
This event is probably halfway between the previous two in terms of levels of frenetic activity- you can still enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the reserve, whilst unearthing a huge array of interesting facts about nature’s most successful hunters! By booking tickets to this event- the first is on 5 July- you can uncover the incredible world of dragonflies. We hope to see you there!
In terms of other 'eventful events' we just have to mention the swarm of bees that moved through the reserve on Thursday. It was incredible to hear them all humming through the treetops!
Recent Sightings:
It has been a week for the rare and wonderful at Saltholme. Of course, the common birds are also wonderful and often get overlooked in this blog so, even if there weren’t any rarities we are still worth a visit. However, given the limited space, time and attention span of this blog we will focus on four particular sightings from the week…
Black-crowned Night Herons are, as the name suggests, nocturnal. They feed on fish and frogs. Image Credit: Ian Davies, All About Birds.
Ok, we’re sulking slightly about this first sighting. A Black-crowned Night Heron was seen at the Haverton Viewpoint. But because it’s a Night Heron it was seen…at night. When all the staff and volunteers had gone home. Fortunately, the wonders of social media meant we could at least see some photographic evidence of its existence (the Haverton Loop is accessible via a public footpath, outside our opening hours). Here’s hoping it visits again soon…maybe during our opening hours next time!
In some Buddhist countries, the Ruddy Shelduck is protected as its colour resembles that of a monk’s robes. Image Credit: Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust
Another first for Saltholme’s year list is the Ruddy Shelduck. This Shelduck is a migratory species, but many individuals in the UK are escapees. Either way, it’s a beautiful bird and we were very lucky to have it on-site. Here’s hoping it visits again soon!
The Marsh Warbler could easily be mistaken for the Reed Warbler, but has a paler underside and paler legs. It is also more of an olive colour, whereas the Reed Warbler is browner. Image Credit: Samantha Richardson.
One of the stars of this week was undoubtedly been the Marsh Warbler. It has been singing its heart out and posing majestically for photos from the Haverton Gate. In fact, the picture above is of the bird itself! This individual was probably making the most of the healthy insect population and dense vegetation of Haverton. Here’s hoping it hangs around here a bit longer!
The Savi’s Warbler has been more heard than seen at Saltholme. It sounds quite like a Grasshopper Warbler, but calls for shorter periods than this species. Image Credit: RSPB
Last but certainly not least is the Savi’s Warbler that was heard- also at Haverton- on Thursday morning. The Savi’s Warbler is more often seen in Europe, with the UK being the very edge of its range. Who knows how this range will change in the future. Only time will tell!
Well folks that, as they say, is it. ‘It’ in terms of that’s all we have time for today. Of course, as usual we have run out of time before we have run out of species and cool things to talk about. We hope we’ve had enough time to persuade you that Saltholme is the perfect place to visit and, because we are very optimistic, we will therefore simply say ‘see you soon’!
References and Additional Reading
British Trust for Ornithology (2024). Ruddy Shelduck [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.bto.org/understanding-birds/birdfacts/ruddy-shelduck [last accessed 06/06/2024].
eBird (2024). Black-crowned Night Heron [webpage]. Accessed through https://ebird.org/species/bcnher?siteLanguage=en_GB [last accessed 06/06/2024].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2024). Marsh Warbler [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/marsh-warbler [last accessed 06/06/2024].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2024). Sand Martin [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/sand-martin [last accessed 06/06/2024].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2024). Savi’s Warbler [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/savis-warbler [last accessed 06/06/2024].