Many apologies for the dearth of blogging of late. Again this was in no way born of a lack of newsworthy material but simply a case of too little time. I hasten to add that previous periods of prolific blogging were seldom a case of the devil finding work for idle hands!
By a distance the biggest news over recent weeks (or months or years) has been the departure of Nick T who has taken up the position of Kingcombe Centre Manager with the Wildlife Trust. It is strange to think of Nick as our erstwhile boss but perhaps it's best to focus on his list of improvement that he has made to the RSPB sites in Weymouth during his years in the hot seat. Suffice to say Nick's achievements were considerable and too numerous to mention here. When Nick took over, Radipole’s conservation status (as judged by Natural England against a set of site specific objectives) was ‘Unfavourable Declining’ which is the lowliest category that a SSSI can inhabit. Earlier this year, after years of striving, the reserve was adjudged to be in favourable condition – the best conservation status that a SSSI can achieve due, in no small part to Nick T’s dedication and persistence.
Mr T.
As previously revealed in blog-form. Anne too has left but remains within the RSPB as part of RSPB Ecological Services (née DHP). Geoff has left the VC after seventeen years and Pam is soon to depart after two… so all change in Weymouth RSPB.
Above: Anne's last stand with Martyn Foster RSPB London manager centre. Thanks to Pete Clinch for the picture.
Allan Neilson, thankfully has been as active as ever across the whole gamut of what he does for us, from butterfly transects and bird surveys to the painstaking compilation our excellent, all encompassing Weymouth Reserves Natural History Report – the 2010 edition of which is now available (for a trifling sum) in the V.C. Get yours while stocks last!
Allan, I am grateful to say, also provides us with photographs of such quality that to not blog them would be a crime. I am sure that the recent examples following will provide sufficient evidence to support this last statement…
The world still turns and Weymouth Wetlands still turns up some amazing wildlife. Thanks Allan for the photo's - to say the very least!
Of course the Arne management are first class Sooty, I don't doubt that but we did have something special here and now we've lost three of the key people who made it special (albeit two have moved to Arne), plus the managerial emphasis has moved to another site, how can we expect standards to remain as high as we were used to? You can't take out such a chunk of commitment and expertise and expect a 'business as usual' approach and especially when the new masters are nowhere to be seen!
Seize the day!