• Titchwell's Sightings February 2024 Sue Bryan

    Titchwell’s February Sightings          29th February 2024           Sue Bryan

    The days are short and dark, the weather is often cold and grumpy, and it’s easy to feel like winter will never end but February is a month of transitions, as the cold weather and short days begin to give way to the early signs of spring.

    The month started with a couple of storms and what seemed like never-ending rain, causing some of our paths to…

  • Pipe Dreams: Wrapping Up the Journey!

    Today, we bid farewell to our skilled contractors as they loaded up the amphibious excavators and took them away from the reserve.

    The robust structure supporting the freshmarsh outfall pipes in the east saltmarsh and the upgrades to the freshwater marsh are now complete!

    Completed freshwater marsh outfall structure - photo credit: James Thomson, RSK Habitat Management 

    We're thrilled with both the new outfall and the…

  • Pipe Dreams: Progress!

    What a week of significant progress!

    Additional stone has arrived and most is now in position to fortify the outfall against slumping and scouring, and we’re pleased to say the outfall structure performed exceptionally well during the substantial tides at the beginning of the week. No saltwater ingress has been recorded.

    Freshmarsh outfall with anti-scour/slump protection - photo credit: James Thomson, RSK Habitat…

  • Pipe Dreams: The Gabion Rockstars!

    They're in! The gabion structure is now in place, supporting the freshwater marsh's outfall pipes within the east saltmarsh. They're functioning beautifully, and the lower water levels at the beginning of the week attracted increased numbers of waders, including 2000+ Golden Plover, 1000 Lapwing, Avocets, and Ruff.

    Our Warden, Ryan, delighted by being able to lower water levels - photo credit: Hayley Roa…

  • Moth sightings at Titchwell 2023 by Sue Bryan

    Titchwell is not only a fabulous bird reserve but is also a fantastic place to see other wildlife too. On Wednesday mornings, Julie, John and Roger, some of our wonderful volunteers run and organize a moth morning, where from 9.30am onwards until 12.30pm they open up the moth trap that we have left running throughout the night to see what moths have been lured to the light during the hours of darkness.

    Although moths…

  • Titchwell’s Sightings January 2024 Sue Bryan

    January has arrived, signalling the beginning of a new year and bringing a rejuvenating energy that inspires us to embrace every possibility of a life of bird and wildlife watching that awaits in the days ahead! 

    It’s a month of resolutions, fresh starts, and the hopeful anticipation of a year filled with time to enjoy our wonderful wildlife and nature that surrounds us.  Here at Titchwell we are blessed with an amazing…

  • Pipe Dreams: On The Edge

    Battling through some challenges this week! Working on the edge of a saltmarsh creek with its relentless tidal cycle brings with it a unique set of difficulties. Over the past seven days we faced a collapse during excavation, and racing against the tide became a daily struggle.

    Picture this – standing on the east bank, winds howling, rain drizzling, and excavations giving way. It was disappointing to say the least as…

  • Pipe Dreams: Progress Report

    Substantial progress this week! The existing large pipes connecting compartments within the freshmarsh have been unearthed, and so far one has been replaced with a smaller diameter, lower-positioned pipe. Once they're all in we will have much improved water control!  

    Amphibious excavators on freshmarsh

    Amphibious excavators installing pipes connecting the north west and south west compartments on freshmarsh - photo credit: Ryan Doggart

    While six more…

  • Pipe Dreams: Progress on Freshmarsh Upgrades

    In a blink, the freshmarsh has undergone remarkable changes since our last update seven days ago.

    Now featuring a fully bunded southeast carrier ditch, crafted to redirect water away from the southwest compartment. Once pipes are installed, water will flow seamlessly through this ditch into the tilting weir and out to the outfall in the saltmarsh without causing a stir in the eastern compartment. The northern carrier…

  • Pipe Dreams: Freshwater Marsh Takes the Lead

    Prepare for a plot twist – because, well, things in the marsh rarely stick to the script!

    After our recent update: https://community.rspb.org.uk/placestovisit/titchwellmarsh/b/titchwellmarsh-blog/posts/pipe-dreams-at-titchwell we’ve had some head scratching, and a generous sprinkle of contractor wizardry, which has led to flipping the programme on its head, all thanks to a delay with steelwork needed for the…

  • Titchwell’s December Sightings 31st December 2023 by Sue Bryan

    With winter now firmly upon us, our cold, wet days were interspersed with some lovely bright sunny days when the sight of skeins of Pink-footed Geese from Iceland and Greenland, along with Brent Geese from Arctic Russia delighted our staff, volunteers and visitors alike. However, most of the birding focus was directed at sightings from the sea as our scoter flock had returned from their breeding grounds near rivers and…

  • Pipe Dreams at Titchwell!

    At Titchwell, managing water levels is a bit like playing Goldilocks – everyone's after that perfect balance! Some shout 'too high!', others cry 'too low!', but landing where everyone agrees on that 'just-right' level is as tricky as spotting a unicorn in the water! It's a mix of work and art, keeping our warden tap-dancing to find the sweet spot!

    But behind this balancing act lies…

  • RSPB Titchwell Marsh 2023: A year in review

    Introduction

    As the Christmas day moves ever closer and the days get shorter and colder, I often find myself slipping into a reflective mood, thinking of all the ups and downs of another year coming to its end. So, the perfect time to review another great year (with a few challenges) on the marsh here at Titchwell.

    Winter habitat management (Jan-March 2023)

    For the reserve team, the year began, as it always does, up to…

  • November 2023 Sightings

    Titchwell’s November Sightings          30th November 2023           Sue Bryan

     

    ‘Rivers raging flood roadside ditches filled

    creeks and culverts overflowed

    roadbeds washed out from below

    every November is the same

    still we drive on through the rain’

    wrote Puti Ira when she composed her poem ‘Rain’

     

    Here at Titchwell, we drove on through the rain as the change in the weather brought lots of rain and challenging…

  • Titchwell's October Sightings 2023

    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…

  • Exciting times ahead for the Titchwell Marsh reedbed

    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 prey on the edges of a…

  • Snettisham Spectacles 2024 Dates & Times

    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…

  • Snettisham Spectacles 2023 Dates & Times

    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…

  • Titchwell's September Sightings 2023

    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…

  • Plovers in Peril project celebrates record-breaking year for Ringed Plover on Snettisham and Heacham beaches

     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…

  • Titchwell's August Sightings 2023

    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…

  • RSPB Snettisham Wader Spectacles FAQs

    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…

  • Plovers in Peril: An August update from our Project Officer Wynona

    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…

  • Titchwell's July Sightings 2023

    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…

  • Titchwell's June Sightings 2023

    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…