The single waxwing is still hanging around the hawthorn hedgerow opposite the Wildlife Watchpoint Hide. Occasionally it flies to the copse by the Visitor Centre, but returns to the hedgerow to feed and drink from the puddles on the track.

Hi,

The arrival of Waxwing has to be this week’s reserve highlight. Initially three birds were sighted in the hedgerow next to the Wildlife Watchpoint Hide early on the 18^th, dropping to one individual by the afternoon. The single Waxwing showed exceptionally well in the same hedgerow for the rest of the week. Other birds taking advantage of the hedgerow berries included 20+ Fieldfare and 6 Redwing.

Hopefully…

 The islands on the reserves’ lakes require constant work in order to meet the needs of the birds; we want the island to be suitable so that hopefully birds will nest on islands, they are a favoured place for the common terns at the reserve to nest on during the breeding season from mid spring – when they arrive from their African continental journey and will stay into the summer to raise their young. The island…

Hi,

I’ll begin with some late news of a Red Kite seen flying over the reserve on the 2nd.  Red Kite re-introduction schemes have occurred in both Yorkshire and Gateshead however this species still remains an irregular visitor to Cleveland and is therefore certainly worth a special mention.

The Glossy Ibis was last sighted on the 3^rd however we didn’t have to wait long for a new star attraction when a drake Green…

The estate team are just as active in the winter, especially on a day like today with the cold weather and winds. One of the previous jobs we did was posted on a blog at the end of 2012 and some of you might remember seeing the estate team improving the sand martin bank at the edge of the main lake.

As the 2013 spring arrived so did the sand martins after traveling all the way from their African wintering grounds. The…

We have had some fantastic displays on our Soup and Starling events this year and the one a couple of weeks ago was no exception as Brian Clasper's photos show.

What has made these recent murmurations so good has been the density of the flocks, not just the numbers - although 20,000 is the estimate. Coupled to this has been the presence of raptors - Sparrowhawk and Peregrine Falcons which have enlivened the display…

If only Adam had waited another day or two to write his blog.... This afternoon we've had a green winged teal on back Saltholme pool, and very visible from the Saltholme pools hide. This is a North American variant of the much more commonly seen Eurasian teal and the difference is subtle, so here's a link to the Sibley Guides website to guide you through the differences. http://www.sibleyguides.com/2011/03/distinguishing…

Hi,

Top sighting from this period was a Glossy Ibis first observed from the Phil Stead Hide (20^th January) and still present in the area at the time of writing. The number of Glossy Ibis visiting UK shores from continental Europe has greatly increased over the last few years and like the Little Egret this species looks destined to establish itself as a UK resident in the near future.

A future Saltholme regular? Many…

“Ah good morning Mrs Fox!” are the words I said when the fox turned and looked at me with a mouthful of seed. This was at the feeding station when I first went round to take the feeders down so I could refill them.

The fox was waiting until I had finished filling up the feeders and then it went back to taking the bird food I’d just replaced. The foxes breeding season is at a height now, sometime in the…

It has, officially, been a very wet January but not very cold.

Part of the job of the Estate Team where I am a volunteer, is looking after the Sheep (which are our chief grass cutters). We regularly have to count them and sometimes we see little visited parts of the reserve to check them. So it was last week, and I was surprised to see a Hawthorn bush with flowers, but not visible from public paths.

This is an unusual…

Before I arrived through the reserve gates this morning, the lapwings made themselves noticeable by flying above the road. At the beginning of the day the sun came out from the middle of the fog. All morning the fog shifted around the reserve.

There is a wide range of waders that you can currently see from the visitors centre – this morning I saw the coots, moorhens and a water rail which made it easy to compare…

With a mild (but wet) winter the grass has continued to grow which is good for our Shetland Sheep. We need them to graze the meadow in the winter, and in the week we let them onto the Wildflower Walk on the Haverton Hill part of the reserve. This is to promote the growth of the right type of vegetation so essential to encourage the wildlife be it Skylarks or Harvest Mice. Some days the sheep just seem to enjoy themselves…

Today we had a couple of jobs to do which is continued work from the past few weeks. The estate team group have been working on two main things....

• The earth bund is situated at the main lake which is in front of the sand martin bank. You can see the earth bund blog from last month here. Its position means waves are pushing against the bank and making the bank erosion worse. Last month we put a wall of plastic plaining…

Hi,

Mild conditions persisted throughout this period. With regards to wading birds this meant that their mud-dwelling invertebrate prey remained accessible resulting in some good counts on the wet grassland including, 200+ Golden Plover (3^rd), 2000+ Lapwing (19^th), 6x Redshank and 4x Black-Tailed Godwit (21^st).

Twelve species of duck were spread around the reserve’s many pools including, 5x Shelduck (3^rd), 16x…

Spring tides again and this time the West side of the country is suffering from flooding but last month Cowpen Marsh was inundated by the sea coming over the sea wall by Greatham Creek. This has caused damage to the path from car park to the hide as well as to the marsh itself. There is little we can do for the marsh but recent heavy rain will have washed out some of the salt. However, we can now get access to the car…

The year has started as the last ended, with wind, rain and some sun but rather mild. Few migrants as there is fair weather across the North Sea but Fieldfares and Redwings are about on the Hawthorn trees near the main lake.

Yesterday Lockhart got these good shots of a Pied Wagtail

and a Goldeneye

but he failed to get a good shot of the Peregrine Falcons!

Enjoy the wildlife in 2014,

Peter

And, no, it is not a robin.

Yesterday Lockhart snapped this Red-breasted Merganser - not often seen on our reserve.

Other winter visitors are the Barnacle Geese which can be seen from the Mike Corner viewing screen and Paddy's Pool hide. They are the first geese to take flight as they are more wild than the Canada Geese but they often feed together.

The Lapwing were frequently taking to the air this week end…

Hi,

Westerly winds and associated milder temperatures dominated during this period. Given the time of year it was perhaps not too surprising that the reserve’s species assemblage remained stable throughout. A significant storm surge on the 5^th December produced the highest Teesmouth Tide in 150 years; although the Main Reserve remained unscathed significant flooding occurred on Cowpen Marsh. Towards the end of…

Around the main lake you can see the waves pushing against the bank, the recent weather has not helped and this effect of the waves is contributing towards erosion. To the right of the main lake (along the bank) there is a section of water that is separate to the rest of the lake. This water is separate because it provides protection with still and deeper water levels in front of the sand martin bank (for the breeding…

The main part of the reserve was not affected by the tidal surge but Cowpen Marsh was inundated with salt water when the sea wall failed to hold back the tide.

This is a general view looking south towards the car park.

A closer view shows the fence along the path just poking above the sea water.

The water has now fallen, and work is progressing on mending the breach in the sea wall and the road - A178 - remains closed…

The main part of thre reserve at Saltholme is unaffected by the storm and is open as usual.  Road access is fair - the A178 north of the firestation roundabout is closed as emergency work progresses on the sea wall at Seal Sands but all other roads are open.

However, there was serious ingress of sea water through the breach in the sea wall flooding Cowpen Marsh and this will affect the car park and Greatham Creek hide for the…

To help control the water levels, and ensure the separation of fresh water from brackish water we have installed a dam at Cowpen Marsh. Originally, before the A178 was built and Seal Sands was drained, Saltholme's natural drainage was by Holme Fleet into Greatham Creek with an area of brackish water near the creek, but now we have to intervene to maintain a ballance and stop the fresh water washing out all the salt.…

This week the elves have moved in, Saltholme elves are getting ready for the Scandinavian Christmas weekend coming up. Details about the weekends events can be found here.

You can see the little elves village, with goldfinches, blue tits, starlings and the waders too, all using the bird feeders around the feeding station which is visible from the visitors centre. You might just be able to see the fox tracks where they…

This week end the Starlings have performed well for our 'Soup and Starlings' events. Yesterday they were illuminated by a shaft of sunset from beneath the cloud and Lockhart (hide guide) capured this photo.

The redness of the evening light really shows well on the birds. They did spend longer in their murmuration due to the presence of a couple of Sparrowhawks, whereas today the guest appearance was from a Marsh…

And I'm not talking about Dr. Who. But who has eaten all the berries in our Wildlife Garden?

Where a garden is will determine just when the berries are eaten, and by what. Most trees and bushes in town gardens still have their berries but our Wildlife Garden, in the centre of the reserve, has seen a sudden loss of autumn fruit and just how the berries have been eaten is a clue to what has eaten them.

These hips…