There has been a recent article in a tabloid newspaper which suggested that you shouldn’t feed hedgehogs in the autumn as it is the lack of food which triggers hibernation.

This is absolutely wrong.

It is cold that drives hedgehogs to hibernate. And as the hedgehog population is now in such rapid decline, they need all the help we can give them. To get through the winter a hedgehog needs to weigh over 600…

This week at Paddy's Pool hide we've been lucky enough to have some simply stunning views of a very active flock of shovellers.

Photo by Graeme Walker

They could be seen throughout the day on both Tuesday and Thursday with only a brief period of time around 12 o'clock, when they were absent, we assume they returned home to feed.

They spent both days stomping around and digging in the mud at the very edge…

I don’t know. I spend hours making luxury apartments for wood mice to feed in comfort, only to find that there nemesis moves in next door, with a panoramic view over the paths to the mouse house.

Adam discovered a barn owl pellet on the gate to the bird feeding station on Saturday and put out a remote trail camera to try and film the culprit. The image above was taken from the film. However, it seems that from…

Autumn is here and much our hay meadow has been cut and bailed.

Most of the hay is collected mechanically leaving just a few areas to be raked by hand.

Enter our intrepid Youth Rangers a small group of environmentally aware young people with bundles of energy, huge amounts of determination and a little bit of free time too.

Yesterday they were all set to get stuck into, what could be seen by many as a slightly…

Spacious luxury bedsit situated in glorious non-residential area nature reserve overlooking the brand new Watchpoint hide carpet with distant views over Middle Tank.

Recently refurbished stylish décor includes double bed, wardrobe, oven, kitchen units and solid plastic dining table with two chairs.

Easy access from the rear by climbing up a series of logs and squeezing through the holes in the floor.

After discovering that my last blog was edited in case it caused offence, I will of course absolutely ensure that this blog does not offend anyone in any way what so ever. After all, everything is nice and lovely.

But this leaves me with a dilemma. I was going to write about the hordes of red admiral butterflies visiting the pollinator garden. But if I do, I run the risk of offending those of you out there who have…

Birdwatchers seem to live a precarious existence. At first, there is much joy to be had discovering the birds around us and then seeing other birds for the first time. Then there is all the other nature to be enjoyed while we are out and about – the butterflies, dragonflies, mammals and plants that make nature such a wondrous thing to be amongst.

But for some, there is a dangerous event lurking around the corner…

Two summers ago, I visited a family run garden centre in Darlington to buy plants for the developing pollinator garden. Long ago I was taught that the best way to buy plants that were good for insects was to go to a garden centre and see which plants the insects were visiting, so that’s what I was doing. I came across a climbing plant with hordes of bees and flies all over it, but no label. I decided I didn’t care what…

It's the time of year when we start to review and reflect on the recent breeding bird season. I can now share with you the exciting news that at least 278 pairs of common tern decided to rear their offspring at Saltholme this year! Creating the ideal conditions for nesting terns required a lot of preparation and hard work from our dedicated team of staff and volunteers, this all began back in a rather chilly February…

Earlier this year our illustrious estate volunteers sowed some wild flower seed given to us by Stockton Borough Council, along the verges at the reserve entrance.

It was quite dry and windy then, and there were lots of mutterings of how these couldn’t possibly grow in such hostile conditions. But, we persevered and a few months later, what a lovely result:

Now you don’t even have to come into Saltholme to…

It’s summer holiday competition time at RSPB Saltholme!

To celebrate the summer holidays, we’re giving away an annual pass for RSPB Saltholme.

With amazing wildlife and fun-filled activities available all year round, Saltholme is a fantastic place for families and nature lovers alike - whatever the season and whatever the weather.

We love Saltholme and we know our visitors do too which is why we…

When I was a lad, there was a little brown butterfly that graced the limestone areas of County Durham that certain butterfly people were determined should be called the northern brown argus, as distinct from the ordinary brown argus, which occurs in the south of Britain where it is warm, calm and dry. Then, as I remember it, someone invented DNA testing and it turned out that the northern brown argus was just a variation…

It’s been a very disappointing year for those wishing to see dragonflies so far, and now we have the summer species out and about. Most damselflies emerge in spring, but the emerald damselfly emerges about now and is the only damselfly you’ll encounter here in August. As it is late in emerging, the eggs overwinter and hatch the following spring.

Emerald damselflies are easily told apart from other damselflies…

If you venture into the walled garden and have a look at the pond, you will be struck by two things. Firstly, the amount of floating algae, and then, that all of the iris and bulrush plants have been eaten by something. The algae has been caused by pond management which releases nutrients from the sediment into the water column, where it is readily taken up by floating algae. Although we undertook the work in autumn which…

We've had some brilliant sightings over the last week or so.

Yellow wagtails have finally been seen this summer, they've been sadly absent this year, but it was great to see from Saltholme Pools hide a pair which appeared to be taking part in some later courtship.

We've had a curlew sandpiper in breeding plumage on moving between the wet grassland (seen from Paddy's) and back Saltholme pool.

Curlew…

When you’ve dug a 4 foot hole to put a large telegraph pole in with a larger than normal nestbox on the top, it’s wonderful to see two barn owl chicks venture out from it into the world.

                     Fledging barn owls by Jonathan Littlefield

This they did yesterday with the first bird flapping into the hedgerow behind, but the second bird climbing around on the roof for a while before going back into the box…

With the weather finally breaking today we've been treated to some fantastic fantastic views from the comfort of the Visitor Centre.

We're well known for being home to the largest inland colony of common terns in the country but it's always exciting when other species of tern arrive.

The roseate terns is one of our rarest seabirds and whose severe, long-lasting and well documented decline make it a Red List…

A pleasant surprise this morning when David, our survey volunteer, told me he’d found a pyramidal orchid on the meadow yesterday. I went to look for it and sure enough there it was:

Pyramidal orchids used to be associated with limestone habitats but have taken advantage of man made environments in recent years. Their scent is described as “foxy”, but I didn’t try that as I felt hayfever beginning to erupt.…

Like our visitors I think it’s safe to say many of our birds have been hunkered down out of the wet weather.

The most notable sightings this week have been a marsh warbler which has been showing well since last Sunday out on our Wilderness trail and a common tern which has been regularly seen from Paddy’s.

You may be wondering why a common tern is a notable sighting? After all we have hundreds of breeding…

Foxes on nature reserves are controversial. There is no doubt that they eat some birds. And despite the fact that we tried to discourage foxes from setting up home in the bund near Saltholme Hide earlier this year, one vixen did anyway, and I’m sure most of you will have seen, or will see, the little furry things that she’s produced.

Foxes have a wider impact than eating a few birds though. The photograph…

After a wet start to the half term, we seem to have really struck lucky with the weather and have been rewarded with some fantastic mammal sightings.

Today we’ve had the amazing sight of 2 roe deer grazing on the far side of the main lake. It’s not unusual to see them on the reserve but it’s usually the staff and volunteers who are lucky enough to spot them as they’re most active on a morning or in the evening. So it…

This week has seen some fantastic weather with the Sun making an appearance and shining bright, so what a great opportunity for our reserve team to get out on the water with our armada of tern rafts. They were spotted on Tuesday and Wednesday up to their waists in the main lake.

Obviously it wasn’t the weather that prompted the work but the arrival of our common terns.

The terns have been steadily arriving over…

In addition to our regular sightings this week, we’ve had a whimbrel regularly seen on the wet grassland towards Saltholme Pools Hide.

The wheatear are still showing very well and on Wednesday we’ve even had a sighting of a common crane.

But we’ve been seeing a lot of marsh harrier activity around the Wildlife Watch Point with not 1 or 2 birds but 3 marsh harriers seen over the reed beds. So next time you…

This last week or so it really has felt like Spring has finally arrived.

Black-headed gulls are sitting on nests out on the islands, we've got lapwing chicks on the wet grassland and our lambs have been moved out of their paddock by the lambing shed and out onto the reserve.

The sandmartins are incredibly active around the sandmartin bank and we're getting some fantastic views of goslings and moorhen chicks right…

Aren’t they the same?

It’s been a great Easter here at Saltholme , with literally thousands of visitors over the last week visiting and enjoying everything we have to offer.

The wildlife certainly hasn’t disappointed either.

We’ve had several sightings of white wagtails as they pass through on their way to breed in Northern Europe and Scandinavia, although they are known to breed in Shetland too.…