As yesterday was 17th March it was fitting that we were working on Paddy's Pool island preparing for the return of the Common Terns.

The island is covered with a landscape fabric, then gravel topped with cockle shell. In the winter the geese make quiet a mess and the effect is to fertilise the island and let lots of weeds grow - but the terns like a bare area for nesting.

Out with the boat, on with the pump and…

Several wild geese come to Saltholme during the winter - and so do a few feral, white geese. But his last few days we have had a visit from a Snow Goose. This white goose has black tips to the wings and these can clearly be seen on this bird. I have not yet been able to get a photo.

Over the last few years the Barnacle Geese visiting us have increased and Lockhart did get a good view yesterday.

As they move to their…

The weekend was windy so not good for photography but Lockhart did get two good shots - thanks for sending them to me.

A Redshank showing the legs and feet

and a Little Egret with the classic yellow feet.

Both common at Saltholme but always good to see them in their true colours

For most of the wildlife searching for food is a never ending task and providing feeding stations does help us to see many birds easily, but some animals need to find their own food including Limpy, our vixen.

First she listens

Then she stalks

And at last a meal

A vole.

Meanwhile a Little Egret stalks in the shallow water

And is rewarded with a stickleback.

Thanks to Lockhart who took the photos on satur…

It certainly felt as if spring was coming on Saturday - then back to winter.

On the reserve there are signs of spring with the Skylarks singing on warm days, Reed Buntings looking smart in their best plumage and courtship behaviour being seen everywhere.

In the Wildlife Garden the bulbs are flowering and these are a good source of nectar and pollen for the early flying bumble bees. We did lose a lot of crocuses to the…

Today a group of staff from the Lodge, the RSPB's Bedfordshire HQ, were on the reserve. In the Northeast on business they came to lend a hand with cutting back the Willow Maze.

In addition some of the willow that has been cut was used to rebuild a fence on the car park.

Thanks for the enthusiastic help.

The Sand Martin Bank is one of the best features of Saltholme in the early summer. Right outside the visitor centre, and in full view of the cafe, everyone can watch the wonderful display. In addition the Kingfisher is currently using it to watch for fish. However, an artificial bank like ours needs to be maintained and now is the perfect time. Behind the concrete wall there are several tonnes of sand in which the birds…

Saltholme has had a Willow Maze for the last couple of years and now, in February, is the best time to maintain it. We have to close it in winter as it would get too muddy and this gives us the chance to do the work of trimming off last year's growth - which can be three metres!

Today our Phoenix Group - the active teenage members - came to help. Weaving in where there were bare patches and cutting off the long growths…

A lot of work is needed to keep the reserve in top form. Much of Saltholme is wet grassland and the water levels are critical. Water is held back at certain times of the year to give the right conditions for birds to feed and breed. Over the last few weeks (a winter job when birds are not breeding) we have been checking, and repairing, our sluices which are part of a complex system.

Today volunteers Gwen, Brian and Ian…

Did you see Saltholme on Look North tonight? A volunteer, new to the reserve, was interviewed as he cleared out a drianage ditch and he said how wonderful it was to have seen a Kingfisher. I guess that he had been looking out of the Visitor Centre and saw it on the Sand Martin bank. I saw it there on Saturday and Sunday as did many visitors - some while having a bite to eat in the cafe. Having worked by the Sand Martin…

Last autumn I dug a moat around the Water Vole feeding table to prevent access to it by predatory mammals such as Weasel, even in dry spells. This was in response to the Voles disappearing after a Weasel was seen in the cage. At the time, I was very much aware that when the water came back, which it has, and Water Voles returned, which they have, I was going to have a bit of a job getting food onto the table. Waders…

Last year Dean, assistant warden, installed a feeding station for Water Voles which was initially successful but as the water level at the Wildlife Watchpoint hide dropped in the dry summer they stopped coming.

Today, at the end of a busy day clearing troublesome vegetation, as we - estate team staff and volunteers - were putting the tools away Dean was locking the hides. Unusually he called us to the Wildlife Watchpoint…

Strong winds have been the feature of the last few days with snow now possible, but our volunteer guides have still been out and able to show visitors the Long-eared Owl  roosting in the tree at the Clarences scrub. We have been able to get the maximum number of people to see the owl with minimum disturbance.

The wind has not made everything easy - as Lockhart, one of our guides - said to me, even the Moorhens are flying…

Winter is a time for maintenance and tidying up so the estate team volunteers have been working hard clearing unwanted vegetation and pruning thorn trees.  In the past, before we started managing Saltholme, many small Hawthorn trees were planted - not always in good places - and these have grown. Many in the Clay Field have been cut down and now the short grass grazed by the Belted Galloway cattle is also being grazed…

Happy new year. The Long-eared Owl is still on show at the Clarences scrub, and we have Saltholme Guides there daily to show it to visitors. There is also a Green-winged Teal on Saltholme West. It is best seen from Saltholme Hide, looking down the south side of the water body, or in the ditch between the two pools. The 200+ Fieldfares are still here with a few Redwings among them. The hedgerow by the Watchpoint…

The Long-eared Owls roosting in the scrub at Haverton are proving to be a draw for visitors. However, those visitors who go crashing through the scrub to find them are less than welcome, as it only results in the birds being scared away, as happened earlier in the autumn. Unfortunately, this is definitely a case of selfish photographers trying to get too close and spoiling it for everyone else. We have Saltholme Guides…

Our summer avian visitors have long since gone but their place has been taken by birds which breed far to the North of us, taking advantage of our mild winters. Two blogs ago Dean discussed the Golden Plovers, but this last week the obvious winter visitors are the Fieldfares. About two hundred were counted yesterday on the reserve, seen mainly on the hawthorn bushes along the Lake Walk along the meadow. Look closely and…

Having Barn Owls back on the reserve is good news for them and for visitors. But in nature, everything is eaten by something else. When we found Barn Owl pellets by the entrance to the Watchpoint Hide, we gave them to our pellet man: Don Griss, one of our Saltholme Guides who likes to open these things up and identify the contents. He found the bones of Field Vole and Bank Vole, as we would expect. These animals…

Until this week, we've had 3,000 Golden Plover on the reserve. They feed on the wet grassland, and roost on the causeway. They provide a real spectacle when in the air together as they fly fast in tight flocks, their golden plumage glinting in the sun as they wheel and turn. But, because they feed largely on worms, when the first frosts hit us, they tend to move on. It's a sad reminder that Christmas is coming !…

Rare bird of the week is the Green Winged Teal which has been at Dorman's Pool for a few days. It may be there now but poor visibility means our spotters haven't been able to spot it. This bird turns up here annually at this time and stays for a good few weeks. Lapwing numbers have now built up to an impressive 3,600. Kingfishers have been very obvious lately, and yesterday we had 4 individuals, with a pair together…

After a poor start the sun came out and we have had a lovely autumn day.

I spent a little time in Paddy's Pool hide where Lockhart had his 'scope trained on a Merlin perched on one of its favourite posts. It was a little too far, and too misty, for a photo but still a good view. But he did get this atmospheric shot of the Lapwings over the Transporter Bridge,

Nearer to him Lockhart saw  blacktailed Godwit and…

The exciting news for us this week is the return of barn owls to the reserve. Barn owls bred here until those bad winters a few years ago. But unfortunately, deep snow makes it difficult for barn owls to find food so they really struggle in bad winters. We know have plenty of voles here as Limpy, our resident car damaged vixen proves as she is so often seen with a mouthful of them, or even pouncing on them in the grass…

Over the last few days Dean has been making changes to the feeding station outside the visitor centre. No equipment lasts for ever so out with the old, and in with new posts from which to hang the feeders. He didn't really need help but he did have supervision.

Brian was watching from the visitor centre and Limpy, the vixen, was ensuring that there would still be the odd scrap for her. As Dave said in his last…

The flow of Whooper Swans going through the reserve continues with 16 birds on Monday. We still have a couple of Little Stints in with 30 Dunlin, 2 Ruff and 30 Black Tailed Godwit. The numbers of Golden Plover have swelled to 3000 along with 2000 Lapwing. We now have 1000 Wigeon with 3 Goldeneye and 12 Pintail. Marsh Harrier can still be seen along with the resident Merlin and Peregrine. An odd Woodcock has been…

Guest Blog from Site Manager David Braithwaite.

I had my binocular fix today with a walk down to the Saltholme hide, there were geese grazing perfectly happily just a few yards from me at either side of the track. Barnacle Geese to the left; about 60, posh little chaps in their dapper monochrome. To the right, Graylags, Candas and a solitary pink-foot all relaxed whilst visitors walked by or stopped to enjoy the pastoral…