Friday 31 July 2015

Places available for guided walk with Graham Bell this Sunday - call now to book.

Just a quick post to let you know there are still places available for the guided walk with Graham Bell. This is a free event starting at 10.00 am on Sunday last roughly 2 hrs looking at the wonderful bird life of Lindisfarne. Please get in touch on 01289381470 to book.

(c) JDD

Wednesday 29 July 2015

Dunes in action

The dunes around Lindisfarne are constantly moving and the pictures below of the North Shore shows a dune in action.





You can see the clear boundary between the sand and the pioneer species such as Sea Couch and Lyme Grass. These hardy grasses help stabilise the dune by trapping sand which allows their roots systems to develop. There is also a clear line between these pioneer species and the dark green Marram grass which takes up the relay and establishes the dune further. On a first look this is just a picture of Lindisfarne NNR however if you look closer it's amazing what you can discover. 

Monday 27 July 2015

New Event added to the list - Guided walk by Graham Bell

We are very excited to announce that a new event has been added to our events list. Local Bird expert and reserve volunteer Graham Bell has agreed to take a walk for us this Sunday 2nd August looking at the amazing bird life of Lindisfarne NNR.

If you would like to come on the walk please get in touch we will be starting at 10.00 o'clock at the Window on Wild Lindisfarne. The walk should take a couple of hours aiming to finish around 12.00 o'clock.

Contact the office to book and for more details. 01289381470

(c) JD

Lindisfarne Schools Project

24 Young Nature Wardens from Rothbury First School have been exploring Lindisfarne during July with reserve warden Mhairi and other Natural England staff.  They have done some exciting activities including rockpooling, butterfly spotting and beach art.  They were an enthusiastic bunch and took their Nature Warden duties seriously; explore, look after yourselves and the environment and have fun!




By Lydia Nixon, CSF River Basin Co-ordinator

Tuesday 21 July 2015

Peak Bird Counts – June 2015

It's just past half way through July now and we've been totting up the peak counts from June. Below are a selection of the peak numbers of birds we had on the reserve during the monthly wetland bird survey.


Cormorant 18
Little Egret 2    
Grey Heron 5    
Whooper Swan 1    
Shelduck 166
Teal 8
Eider 146 Adults 97 Juvenile
Oystercatcher 86
Ringed Plover 36                                                  
Dunlin 29
Whimbrel 4
Curlew 158
Turnstone 7


 

Wednesday 15 July 2015

Scoter

About a week ago we were called to the island to help an injured bird. To our surprise it was this little fella....




This is a common scoter found by George on The Island. He was able to catch it which meant something was up. This small duck is more at home at sea and it became apparent that it was severely under weight. After a quick call to the local wildlife rescue Berwick Swan and Wildlife Trust they agreed to take it in and help nurse it back to health. We are still waiting for an update as to what happened to the bright billed chap..




Monday 13 July 2015

School group explore the reserve

At the weekend we had a school group from Ponteland out on the reserve. They came to explore the reserve using bikes. We had a great day trying to spot as many species as possible whilst we rode between activities with Dave and Heather .



There is no cycling on the NNR itself so bikes were left securely on the cycle paths and at designated spots while the kids walked onto the reserve for beach art, rock pooling and exploring.
Below is a picture from Dave's twitter showing NNR staff talking to the group before going on the beach to learn to make some beach art.






Sunday 12 July 2015

County Flower On Show

The reserve stretches to Cheswick Black Rocks and whilst accessing from the carpark at Cheswick there is an aray of different flowers and sun traps for butterflies. In particular Bloody Cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum), the county flower of Northumberland, ensures the dunes are awash with a bright purple colour.
 


Thursday 9 July 2015

Lough hide


The construction of the new lough hide is almost complete with just a few minor jobs and the installation of information boards.

The new hide was supported by the Peregrini Lindisfarne HLF Landscape Partnership.

We hope to open the hide by the end of July.

The build to date:




                                         The old Lough hide showing its age & hole in the roof
                                           

                                         Removal of old hide and boardwalk - commence new foundations




                                         Larch supports and floor in place




                                         Roof on and larch cladding underway




                                         Cladding completed, doors, windows and living roof installed

Saturday 4 July 2015

Butterflies and dune confetti

Great week for butterflies, with species such as small heath, dark green fritillary, ringlet, meadow brown and common blue all on the wing.





                                         Dark green fritillary



                                         Ringlet

Whilst walking along the desire lines in the dunes keep your eyes open for dune confetti (Bog pimpernel).


                                          Bog pimpernel