Hello

Another cold week here at Saltholme, you definitely need your hat and gloves in this weather! Despite the weather there has been some interesting sightings this week. The cold snap has seen thrushes passing through the reserve including, mistle thrush, redwing, blackbird, song thrush and fieldfare. These birds are on the move to find suitable habitat with plentiful berries. With the cold weather set to stay a while longer you may get an opportunity to see these birds yourself.

Fieldfare by Peter Garbutt 

A chiffchaff which is normally a rare sight during the winter months was spotted near the Phil Stead Hide (7th December). Sightings of chiffchaff are generally associated with singing birds in the spring but with the trend of milder winters some individuals choose to remain in the UK. Sparrowhawks have also been spotted regularly from the Watchpoint hide, there has also been one trying to take teal at Dormans Hide. The last interesting report this week is of a short eared owl spotted yesterday (7th December) on the Wildflower Walk.

There are still plenty of other birds around the site and until next week keep wildlife watching!

Tom :)