Hi everyone,
I’m Paul, from Peterborough and I’m here volunteering for the week.
There are many reasons why Titchwell Marsh is known as one of the premier RSPB reserves. First is the location along the North Norfolk coast that is instrumental in attracting a superb number of bird species at just about any time of year. Second is the facilities that the reserve provides for visitors and most important is the staff both permanent and volunteers.
I must say a big thank you to the RSPB for allowing me to volunteer at Titchwell and to all the staff at this superb reserve for their help. An extremely big thank you to Ray for passing some of his vast knowledge on matters to me. I am eternally grateful.
Ben Here,
We carried out another Dune Tiger Beetle survey this week. The wind was fairly strong off the sea and not ideal for the beetles. This was proven by the fact that we only managed to see seven beetles overall.
We carried out some more beach disturbance monitoring while we were down the beach. We would advise not paddling around the top of the creek where it flows into the saltmarsh. For your own safety; as the water does get quite deep in places and so not to disturb the seals that do like to come out of the water and bask on the banks of the creek, which they will not do if people are paddling. Also please keep your dogs under control (preferably on a lead) when approaching the creek, especially at high tide, as the seals will spook quite easily and will feel extremely threatened by a dog running along the beach or swimming in the creek. Overall though the level of disturbance is very low and we thank you for being respectful of the wildlife using the creek and the beach.
We spread some more of the Turtle Dove seed mix around at the bottom of the car park. Still no sign of the Turtle Doves coming back but keep your eyes peeled and please let us know if you see any.
A hugely successful Moth Morning event this week. In our three traps we caught 434 moths! 96 different species! Some of the highlights were; Engrailed, Rosy Footman, Privet Hawk-Moth, Leopard Moth, Blue-Bordered Carpet, Elephant Hawk-Moth, Archer’s Dart, Swallow-Tailed Moth, Scalloped Oak, Drinker, Oak Eggar, Pine Hawk-Moth, Poplar Hawk-Moth, Dark Umber and a micro moth that’s only just recently colonised in the UK Metalampra italica (see picture below, photo from Wikicommons)
We replaced the chicken wire on the boardwalk to Island Hide this week. The old stuff was getting quite rusty and had lifted up in places causing potential trip hazards. We’ve replaced the two old thin strands with one wider thicker strand of the chicken wire. This will hopefully last longer and will reduce the trip hazard. Picnic tables have had a coat of treatment to help them last longer, hides were cleaned and some tidying of the workshop area has also occurred.