Behind the scenes: RSPB reserves at Christmas

Skiing to work
Richard Thaxton, Loch Garten

In the last few days before the Christmas break, reserve staff deliver a festive bag of Yule-tide logs as a gesture of goodwill to the homes of old folk in our neighbouring villages of Boat of Garten and Nethybridge.

As we often have snow at Christmas, time is spent keeping basic life-support systems going, like keeping the pipes from freezing and digging the car out to go to the village for provisions. We have to keep reserve tracks open with our snowplough for the Postie to deliver and for other services like heating oil deliveries.

The plus side of snow at Christmas here at Abernethy is to take the opportunity to get out and explore the reserve on cross-country skis. We even commute to work on skis in early January - there can't be many other RSPB reserves where that happens!

Water birds and winter skies
Helen Moncrieff, Shetland

Shetland reserves in mid-winter are very quiet. Most of our seabirds spend the winter at sea, but a Christmas visit to Sumburgh Head (weather permitting!) can still reveal fulmars paired up on the cliffs or surfing on the wind, and shags lower down. 

The Loch of Spiggie reserve is a winter refuge for wildfowl. The loch looks stunning with whooper swans gracing the watery reflection of winter skies.

We can't get to Mousa in the winter as there is no ferry. I imagine though, that the hundred grey seal pups grow in size and strength, and Arctic visitors like purple sandpipers and long-tailed ducks could be seen. These birds always capture my imagination and I wonder whether they have encountered polar bears before reaching Shetland. 
 
Generally, we don't go into the office over Christmas, but I often pop up to Sumburgh Head just for a walk anyway and to put out seed for the birds. It's a great view, and it's good to visit when it is blowing a gale, too. The sea can look amazing.

Christmas on a quad bike
Ian Bathorpe, Minsmere

Although the reserve is closed on Christmas Day, there’s still work to be done, and one lucky warden draws the short straw each year. Recently, that’s been our Senior Site Manager Adam Rowlands, as he lives on site.
 
So, with no visitors around, what tasks draw a warden from his Christmas morning at home? Just like any livestock farmer, we need to check our animals daily: Highland cattle; Konik and Exmoor ponies; Manx Loghtan and Wiltshire Horn sheep.

Unlike many farmers, we don't need to provide food – the animals are here to graze our heaths, fens and wet grasslands to keep them in tip top condition for birds and other important wildlife.

We do, however, need to check the animals' welfare. Are they healthy? Are they all there? Have any got stuck? With so many livestock spread across Minsmere's almost 1,000 hectares, it's not a quick job, even on a quad bike.
 
Although Minsmere's visitor centre, hides and nature trails are closed, you can discover Minsmere's wildlife for yourself on Christmas Day by completing the five mile circuit of the reserve’s outer areas. What better way to work off Christmas dinner?

Bird cakes with lard stuffing
Rachael Tulloch, Bempton Cliffs

Christmas dinner at the Bempton Cliffs feeding station is an informal affair - more of a buffet than a sit down meal. Staff and volunteers will spend the days leading up to the 25th cleaning feeders, preparing bird cakes and making stuffing (sunflower and lard flavour) before dressing the tables on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day itself, the birds are left to their own devices.

Against the pure white snow, the cliffs here look like they could do with a good jet wash! Years of birds nesting on the ledges and in the cracks of the chalk cliffs have taken their toll and given the limestone a rather grey colour.

Fortunately, the sheer size and beauty of the cliffs still take your breath away, no matter how many times you see them.

Our reserve is open to the public 24/7, so although the visitor centre will be shut on Christmas Day, it’s still possible for visitors to take an after dinner stroll along the wintry cliff tops (weather permitting).

On Christmas day the RSPB gave to me: 1,000 avocets
Paul Morton, Arne

For me personally, there is nothing better than a walk at Arne at Christmas. I first visited the reserve as a five-year-old boy, one cold, crisp Christmas eve, and the memory has always stuck. Twenty-odd years down the line, I am now trying to help tell the public about the work we do here, and highlight the amazing wildlife that can be seen.

Winter is an incredible time of year in Poole Harbour, with birds arriving from all around the world to spend the cold months here. A gentle stroll around one of our walks can bring you close to over 1,000 avocets, or you might be lucky as a male hen harrier quarters the marshland hunting.

You’ll be sure to see something that takes your breath away, from Dartford warblers to spoonbills and shrikes.

The visitor centre will be closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, but our car park will be free as a Christmas present to our visitors.

Stoatily freezing – but a woodcock's worth it
Robbie Blackhall-Miles, Conwy

8am in the sleet and snow: it’s 2.2 miles around Conwy nature reserve, and rain or shine the hides have to be opened and the ponies checked! They graze the land so our lapwings have a better chance of breeding.
 
The hide is ahead of me is welcome respite from the freezing temperatures. Only three more doors to unlock. The birds don’t seem to be too bothered by the winter weather but then they are also totally unaware that it is supposed to be the holiday season.

One water rail, 30 siskins, a stoat and hundreds of starlings later, I eventually get back to the visitor centre to perform my daily duties.

4.30 pm and it's out again to lock the hides and check the ponies before we lock up for the night. A woodcock takes off from beneath my feet and it makes it all worthwhile. I love working on a nature reserve (even if it is Christmas)!