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…

This week one of regular visitors manage to record 96 species on their visit to the reserve!

Car park, visitor centre, woodland

The woodlands and willow scrub have been alive with chiffchaffs and blackcaps and the odd willow warbler. A careful search has revealed pied flycatchers on a couple of occasions, plus whitethroats and reed warblers.

Blackcap, Phill Gwilliam

Reedbed

The main highlight has been 2 cattle egret…

It has been another varied week for sightings at RSPB Titchwell Marsh with action all over the reserve. 

Car park, visitor centre and woodland

This week the car park has been alive with birds including willow warblers, chiffchaffs, treecreepers, and the odd lesser whitethroat. On the 28 August a little owl was heard calling in the car park, a scarce bird for the reserve. A common redstart was present on the 30 August…

August is flying by, and with that here is a roundup of what has been seen at Titchwell this month. 

Car park, visitor centre & woodland

Green woodpeckers have been noticeable in their presence this month, as have great spotted woodpeckers,  often moving between willow wood and the visitor centre.

A pied flycatcher was briefly present around the visitor centre on the 5 August and on the tank road on the 9 August, throughout…

RSPB and the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk have joined together to organise a beach clean on Snettisham and Heacham South beach to mark the end of this year’s nesting season for ringed plover and oystercatcher- which is fast approaching! The beach clean will take place on Friday 2nd September, by which time seasonal fencing will have been removed (usually 31st of August when the last of the…

It has been a while since we have updated you on what has been seen at Titchwell, so here is a roundup of July.

Car park / visitor centre / east trail

At the start of July a crossbill flew west over the reserve and 3 coal tits were on the feeders. A couple of green woodpeckers have been heard around the willow wood area on a regular basis and a great spotted woodpecker is around the visitor centre.

Whitethroats and lesser…

Summer holidays are finally here! That means more time with family and friends and long days at our favourite beach splashing about in the sea, getting sand between our toes and finding new places to explore! But did you know - we aren’t the only ones exploring on our shores? There are some very tiny explorers on our beaches and if we don’t look out for them, we might not even notice they are there!

Beach…

People are often surprised to learn that ringed plover and oystercatcher nest on the beach and not in the vegetation of the dunes and scrub behind. At times like these we are incredibly grateful that they do as the nests for these birds were just out of reach of the flames from Tuesdays fires that tore through the coastal park at Wild Ken Hill – unlike some of the other wildlife that sadly we will have lost.

Our…

There has been plenty on offer at Titchwell over the past couple of weeks from firsts and seconds for the reserves and the continuing baby boom.

Reedbed

The star bird in the reebed has been the bitterns, with the female putting on a quite a show this week. It has been watched by many visitors, volunteers and staff fishing in the pools that adjacent to the west bank path. Now is the time to visit if you would like good views…

There is still a couple of months to go, but, Titchwell is on course for it's best breeding season in 10 years! This is a direct result of the LIFE on the Edge Freshwater Habitats Project that we were delivering during the autumn of 2021. 

Reedbed

We are delighted to report that in the reedbed we appear to have a nesting bittern! These secretive birds can be a challenge to survey but in recent weeks we are seeing lots…

An exciting update from Plovers in Peril project officers Wynona and Ben...

Phew! It has been a busy few weeks for the Plovers in Peril team! While the nation was fully embracing that super long jubilee weekend as a chance for some well-deserved rest and to enjoy some Norfolk sunshine, our staff and volunteers from the local community were out on the beach giving beach nesting birds like ringed plover and oystercatcher…

I doubt that anyone in the country was unaware of the nation’s recognition of Her Majesty’s 70-year reign. Four days of parades, concerts, street gatherings and tea parties would have been hard to miss. But amid all the Jubilee celebrations we might have overlooked another important event that deserved our attention and reverence, World Environment Day. Sunday June 5 marked the occasion for world leaders to review their…

This week is National Volunteers' Week and we want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all those who have given their time to helping beach nesting birds!

Plovers in Peril – an RSPB project in partnership with Wild Ken Hill and funded by the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk first launched in March 2021, taking a vital step to halt the worrying declines in the number of breeding ringed plover and oystercatcher…

 This week at Titchwell the avocet chick explosion continues, black headed gull chicks appear and an escaped Harris Hawk has taken up residence around the visitor centre.

 Reedbed / east trail

Three great white egrets are a daily occurrence unlike the bitterns which remain scarce though one was seen regularly on Wednesday 1 June.

 Bearded tits are fledging their first broods of the year but continue to be not that easy…

Eyes to the skies for this week’s sightings round up.

Reedbed & East Trail

In the reedbed a minimum of three great white egrets continues to be present, some are displaying the yellow bill which is their non-breeding plumage whilst at least one has the black bill and reddish tibia, which arises during courtship.

Some of our visitors have seen and / or heard the boom of the bittern. It is booming very softly…

This week at Titchwell we welcomed the first avocet chicks into the world and completed our monthly WeBS count.

Car Park, visitor centre & woodland

On Saturday 14 May a Turtle dove was heard briefly in the car park but has not been heard since. A Spotted flycatcher arrived on Sunday 15 May which increased to two birds on Tuesday 17 May. They were often seen at the top of the trees, so do keep looking up.

Also, on…

This week we saw the arrival of our first turtle dove of 2022, which brought the reserve year list up to an incredible 188 species! 

Car Park / visitor centre / woodland

The highlight for many on Sunday 8 May was a white-tailed eagle, that flew over the visitor centre. The white-tailed eagle is known as G801 a 2-year-old bird that is part of the Isle of Wight reintroduction programme. The bird was tracked along the coast…