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Friends of Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve
Have you heard about the *FREE* 90 minute Connect3 Nature Wellbeing Walks taking place at Portbury Wharf every 2nd Monday of the month (starting 10th February)?![]()
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To find out more and sign up visit the organiser's Mudita Salus CIC website www.muditasalus.co.uk/connect3.
A closer view of the hunkered down snipe with head tilted, perhaps watching for the Marsh Harrier?
The Snipe and Lapwing on the edge of North Pool today were keeping a wary eye out for the Marsh Harrier.
I've been out and about this weekend, taking some pictures of our local coastal wetlands. The two days were very different, light wise, but there was still lots to see out there. ![]()
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January was a wet month, but almost half our rain fell on two days so rain only fell on 12 days - its just that on two days there was a lot! We accumulated 94 mm of rain in the month just up the hill from The Royal
There was a new moon earlier this week and, as ever, a few days after both a new and full moon, the high tides peak. This morning thr good news for International Wetlands Day (and weekend!) is that the wet is getting very close! This morning at about 0949 the high tide will reach a height of 13.37 m, which means it's right up the salt marsh so you will find lots of wildlife has been ushered into close proximity. Mice, shrews and voles will ofetn beenm seen scampering into the undergrowth along the top of the sea wall, and lots of waders and waterfowl will be hunting the water margin for asty morsels as they float up out of the highly specialised grasses and plants that live out there.![]()
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With all this wildlife pushed together at the top of the salt marsh it would be great if you could keep your canaine comapnions on leads along the sea wall for a couple of hours - Thanks in Advance, and enjoy your walk!
Did you know it's World Wetlands Day on 2nd February? This is a global celebration of Wetlands and will highlight the significant contribution wetlands make to both diversity and sustainability. When managed well, wetlands play a crucial role in moderating the effects of climate change. We - Friends of PWNR – are doing our bit by promoting the new Wetlands Trail that has been installed across the most relevant parts of our local wetlands. . There are 12 permanent posts in the Wetlands Trail. Eleven are installed by the key habitats on Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve and one post (No. 9) is on the Ecology Park. They tell you about each of the habitats and show you the creatures that you might see there. All the posts are easily accessible on well developed footpaths, so there’s no need to head off piste! You should also keep an eye on our webpages for news of when the seasonal speciality boards get swapped over. The Nature Trail is going to change every few months!![]()
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You can find out all about the Wetlands Trail by going to this web page: www.portburywharfnaturereserve.co.uk/wetlands-trail/
What a lovely day to try out the Wetlands Trail at Portbury Wharf!![]()
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Do you have a picture of the Wetlands Trail that you would like to share?![]()
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#wetlandstrailuk
On such a wet and windy day we thought we would try to bring an instalment of the World Wetlands Day trail to you. . . . fingers crossed this video clip works!🤞 Let us know if you want to see more from the trail.
Its wet and windy out there today, so I am going to hazard a guess that there aren't that many of us out on the Reserve this morning. What a difference a day makes! Yesterday was so lovely. We walked to the Lake Grounds for a change of scenery, and were delighted to see so many water fowl on the lake. The male Tufties and Mallards are in their wooing plumage, dandying about and generally making a nuisance of themselves, whilst the mature swans are getting back together with their partners and rekindling their relationships. There's a lot of neck arching going on down there! Swans mate for life and both take an active part in raising the cygnets, but after that they drift apart for a few months downtime- maybe they head off to a different part of the world but then they tend to return to their old territories and in spring, they start all over again! (BTW, the younger swans may not pair up for their first 2 or even three years) The crows on the sea front are so tame these days. They just fluff out their feathers, hunch their shoulders, and leave you to leave them alone! And finally, as soon as there is any sunshine, the robins all head up to the top of a tree yo shout out that this is their patch! "Gerrorf my laaand!
The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) were ringing birds in the sanctuary when they found an immature sparrow hawk in their nets! I am hoping they will be posting a couple of the pictures they took on here when they get home! You can find out more about these high performing raptors at the BTO's species page ![]()
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BTW, it was their car, with permission, by the Tower Hide this morning (Sunday)![]()
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www.bto.org/understanding-birds/birdfacts/sparrowhawk
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Last Updated: July 18, 2019 by fpwnr
Looking for dragonflies
After a very quiet start to the season, last week’s survey of PWNR turned out to be one of our best.
Some surprises included a Red-veined Darter (well done Dave) on the North Pools. It’s an uncommon species that comes across here from Europe. This seems to be a good year for them.
There was also Small Red-eyed Damsels (previously only seen on the Sanctuary pool) and Brown Hawker on one of the ponds in the grazing meadow.
We also spotted five Scarce Chasers close to the Seasonal Path rhyne during June’s survey. All very positive despite last year’s drought.
Here are a few other images from the day:
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