Image Credit: John Bridges, RSPB Images
Just to keep you on your toes, we are officially halfway through September. Whist the sun is still shining beautifully, there is an unmistakeable autumnal feeling in the air. And with the changing daylight and fading leaves comes a new wave of species to Saltholme. Read on for what has been happening on the reserve this week!
News from the Estate:
All parts of a nature reserve are important habitats for wildlife. Even our car park! As well as solar panels and spaces to leave your vehicle, our car park is bordered by bunds- mounds covered in grass and wildflowers to provide a critical food source for pollinators. In effect we are managing the bunds as miniature meadows- removing this year’s vegetation growth reduces the amount of nutrients going back into the soil. Low nutrient conditions mean that dominant species, which thrive when there is plenty of food, won’t grow so profusely providing space for more delicate wildflowers to take hold. Now if you add Yellow Rattle you will weaken grasses even further, again providing breathing room for wildflowers to establish.
Sounds like hard work? The team didn’t stop there! On Thursday, the work party cut and cleared vegetation from the Discovery Zone ponds. This will benefit the reserve in multiple ways. Firstly, visiting school groups will be able to see where the boardwalk ends and the pond begins, meaning they can pond dip much more safely and effectively. Secondly, varying the height of pond vegetation encourages a greater range of species to use those areas. Thirdly, opening up channels through the vegetation will assist water flow through the Discovery Zone, reducing build-up of algal blooms (click on the link to read more about what algal blooms are, why they can be important and why they need to be managed).
What’s On:
Seen as the schools are now back in session, the first school trips of the academic year have arrived! We welcomed 90 children to Saltholme this week, introducing them to pond dipping, minibeast hunting, tree shaking and much more. Through these activities, the children learned about how living things behave in their habitat and why they are so important. It’s always so rewarding to see children gaining an understanding of, and enthusiasm for, nature- who knows, there may be some future David Attenboroughs amongst the children who visited our reserve this week!
Recent Sightings:
As you may have guessed from the title of this blog, wading birds have been top of the sightings list over the last few days. Whilst we don’t have time to mention them all here, we will give you a brief summary:
The Buff-breasted Sandpiper has a lek mating system- the only North American shorebird to do so. In a lek, males gather together to display. Females then choose a male from the lek. Image Credit: American Bird Conservancy
The Buff-breasted Sandpiper decided- very kindly- to stay around a little longer and entertain visitors until Wednesday afternoon. This is an unusual bird to see at Saltholme, being a North American bird that breeds in the high Arctic. But it has certainly caused a stir while it has been here!
About 100 Temmink’s Stints visit the UK each year. Image Credit: Wikipedia.
We have also had stints doing a stint (see what we did there?) at our Saltholme Pools hide, with both a Temminck’s Stint and Little Stint showing well all week. The Little Stint is also using us as a refuelling point- this little bird usually spends the winter in Africa, having left its breeding grounds in Scandinavia and Russia.
The Curlew Sandpiper breeds in northern Siberia. Image Credit: iNaturalist
Another star performer at Saltholme Pools was the Curlew Sandpiper. This wader is often confused with the Dunlin but can be distinguished by its downcurved bill and by the fact it feeds in slightly deeper water.
The Golden Plover stands more upright than other plovers, which helps with identification. Image Credit: Paul Turner, RSPB Images.
Last to mention from the Saltholme Pools hide is the Golden Plover. Several of these beautiful birds have been seen over the course of the week- a sure sign of approaching autumn.
Water Rails are often heard before they are seen- if it sounds like there is a squealing pig in a reedbed, chances are it’s a Water Rail! Image Credit: Ben Andrew, RSPB Images.
Saltholme Pools can’t have all the fun- our Wildlife Watchpoint hide also turned up trumps with sightings of Water Rail and Barn Owls. The Water Rail will have been making the most of the extensive reedbeds in this area, whereas the Barn Owl will have been on the lookout for tasty voles.
Well, that’s all we have time for today. As usual, we have only mentioned a tiny proportion of the incredible wildlife on our reserve. For a more complete picture, watch this video (filmed by Ian Robinson) or, even better, give us a visit!
We hope to see you soon!
References and Additional Reading
British Trust for Ornithology (2023). Buff-breasted Sandpiper [webpage], Accessed through https://www.bto.org/understanding-birds/birdfacts/buff-breasted-sandpiper [last accessed 14/09/2023].
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 15/09/2023].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2023). Curlew Sandpiper [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/curlew-sandpiper/ [last accessed 14/09/2023].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2023). Dunlin [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/dunlin/ [last accessed 15/09/2023].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2023). Golden Plover [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/golden-plover/ [last accessed 15/09/2023].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2023). Little Stint [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/little-stint/ [last accessed 14/09/2023].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2023). Temminck’s Stint [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/temmincks-stint/ [last accessed 14/09/2023].
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (2023). Water Rail [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/water-rail/ [last accessed 14/09/2023].
Suffolk Wildlife Trust (2023). Coping with algae in ponds [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org/coping-algae-ponds [last accessed 14/09/2023].
The Wildlife Trusts (2023). Yellow Rattle [webpage]. Accessed through https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/wildflowers/yellow-rattle [last accessed 15/09/2023].