Crookhill Primary School Visit 26th April 2010

Miss Cowley brought two of her pupils in today to do a bit of pond dipping and also to plant some lavender and nastertiums in some pots for "Jill's Jetty".

They also helped spread some wildflower grass seed on Butterfly Bank.

Here are the pots with the boys on the jetty.

The rest of the class will be here in a few weeks time to plant some more.

Whilst up there, I managed to take a photo of our new Coot chicks. There are six little "Ginger Eds" up there. Bless them!

The moor hen nest also produced 7 chicks. They were camera shy so didn't manage to get a photo of them. Will keep trying.

The rest of the class will be back in a few weeks time.

Busy as a Bee!

Well had our first practical with the bee hives at Kirkley Hall yesterday and I must say it was great. I didn't get stung once, either did anyone else there. The bees were quite friendly, in fact, and didn't need very much smoke to calm them.

The kit was a bit of a nightmare. Struggled a bit trying to get the boiler suit on and off over clothes, either that, I need to lose some more weight. We all looked very sexy in our get up.

Here is myself, Geoff and Dave.

It was a really sunny day and the bees were quite active. Here are some photos of inside the hive. The piccy with the bee with the green dot on her back is the Queen. She is marked like this so that you can easily see her and check her for any diseases etc.

Our group was divided into 3 sessions; we took the morning one. Here is the rest of the gang looking on as our tutor showed what to look for and also some photos of the feeding station. Bees need extra care during the winter months and get a supplement of a sugary substance. This keeps them going until pollen is available.

Here a photo of a bee coming in with her pollen sacks full.

Well that's all until next week on the bee front. I am now official photographer for the group so there will be alot more. We are actually going to open the hives and check the bees next week. That's when I get stung. Please feel free to visit me in hospital when it happens - ha ha!

Pond Dipping

On my trip with Brian and Alan to the Wetlands today to see how Anthony and Dan were getting on, had a venture onto the boardwalk on the reed bed.

Lots of life could be seen including tadpoles, newts and various bugs including snails, water boatman, whirligig beetles and caddisfly.

Caddisfly build the most fascinating houses. We found two today built from bits of wood. Did not have my camera with me today but will try and come in over the weekend and get some shots.

Our little new coots have ventured out onto the water and are swimming about quite happily.

Looks like it won't be long for the Moor Hen eggs to hatch as she didnt even get off her nest today when we were on the jetty. There is also a pair of Oystercatchers nesting on the island, next to the Canada Geese. Noisy blighters mind!

Whilst we were standing, two birds flew over our heads and landed on the far west bank. They were two Sand Pipers. That's a new one for our bird count.

Try and get some photos over the weekend and report back.

A Grandma Again

Well everyone, I am a Grandma again (not bad for being 43 is it?)

It's not my human family though, just my wildlife one. One of our Mother Coots has had her babies. Here is a piccy.

Have decided to call this little ginger one at the front "Ginger Ed" after Eddie Wilson. Mind this little one is much cuter than Eddie - ha ha!

We also have another coot nesting on another floating nest box (well done Davey for managing to get them all floating again).

Our moor hens are also nesting. No sign of life yet but will keep you posted.

No sign of life yet from our Canada Geese. Here she is still sitting quite happily.

Our resident Oystercatchers are back and have nested in the same spot as they do every year. No signs of babies yet but they shouldn't be long. This picture is taken on our site next to where I work. They come back every and have been very successful. There were four babies last year and they all survived.

We have another pair flying around too but I think that they must be nesting at the Wetlands somewhere. Will keep a lookout for them.

Also Dan and Anthony are back today and the boardwalk is coming along nicely. Hopefully the work should be finished in a few weeks.

They also tell me that they moved a pallet today and about 15 smooth newts swam away. This is great news as we weren't sure we had any this year. They have also found some frog spawn. Steve will be pleased!

Steve's helpers have been back in and completed putting the guards on the new hedgerow too. Some are starting to sprout leaves so must be growing.

Look out for an article on the hedgerow planting and boardwalk in the next quarter of the Wildlife Trust's Roebuck Magazine!

Crookhill Achievement Base - Naming of the swans and visit

Had a phone call today from Miss Cowley at Crookhill Primary School. She runs the Achievement base there and have been involved with the Wetlands Project for a few years now.

The kids have decided on some new names for our new resident swans and eventually decided on the names "Sam and Samantha". A certificate will be given to them thanking them for their continued support.

They will also be visiting next Monday to help plant some buddleia and pot up some plant pots for the jetties. They will hopefully be bringing along a new fish too.

I will take plenty of photos and post them next week.

Bird Count for 14th April

Here are the figures for this week:

Mute Swan - 2 plus 3 flyover
Canada Goose - 2
Mallard - 5
Tufted Duck - 6
Moorhen - 2
Coot - 3
Oystercatcher - 2
Herring Gull - 4
Greater Blackbacked Gull - 2 (NEW!)
Woodpigeon - 2
Collared Dove - 4
Pied Wagtail - 3
Dunnock - 2
Robin - 4
Blackbird - 2
Great Tit - 1
Magpie - 1
Jackdaw - 3
Crow - 1
Starling - 6
Chaffinch - 1
Goldfinch - 5

No figures next week as Jimmy is on holiday but if me or any of the team see anything, I will record that.


Also on a sadder note, our biggest koi was found dead yesterday. We do not know what he died of yet as we need to try and fish him out of the water. Hopefully, this will not affect the other fish in the lagoon.

Last Week's Bird Count

Here are the figures for last week. I have also started to count other critters that we see up there, so will keep you posted on them too.

7.4.10 Figures

Mute Swan - 2
Canada Goose - 2 (nesting)
Mallard - 4
Tufted Duck - 4
Coot - 4
Herring Gull - 2
Collard Dove - 3
Wood Pigeon - 3
Jackdaw - 6
Magpie - 2
Chaffinch - 2
Robin - 4
Goldfinch - 4
Pied Wagtail - 1
House Sparrow - 1
Partridge - 2
Sparrowhawk - 1
Oystercatcher - 3

9.4.10 Figures

Also spotted this week were:

Mute Swan - 2
Canada Goose - 2
Mallard - 4
Tufted Duck - 4
Coot - 4
Pied Wagtail - 2
Oystercatcher - 2
Moor Hen - 3
House Martin - 2
Dunnock - 2

Peacock Butterfly - 1
Common Newt - 1

Also our Koi are back up and swimming around near the new jetty. 3 have been spotted this week.

Spring is definately in the air!

Press Release - NWT Roebuck Magazine

Here is yet another article for our project. This is a good one to have as it goes out to every member of the Northumberland Wildlife Trust and any businesses that are members also.

Another Great Press Release

We have made The Journal this time. This was published on 1st April 2010

Breeding Season has begun

I have had a trip across to the Wetlands this lunchtime to see how the boys are getting along with the boardwalk and I am please to say that it is nearly finished. Here are a few shots of the guys at work.

Jonathan and his squad have been busy too and have finished "Sandra's Nook". It is very impressive and I can't wait to get my sun lounger on there for my picnic lunches.

Now on to the more important things. Our new pair of swans have starting nesting and it looks like the Canada Geese are about to start their mating rituals too. Our moorhens have built the biggest nest on top of one of the floating nest platforms and our Koi are back sunbathing. Here are a few shots of them.

Spot the Bird

As you are probably aware, our good friend Jimmy Alexander comes in every Wednesday for around 1 hour and does a bit of bird spotting for us. I thought it might be a good idea to put it on here what he has seen and also if anyone else sees anything of a rareity when he is not about. Here are last weeks (24th March 2010) "spot the bird" figures:

• Mute Swan - 2
• Canada Goose - 2
• Mallard - 4
• Tufted Duck - 13
• Moorhen - 2
• Coot - 4
• Oystercatcher - 2
• Black Headed Gull - 2
• Herring Gull - 2 (flyover)
• Wood Pigeon - 2
• Collared Dove - 4
• Pied Wagtail - 3
• Blackbird - 2
• Great Tit - 4
• Jackdaw - 7
• Crow - 1
• Goldfinch - 4

If any of you spot anything else on your travels around the Wetlands, please let me know. We have had some good sitings of other species of late which are worth recording. We are also part of the Bird Atlas, so any rare sitings of birds is good to know.

Article in News Post Leader 1st April 2010

Once again, thanks to the Wildlife Trust's PR Department, we have made it into the papers.

Well done everybody who was involved in the planting of the hedgerow.