Nick's News

Last Thursday was a great day to be out on the reserve. OK it was a bit overcast and wet underfoot but the whole place was just bursting with spring wildlife. The bluebells up the driveway hedge are in full bloom and the hedges themselves look green and thick. Warblers were stacked up in the scrub competing for airtime and the wetlands too were covered with birds. The only bit of the reserve that looked a bit sad was the reed bed but we'll give that a major revamp soon and fill it with warblers and rails again.

There was also the buzz of excitement as 60 (yes 60!) school children dipped, foraged, explored and discovered. They will also have learnt about nature and gone away with a better understanding of how important wildlife and the countryside is. Well done to the army of our field teachers and education volunteers too that inspired them and the many other children and families that have braved the weather recently.

 A visiting group also had the full valley experience with Chris and were keen to tell me how great the place was and how they had learned all about the wildlife. They also noted the efforts of the volunteers for whom they passed on their thanks and admiration. They mentioned Chris was an excellent host but don't tell him as I don't want it going to his head! And from the hide, Ann Ball completed the daily stock take and was rewarded with 5 yellow wagtails! Only two lapwing chicks were visible but I am sure that others were tucked away out of the wet.

 There was the intrigue of where the lapwing nest is in the marsh? The male is guarding them but I couldn't see the female tucked amongst the wet tussocks. 7 drake gadwall on the marsh pool suggest that these secretive ducks will be nesting nearby too. And the mystery of whether a Cetti's warbler was in the scrub by the crocodile log. I heard it twice and am 95% certain! It was not a full call though and I will admit that I might have been fooled. Hopefully someone else will hear it.

 Around the reserve there is also much evidence of works done. Led by Brian and Tony the tardis has been reinforced and now boasts a very professional looking 'security skirt'! The lake terraced too has been softened with a concrete lip making it far more accessible and less ugly. The old centre have also been cleared out of all the rubbish and debris and the tardis has had a good spring clean; see note from Paul later about maintenance. The Tuesday morning group are working on steps in the woodland to make the new kingfisher corner route more passable and the wildlife garden new meadow is continuing to green up benefiting from all this rain.

 The weekends have been busy with walks and events though Chris's sponsored dog walk has been put off, the idea of all those wet mutts in once place enough to scare most! The migration walk was a big hit and lots of birds showed well for the attendees. The wildlife explorers also came for their third meeting and enjoyed the springtime on the reserve.

New Centre news:

Barker Langham, our consultants for the current phase of planning for Sandwell's new visitor centre and experience have had two meetings on site to begin to familiarize themselves with the site. They have also presented plans for a wide range of community engagement events and strategies. This will include a week long consultation in June where members of the Barker Langham team will be at the reserve each day catching up with volunteers and visitors as they come to site. There will also be a couple of drop in sessions where anyone interested will be able to chat to the architect who will be drawing the building plans together. I will circulate details in due course when we have dates.

 All the very best,

 Nick

Nick Martin

Senior Site Manager, RSPB Sandwell Valley and Middleton Lakes