Titchwell Marsh and Snettisham

by           Sue Bryan

Most unusually the fine warm, sometimes hot weather continued until the middle of the month. It was very unseasonal for the time of year which meant that some birds stayed on the reserve perhaps a bit longer than usual. Blackcaps and Bearded Tits continued to be seen on still sunny days and sightings came in thick and fast because our visitors enjoyed their visit and came into the shop to report their…

Introduction

When I think of reedbeds, my mind conjures wonderful pictures of calm slow-flowing waters. Gently swaying reed, changing colours from golden yellows, purples and green with differing time, light and season. The noises made by their often-secretive inhabitants – the “plop” of a Water Vole entering the ditch, the pinging of Bearded Tits or the rustling of reed as a Bittern stalks its pray on the edges of a…

Due to the increasing popularity of the Snettisham Wader Spectacles, our little team receives a large amount of the same questions. We think you'll find the answer to most of your questions here...

What is the Wader Spectacle?
The wading bird spectacle at RSPB Snettisham in Norfolk sees clouds of tens of thousands of birds shimmer together as the rising tide pushes them off the vast mudflats, with the commotion of…

Due to the increasing popularity of the Snettisham Wader Spectacles, our little team receives a large amount of the same questions. We think you'll find the answer to most of your questions here...

What is the Wader Spectacle?
The wading bird spectacle at RSPB Snettisham in Norfolk sees clouds of tens of thousands of birds shimmer together as the rising tide pushes them off the vast mudflats, with the commotion of…

by Sue Bryan

September is a month that birdwatchers look forward to, as it tends to be the month when most of the autumn migration starts, with the potential of big falls of breeding birds that have bred in Scandinavia and further north. The month also has the exciting prospect of some easterly winds bringing some rarer birds that the keener birders like to see to add to their lists.

This particular September, after quite…

 An exciting update from Wynona, our Ringed Plover Project Officer

After waving off the last fledged chicks of the season in late August, the Plovers in Peril project team are excited to share with you just how special this year has been. 

After three seasons of work to provide much needed protection for beach nesting birds at this key site between Snettisham and Heacham, and the fantastic efforts of those visiting the…

August is often a quiet month for birdwatchers, as they often divert to other wildlife watching, particularly butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies. However, the poor weather that dominated July continued into the beginning of August,which meant our visitors continued to focus on the birds,especially sea birds that the windy weather brought closer to shore. Many visitors were delighted in sightings of Spoonbills which…

Due to the increasing popularity of the Snettisham Wader Spectacles, our little team receives a large amount of the same questions. We think you'll find the answer to most of your questions here...

What is the Wader Spectacle?
The wading bird spectacle at RSPB Snettisham in Norfolk sees clouds of tens of thousands of birds shimmer together as the rising tide pushes them off the vast mudflats, with the commotion of…

Things are looking different on the beaches at Snettisham and Heacham South!

The recent big tides, though dramatic to watch, arrived at a frustrating time for our beach nesting birds, with a few pairs of Ringed Plover still with eggs in their nests. For some birds, these nests were their last chance at success this year but with tides of over 7m (and some!) combined with strong winds whipping up the waves, sadly the remaining…

With the breeding season still in full swing in July, our visitors were delighted to have more opportunities at seeing young birds as balls of fluff, which is the case with young gulls and waders. Feeding flights are necessary, which means that parent birds are more visible, especially those that like to lurk in the reedbed! Bearded Tits are one of our iconic birds which our visitors constantly want to see. July is the…

June: At long last the cold northerly winds abated during the month and some summer sun and heat arrived.

It was welcomed by the birds, wildlife and our visitors alike at Titchwell.

Our birds settled down to breeding and looking after their young, delighting our visitors who could watch feeding flights, young birds hatching, as well as little balls of fluff running after parents begging for food. Some birds still arriving…

Our ringed plover project officer Wynona shares stories from a morning’s nest monitoring and how we can help keep them safe on our visit to the beach!

Each day, we make our way along the beach in search of treasure. A steady walk along a linear beach, a beautiful patchwork of shingle and soft sand banked up on the wind against the marram grass. Eyes trained on the upper shore, ears pricked for a telling sound, hands…

'The restless cuckoo absent long

And twittering swallows chimney song’………..

...so wrote one of our renowned English poets John Clare. The month of May brims with promise, lengthening days and the anticipation of so many birds arriving or just passing through. Titchwell is one of the premier reserves where those who enjoy the delights of spring can come and listen to the Cuckoo (image far…

After a long cold winter, April always excites the birdwatchers as more migrants arrive. Here's Sue with our early spring sightings...

 At Titchwell the keen visitors have their eyes and ears open for the birds that forge ahead in their migration for the year’s breeding cycle. This year the early migrants were met with cold northerly winds that dominated most of the month of April’s weather. However, our visitors are…

Snowy Owl

By the middle of March, most of us are keen to see the back of winter’s dark, cold wet days and we’re not opposed to shooing March out of the door as quickly as it arrived. But sometimes, a late winter can be a birder’s best friend. Around Mother’s Day in 2018, probably due to the unusually cold temperatures that had been holding on since January, a female Snowy Owl made an unexpected visit to Titchwell. Most…

The passionate team of volunteers delivering ‘Plovers in Peril’ are full of hope that 2023 will be another successful year for a very special beach nesting bird in decline.

Image: Les Bunyan (taken with a telephoto lens to avoid disturbance to the birds)

This RSPB led project in partnership with Wild Ken Hill and funded by the Borough Council of Kings Lynn and West Norfolk, is helping vulnerable birds like…

Spring has definitely arrived at Titchwell Marsh, so it's time to restart our sightings blog, written by our Membership Development Officer, Sue Bryan.

Just a quick bit of housekeeping, we're spending more time out on the reserve with habitat management so this blog will be monthly. For much more up-to-date sightings, you can see a picture of our latest board here:  twitter.com/RSPBTitchwell

March is always an exciting…

Hello there,

On #InternationalWomensDay we’re celebrating the women in our team.

The RSPB was founded by women, yet it wasn’t that long ago women wouldn’t have been considered for the some of the roles we have now. 

Today, we’d like you to get to know a bit more about some of the women who are part of our devoted team of staff and volunteers, taking care of and welcoming people to the special nature…

A call for beach ranger volunteers for the 2023 season! 

The beaches still feel rather chilly on the Norfolk coast, with bubbling calls of wintering waders and skeins of geese still enthralling us and holding our gaze. Very soon though, our beach walks will echo with the chimes of a new tune as other birds start to make their voices heard across our landscapes. Amongst them, my favourite call of all, a soft, rhythmic …

Watching footage of vast swathes of trees being demolished by bulldozers or decimated by fire is without doubt a worrying sight. And while deforestation and the demise of woodland habitats is often headline news, the loss of wetland sites is sliding under the public radar. Would it surprise you to know that wetlands are disappearing three times faster than woodlands? And it is a trend that’s not slowing down; in fact…

Hi everyone

It’s been a while! We have a lot to catch you up on with what has been happening on our reserves. First things first, there have been a few staff changes in the last few months – Lizzie the warden has gone on secondment for a year (until November – a see you later rather than goodbye!) to manage some beach-nesting bird projects with Life on the Edge. In the meantime, I have been appointed to warden to cover…

Between November and August we are trialling a wildlife only zone on the east trail, past Pasty’s Reedbed Screen.

What does this mean?

This means between November to August the east trail past Patsy’s Screen will be closed to visitors. We will open this trail as part of the autumn trail between August and October.

Why?

Our aim is to establish a new heronry in Willow Wood which in time, we hope will encourage…

We are in awe of a family of ringed plover who have defied the odds this season after hatching three chicks from a nest located within feet of a wildfire. The parent birds bravely protected their eggs from the fire and a myriad of other challenges imposed by a busy beach full of visitors and hungry predators. Two of the hatched chicks made it to fledging and we were delighted to see these little miracles take to the skies…

The support of local communities has given a vital boost to vulnerable beach nesting birds breeding on a stretch of coast from Snettisham to Heacham. With the help of mindful locals and visitors, 36 vulnerable ringed plover chicks have taken flight from these shores this year – almost double the number that fledged last year.

Almost there! A chick stretching its wings. Image credit Phill Gwilliam.

The RSPB led project…

The RSPB Plovers in Peril team were pleased to partner with the Borough Council of Kings Lynn and West Norfolk on Friday 2^nd September to run the projects first beach clean to mark the end of nesting season for vulnerable beach nesting birds and to raise awareness of their plight on Norfolk coasts.

It was inspiring to see so many new faces from the local community turn out alongside dedicated RSPB volunteers to support…