One of our favourite things to do at RSPB Sandwell Valley is help families connect to nature and spend time together in the great outdoors. Our volunteers love showing our visitors how to pond dip or identify birds on the feeders and out on the lake, and it's wonderful to see parents teaching their children about the natural world - and sometimes vice versa!

Spending time as a family in nature is something special…

30 Random Acts of Wildness at RSPB Sandwell

Every year in June The Wildlife Trusts challenges everyone to take part in a ‘Random Act of Wildness’ - that's one each day for a whole month. Your random act could last a few minutes or a few hours depending on how much time you have on your hands, but the general idea is to take a moment out of your busy schedule and immerse yourself in nature, whether it’s in your garden…

Blackthorn blossom glistens in the bright sunlight and bare branches are beginning to show the first signs of foliage as they sway gently in the spring breeze here at RSPB Sandwell. There's the tiniest of blue tits perched on a branch outside the office window, ruffling his feathers as the spring rain showers across the valley. Come rain, come shine, our volunteers and visitors are enjoying spotting all the different…

Over the past year our morning work parties have been very busy planting and landscaping the Reflection Garden, battling through the winter weathers and now relishing in the warmer spring temperatures. David Winston, one of our most recent work party additions, has been keeping a reflective journal of his most memorable experiences around the reserve including the wildlife he has spotted and the things he has learnt.…

We have two work parties here at RSPB Sandwell Valley: one on a Tuesday morning and one on a Friday morning. They are an integral and vital part of our team, taking on the practical side of our conservation work and heading out in all weathers to help preserve and improve our nature reserve. This can include doing anything from sowing seeds and pruning bushes, to landscaping gardens and creating fences.

One of our newest…

It’s 2019, the weather is in flux and everyone’s settling down after the excitement of the Big Garden Birdwatch, eagerly scanning the horizon for any sign of sunshine. This week it's finally appeared - a high of 12° which is amazing compared to previous weeks of blustery winds and below freezing temperatures. In Britain we’re pretty used to the cold weather, and any mention of snow brings both an inordinate sense of happiness…

Children's Mental Health Week is all about encouraging young people to take care of themselves. Here at RSPB Sandwell we run lots of activities for school groups, home educators, uniformed organisations and families. Providing a place where they can connect to nature, relax, and have fun all at the same time is very important to us. Find out about our wonderful sessions below with our Learning Officer Gretel Cooper, and…

With 2019 just around the corner, we thought we'd take a look back at the best parts of 2018 and see what our volunteers have enjoyed most about their time at RSPB Sandwell Valley this year. From exciting events to fantastic finds, it's been a really wonderful year all round. There's been progress on the Reflection Garden, a nest box full of baby blue tits, and many new faces have joined our brilliant team of enthusiastic…

Stress is something that potentially we will all experience at some point in our lives. It manifests itself in many ways, and experts have suggested that stress is a response to the demands on life, crisis, work and fears. According to a study carried out by Forth in January this year, around 37% of British residents feel stressed for at least one full day per week - often due to work, money, lack of sleep and health worries…

Over the last six weeks our volunteers have been eagerly watching a hornet's nest down on the path that leads from the Hide to the Tame River. With cameras ready in hand they've headed down each weekend to record its progress, documenting the different stages of nest building. The nest itself is being constructed inside the hollow of an old gnarly oak tree - one of the oldest on the Sandwell reserve. It's estimated to…

Since last September the hardworking volunteers at RSPB Sandwell Valley have been working on a small patch of land tucked away between Storytelling Corner and one of our Pond Dipping ponds. Following an extremely harsh winter and sky-rocketing temperatures this summer, the reserve has endured three very difficult seasons, But now, as Autumn approaches and promises to blanket us in warm amber and rouge, it seems the earth…

With the summer holidays in full swing we're all looking for the opportunity to set aside work and relax, whether it's spending time with friends, visiting new places or simply stepping out into the great outdoors. It's a well known fact that going outside, being surrounded by the natural word, is sure to help bring down those stress levels. But what is it exactly that helps us to relax? A refreshing breeze? Listening…

Guest blog by Samantha Lyster - Communications Manager, Birmingham.

It’s a rare situation where national political debate is sparked by women wearing bikinis. Not since the outcry over the Protein World marketing campaign, featuring an athletic model in a two piece, has swimwear prompted collective conversations over social issues, but then we’ve only recently had the British phenomenon of ITV’s Love Island.…

It is often difficult to answer the question about why you enjoy a site so much. What is it that brings you back time and time again?

My history with the RSPB at Sandwell Valley stretches back to my childhood almost 15 years ago. With a budding interest in wildlife, a family member living in Smethwick sold the place easily, talking about flocks of waterbirds as far as the eye can see, and for my unexperienced self, a…

Volunteering means different things to different people. For some it's about giving something back to the community; for some it's a way to make new friends and learn new things; for some it's a boost of self-confidence; and for some it's simply a way of life. We've had many volunteers come to RSPB Sandwell Valley over the years, and each individual has a special and unique story to tell. Find out what some of our volunteers…

I started volunteering at RSPB Sandwell Valley near Birmingham in March 2018 as a Visitor Volunteer. This role sees me at the very front of your RSPB experience, answering questions and serving you ice cream on a hot afternoon. On a normal day I spend my time doing a variety of different things: from craft work to making sure the centre is clean and welcoming. I decided to become a volunteer as a stepping stone after…

We’re all of a flutter!

It feels like it’s been both summer and winter these last few weeks, with blazing temperatures on one day and relentless rain the next - not to mention the thunderstorms and rather astonishing displays of lightning! But one thing we have noticed is that after the clouds have cleared and the raindrops have settled, the wildlife always comes back in full force to remind us that the summer…

After a few weeks volunteering at RSPB Sandwell Valley, usually on a Tuesday, I found that this was the day when, once every few weeks, the tanker comes to collect the waste from the septic tank! That got me thinking, what does all the wildlife make of the smells on the reserve? I love going round the reserve smelling the flowers, but do all the animals and plants smell things as well?

(oystercatcher and coot)

Through…

It’s been about a month since I joined the RSPB Sandwell Valley team and it'a been bit of a whirlwind so far. Having previously just finished my master’s degree in outdoor education, I was looking for a way to expand my experience and also to volunteer my time to a cause I believe in.

My role here is to assist the learning officer, Gretel Cooper, at Sandwell with the delivery of schools on reserve sessions…

Hi, I am Owen!

I am not only speaking for myself, but for the Eco-council at Witton Middle School in Droitwich. I wanted to help nature, so I joined my school Eco-council. When I found out about the Albatross Appeal, I suggested we should collect stamps for it, and our Eco-teacher said that we could. The RSPB sent us a stamp collecting kit which I put together and took to school. We put it by the school library. I spoke…

Almost everyone knows the great legend of St George and the Dragon, the brave knight who fought to rescue a princess and later became known as the Patron Saint of England. As the sunshine is shining and we're spotting more and more species across the reserve, we thought it'd be fun to see which of our residents could play the parts of the characters in the legend. Alas, here be no dragons. However, if we look closely…

Spring is late this year and every time we cleared the snow on the reserve we had more a week later, but last Sunday was warm and pleasant so we set off to Cannon Hill Park in Birmingham to find our first butterfly of the year. The bees were active, we identified honey bee, buff-tailed bumblebee, tree bumblebee and hairy-footed flower bee, but no butterflies. The next day the weather was back to normal I had an odd thought…

You may have heard of the Big Garden Birdwatch, but have you heard of SpawnWatch? For the next two weeks our volunteers will be keeping an eye out for our amphibian friends and any frog spawn – those amazing little green clumps of jelly! We’re working with BBCARG (the Birmingham and Black Country Amphibian and Reptile Group) to see how much frog spawn we can find.

Sometimes you can see frog spawn as early…

After being hit by stormy winds and snowy blizzards from the east, we’re all waiting in anticipation for spring to finally arrive. The lake is no longer frozen over, the birds are happily chirping away and the sunshine is now beginning to appear once again from behind those grey clouds. Here at RSPB Sandwell there’s signs of new growth all over the reserve, from the delicate blackthorn blossoms to the budding purple of…