As you will have seen from Josh's last blog the Grasshopper Warblers are here. First heard - and seen - last Sunday they are now in full voice. When I was opening up the reserve this morning there were at least three near the visitor centre and car park. If you haven't heard this song then try our car park in the morning - the reserve opens at 10 a.m. but the car park is open from 8 a.m.

The Garganey were in front…

The reserve is building up momentum as a range of birds are returning from further afield for the spring and summer breeding months. These willow catkins were blossoming last week -

The migrant birds which stay and also the migrant birds that pass through the reserve as a resting stop are well on their way to Saltholme some have begun to arrive. As you may have seen in Dean’s blog the sand martins are back and gradually…

Last Thursday, among the 602 visitors we had through the doors, came two incredibly inspiring individuals. Jonny Rankin and Robert Yaxley crossed the threshold of the reserve, and in doing so crossed the finish line of a three hundred mile walk in aid of Operation Turtle Dove.

 

These two inspiring individuals had the dual aim of raising money and raising awareness of the plight of the turtle dove, who's population in…

The pair of garganey have returned to Bottom Tank, and this morning were observed by visitors mating in front of the Phil Stead Hide. They have now gone into the reeds at the back of Bottom Tank.

A splendid pair of garganey have arrived today, and have moved from the Fire Station Field, to Bottom Tank visible from the Phil Stead Hide and then into Middle Tank. A ruff is also on the Fire Station Field.

This is an example of a ruff in summer plumage courtesy of Mike Richards via RSPB images. 

We are getting ready for the arrival of the Common Terns which nest on the islands in the main lake and Paddies Pool. Over the last year the weeds have grown and the islands have to be cleaned to give a good layer of cockle shells which the terns like to nest on.

First we pull the weed - here it is groundsell - and Alex (volunteer), Dean (assistant warden) and Brian (volunteer) are hard at work.

This year to prevent…

Our lambs are proving a great attraction and Lochkart captured this image on saturday.

The ewe is one of our Shetland flock and she has a couple of lovely twins. As of today we have 13 lambs and more on the way.

Meanwhile the birds are singing to attract a mate and defend a territory. One of the loudest is songs is from one of our smallest birds the Wren, one of the commonest birds. Look, and listen, for them where…

The sand martins are back!

There were well over 40 this morning, inspecting the holes in the sand martin bank, visable from the Visitor Center. 

Sand martins spend to winter months in Africa and return to breed here in the UK every year

The green winged teal is still around in the afternoons and 20 ish twite are still around the clayfield. A water vole is feeding on apples and carrots from a custom made water vole feeding table at the Watchpoint Hide, but it appears very sporadically. If you want to see it, be prepared for a long wait ! A harvest mouse was seen yesterday under the Watchpoint feeders. Lets hope for more of that !

In the Dragonfly pond actually - lots of them mating. The Common Toad (Bufo bufo) returns to the same place each year to spawn. Today I counted a dozen in the top end of first pond on the Dragonfly Path and there were more in all of the ponds.

This shot, despite the glare, shows the smaller male on the back of the female and the fresh strings of spawn - frog spawn is in large masses. The variation in colour is quite…

Spring has arrived, April has arrived and the first lambs have arrived!

The first lambs of the year were born at the reserve today, the mother (the ewe) had twin lambs and the new family are resting in the sheep shed ahead of the other pregnant ewes giving birth in the upcoming weeks. The Shetland sheep are feeding up on the grass besides the sheep shed so we can monitor the heavily pregnant ewes. You will be able…

The reserve has a number of hawthorn trees but active conservation does mean we have to reduce the size of the hawthorn trees, some of the trees have reached heights of eight foot and never been trimmed before. The hawthorn, if it is managed over a period of time, will increase in strength from the bottom of the tree, and by reducing parts from the top it will remove the ‘heavy top’ effect.

This is the estate…

Just been out to Cowpen Marsh, half a mile up the road from the visitor centre, to look at some work we had done there last week. The massive storm surge on 5^th December last year flooded the marsh and the brinefield at the other side of the road. All in all, 200 ha (about 450 acres) were under water and considerable damage was left in its wake.

We took Cowpen Marsh back in hand three years ago through an agreement with…

The sheep shed will soon be full of action but before the first lambs are born this year, we need to prepare the area for them.

Today we completed a number of tasks; some of them are daily jobs like replacing water and cleaning out the sheep pens, we have been putting up an electric fence to protect lambs from any foxes wandering around. They’re all important jobs so everything is ready for the lambing live event which…

We are, as you probably know, putting out food at the Wildlife Watchpoint hide. We have all been looking and on Thursday Bernie, one of Salholmes volunteer guides, took his camera to the hide.

Perhaps the waterfowl were eating? But no sign. Then along came...

The fox was certainly on the table, but eating? Perhaps not, although only the carrot was left.

Then a new customer...

A Water Vole!  Perhaps it had already…

I've been trying for a while now to get Dave to write a blog or two about what he loves about Saltholme, I finally managed to get him to give us a bit of insight into what keeps him coming to work........

This is my first ever Blog.

I`ve been asked if I would say some stuff about Saltholme given that I`ve been here for quite some time; since 4th January 2006 to be exact. I`ve agreed provided I am allowed to talk…

Unfortunatley, work is still in progress trying to sort the drainage at Saltholme Hide. However, the hide is open again, and I'm pleased to announce that even after two days of pneumatic drilling, the green winged teal is still there. He's also been getting up a bit earlier, about 11.30 today ! Remaining works to the hide will not require closure and will be a bit quieter. There are also good numbers of twite around…

The coot makes a high pitched chirp whist showing all the behaviours of a mating display. It has been a lovely sunny start to the week and the birds are gathering up momentum for the upcoming breeding season. A pair of great crested grebes were together on the water, this is another sign they that it is early spring. The green winged teal is still at the reserve as well as two shelduck.

The estate team and volunteers…

Saltholme has many volunteer guides who can show the wildlife to our visitors, and Lockhart is one of these - and he takes some good photos. Yesterday it was mainly finches.

Goldfinch,

Redpoll,

Siskin.

And Twite.

The Goldfinch are always with us and easy to see on the feeders. Currently the Redpoll is also using the feeders and the Twite are in a flock with the Goldfinch.

And here is his shot of Redshank…

If you look out of the left side of Wildlife Watchpoint hide there is a small feeding platform with apples and carrots. Birds eat fruit - Blackbirds eat apples in our gardens and Moor Hens also eat them. But carrots? These are not for birds but for Water Voles which have been seen in this area.

This shows the view from the hide with the food, and the mounds of vegetation which were to encourage sightings of Water Rails…

A jack snipe is present on Salthole West and can be seen from the Saltholme Hide. However, it tends to hide in the sedges so is difficult to see.

The single and lonely waxwing is still present at Saltholme. The bird moves between 3 locations: The hedgerow at Wildlife Watchpoint, the copse behind the Visitor Centre, and the trees by the Phil Stead Hide. If you see the waxwing in the hedgerow, please remain on the path, attempts to get closer will only result in the bird flying away from its main food source. The green winged teal is still on Saltholme West…

December's flood and the winter gales have caused damage which we are continuing to fix.

Last year we floated three rafts on the water at Cowpen to serve as islands for the Common Terns to nest on, but the anchors were damaged over winter and the rafts came to rest on the bank.

Today we waded out to fix new anchors - concrete - which we tied to the existing anchor chains.

Ian took the photo from the bank wit…

From the visitors centre you have a great view of all the wader birds on the main lake as well as the garden birds that you can see from the existing feeding station, it has been in place for a couple of years and anyone can get great views of birds up close. The centre allows people to use the glass window as a screen to prevent the birds from flying away – like when you have a garden feeder close to your window. The existing…

I have just been sent some photos from Brian Clasper of his recent sightings.

This Waxwing has been easy to see by the path near the Wildlife Watchpoint Hide. The photo shows the wonderful colours including the sealing wax markings on the wings, and how camouflaged such a colourful bird can be.

For more information on Waxwings follow this link to one of last winter's blogs by Toby.

Just as easy to see recently…