The on form Titchwell continues to draw in the birds, with 24+ species of wader on site at the moment including the long staying Lesser Yellowlegs. But the highlight for a handful of people was an Alpine Swift which flew through this morning. Sadly as is quite often the case the bird didn't linger so many of us missed out on seeing it. Early bird catches the worm as they say. 

Hi everyone,

Ben here,

it was a scorching week with temperatures exceeding 30C until a massive thunderstorm hit on Friday evening which has dumped a load more water onto the reserve. 

We carried out another Dune Tiger Beetle survey this week. Last week it was a bit too windy for the beetles, and this week we think it may have been too hot for them! We only managed to see four beetles. Three over towards Titchwell Creek…

Despite the heatwave with temperatures here exceeding 30C we have been able to keep hold of water on our Freshmarsh making it a wader haven. Most days you can expect to see more than 20 species of wader. One of our regular birders took the 20 minute challenge to see how many species you can see in 20 minutes. Between the car park and Freshmarsh he wracked up an impressive 52 species, time ran out so the Freshmarsh wasn…

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…

Weekly Blog

July 9^th – 13^th

Hi everyone,

Hi I’m Rosie from Berkshire and I’ve spent a week as a residential volunteer at Titchwell. As a keen birdwatcher and Zoology student, this week has been short yet insightful and I’ve definitely enjoyed my time here. During the week, I have helped out on the weekly moth morning, cleared paths on the Snettisham reserve and helped with the general maintenance of the reserve…

18 species of waders were recorded at Titchwell over the weekend including 14 on the Freshmarsh. Today's highlight was a very showy Temminck's stint in front of the Parrinder hide. 

Weekly Blog

July 2^nd – 6^th

Hi everyone,

I’m Jenny,

It’s been really great to revisit Titchwell for a week as a short term volunteer, for the fourth consecutive year, and to receive such a warm welcome from all the staff! Apart from the usual ongoing tasks of litter –picking, hide cleaning and vegetation clearance, the highlights have been a morning at Snettisham getting reacquainted with the reserve and…

June 25^th – 29^th

Hi everyone,

Hope you all had a good week. 

We’ve been cutting the West Bank path again this week and have finally finished it… for now. Now there should be no overhanging vegetation for a few weeks at least. You will have noticed we have cut the vegetation in front of Parrinder North and Island hide, however we haven't cut the vegetation in front of Parrinder south. At the moment there are still…

Whilst everyone else has been experiencing a heatwave the cool sea has prevented the high temperatures hitting the thermometer. 

Here are some photos taken by a couple of our volunteers

1. Avocet with eggs, Geoff Fitt

2. Fledged Marsh Harriers, Les Bunyan

 

Reserve team up date from Ben

The past couple of weeks we have been doing a lot of brushcutting. We cut a path at Snettisham, this was the loop trail around Pit 4 to the South of the reserve. We also brushcut along the edges of the meadow and fen trail boardwalks, started along west bank path and in front of island hide and Patsy’s reedbed.

Painting has included oiling the wooden routed signs and repaingting the…

A good selection of moths were discovered in the traps at Titchwell this week. We will be running the trap again tonight 14/6 and will be opened from 10am on Friday 15/6 The event is free to attend. 

Species

Number

Buff ermine

3

Common Swift

2

Heart and Dart

1

Turnip moth

3

Setaceous Hebrew Character

5

Double Square Spot

…

As we roll through June on Freshmarsh the Meditteranean and Black headed gulls are busy feeding their youngsters. The avocets are currently still sitting on eggs and a couple of pairs of commen tern can also be found. Various broods of ducklings have been seen including Shoveler, Pochard, Red crested Pochard, Tufted, Gadwall and Mallard so it is worth taking a closer look at the markings on the ducklings to see who they…

Titchwell is buzzing with all sorts of wildlife at the moment. Ducklings from Pochards, Red Crested Pochards and mallards are occuring across the site with more appearing almost daily. Waders are dropping in for a brief rest and feed. Whilst on Freshmarsh the first fledged black headed gull was seen yesterday. We are still waiting for the avocets to hatch. 

Weekly Reserve Update: June 4^th – 8^th

Hi everyone,

Ben here, I’d like to introduce David, our first short term residential volunteer for the summer, he will be with us until the 16^th June

Hi I’m David Killon. I come from Manchester, this is my first time volunteering at Titchwell. My highlights of the week have been seeing a Turtle Dove, receiving my Silver Puffin pin badge as recognition for my ten years…

On Tuesday nights we set two moth traps here at Titchwell in preparation for our FREE Marvelous Moth mornings on Wednesday between 10am -12pm. After a few quiet weeks because of the sea fog a decent number were in the trap this morning. 

Moth

Number

Small Magpie

3

Silver-ground carpet

3

Grass Carpet

2

May Highflier

3

Light Emerald

5

…

 It has been a busy weekend for birds fledging across the reserve with young bearded tits, sedge warblers and blackcaps being seen. On the Freshmarsh there are lots of Black-headed gull and Mediterranean Gull chicks. The Black tailed and Bar tailed Godwits have been feeding close to the west bank path, a great opportunity to study the differences between the two species. 

With the sun coming out a number of…

Volunteers are vitally important in supporting the work of the RSPB. Here at Titchwell we offer long term and short term residential volunteering opportunities where you become part of the reserve team. Over the coming weeks  you'll hear from our residential volunteers about what they get up to on the reserve.

Hi everyone,

My name is Ben and I’m the new residential volunteer here at Titchwell Marsh. I will be volunteering…

The past couple of weeks have seen some great birds pass through Titchwell. Highlights for many was a singing Greenish Warbler last week and on Bank Holiday Monday there was a Grey-headed wagtail in the horse paddocks adjacent to the reserve.

This week the first fledged Bearded tits have been seen from the west bank path. Black-headed gull hatching is well under way and the first Mediterranean Gull chicks were seen today…

The RSPB’s vision of rebuilding a hide lost in the 2013 storm surge at RSPB Snettisham nature reserve on the Norfolk coast has been realised thanks to a generous grant from WREN’s FCC Community Action Fund which has taken the appeal to its final total of £140,000. Now the new hide needs a new name.

 The appeal to rebuild the hide was kick-started by the charity last summer through a 34 day Crowdfunder…

Overview of some of the highlights from the weekend.

Please do come back to the visitor centre which is open 9am - 5pm every day and report your sightings to us or let us know via email titchwellmarsh@rspb.org.uk or via Twitter using #rspbtitchwell 

What a cracking weekend the Bank Holiday was with wall to wall sunshine and temperatures soaring. 

On Saturday 6th May we held our annual Dawn Chorus walk to tie in with International Dawn Chorus day. The birds around the picnic area and car park were in full song although the reedbed birds were having a lie in. However nonetheless everyone enjoyed their morning. 

As I was in that day leading the walk I then decided to…