Area of cut reed at RSPB Saltholme

Well camouflaged Jack Snipe squatting in cut reeds (bottom right of the image).

Jack Snipe sat in cut reeds

Jack Snipe sat in cut reeds

Cutting reedbeds helps slow succession, diversifies structure & provides better viewing of wildlife. This cut area @rspbengland.bsky.social #Saltholme is currently hosting up to 9 #JackSnipe. Lots of happy #birders enjoying close views of the bobbing camo masters today. #RSPBEcology

Pioneer wetland habitat. Hodbarrow.

Pioneer wetland habitat. Hodbarrow.

Samolus valerandi

Isolepis setacea

And some really nice wetland mosaics with Samolus valerandi (local & coastal distribution in Cumbria) & Isolepis setacea in an area where scrub has been opened up to create a #Natterjack Toad corridor.
@rspbengland.bsky.social
#RSPBEcology

#SandwichTerns having an excellent year at @rspb.bsky.social #Hodbarrow. c.950 pairs and a bare minimum of 400 chicks with many pairs still on eggs. Great to see after #AvianInfluenza #HPAI greatly impacted the species in 2022 and 2023. #terns #seabirds #RSPBEcology

Coquet Island Seabird Assistant Warden We are looking for a seasonal Assistant Warden to join the team on the island for 4 months in the peak of the breeding season. You will help in reserve monitoring and management. Accommodation will be...

Coquet Island Seabird Assistant Warden - RSPB - www.environmentjob.co.uk/jobs/104632-... Awesome job claxon! #RSPBEcology #seabirds #jobs

Pair of Roseate Terns on RSPB Coquet Island

Adult with fledgling Roseate Tern on RSPB Coquet Island

Newly fledged Roseate Tern on RSPB Coquet Island

Juvenile Roseate Tern on RSPB Coquet Island

A real highlight of 2024 was high breeding productivity for @rspbengland.bsky.social #CoquetIsland #RoseateTern colony. They & other #seabirds took a battering from #AvianInfluenza in 2022 & 2023 so to see this resilience & recovery in one of our rarest breeders was great to see. #RSPBEcology

Bumpy micro-topography for roosting waders and wildfowl.

Saline lagoon with mini islets

Lapwing flock over saline lagoon islets

Spotted Redshank, Leighton Moss RSPB

Really neat #salinelagoon tinkering by the @rspbengland.bsky.social #LeightonMoss #Lancashire wardens. Simply dig and drop with a 360 excavator bucket. The result - mini islets and varied microtopography much favoured by roosting #waders and #wildfowl. #RSPBEcology

https://youtu.be/R65ZUoG0DDQ?si=2yaQEVO8MiZxOBx4

Wonderful film about our @RSPBEngland #Geltsdale reserve, featuring the brilliant team that deliver thriving #wildlife (including #waders #shorebirds 🙌), flood resilience, nature-friendly farming and carbon storage. Watch then visit! #RSPBEcology t.co/Jbg7LyREBg

Wonderful film about our @RSPBEngland #Geltsdale reserve, featuring the brilliant team that deliver thriving #wildlife (including #waders #shorebirds 🙌), flood resilience, nature-friendly farming @NFFNUK and carbon storage. Watch then visit! #RSPBEcology...

Been a wet year so #INNS #Crassula has spread on Rimmer's Marsh @RSPB_Ribble #Marshside. 😭One of the tools to keep it in check & retain muddy feeding areas for #waders is cattle grazing & trampling. Note the contrast between grazed & ungrazed sides of the fence. #RSPBEcology

#CommonTern 2.26 ringed as a chick @RSPBSaltholme in 2021 now breeding #Seaforth. Others from Anglesey Skerries & Dublin plus multiple juveniles from @RSPBEngland #Hodbarrow. Nomads. Love them & proud to be playing a part in helping them thrive 💚 #RSPBEcology @urbanwildthing

The #Hodbarrow #Spoonbills put on a brilliant show yesterday. Four adults & four juveniles present. Here's a head banger begging for food from its constantly harassed parent! Great to see a successful nest again after a blank year in 2023. #RSPBEcology @urbanwildthing @NHarnser

Ace habitat diversity & complexity in @RSPBAireValley #StAidans reedbeds. Niches for multiple species. Alive with #Bitterns #BlackNeckedGrebes #Pochards #Garganey and #BlackHeadedGulls. No accident. Constant tinkering & dynamic management from the site team. Superb. #RSPBEcology

The emotional roller-coaster ride and challenges of delivering breeding wader conservation on nature reserves, set within ecologically denuded landscapes, brilliantly communicated by those on the front line. 😥 #waders #shorebirds #RSPBEcology...

Our conservation work extends beyond the main reserve @RSPBSaltholme, working with neighbouring landowners & other organisations to benefit #nature wherever we can. Great to see recent enhancements to Cowpen Marsh delivering for #wildfowl & #waders. More to come.... #RSPBEcology

#StAidans @RSPBAireValley is a top place to see #Bittern. We're keeping it that way by cutting areas of reed with a #Truxor. This creates valuable edge habitat, slows succession & helps improve the visitor experience by providing sight lines into the reedbed. #RSPBEcology

Love a bit of inland wader #vismig & today @RSPBAireValley #StAidans was in the zone. Fly-through Turnstone and Barwit highlights plus 19 Ringo, LRP, Dunlin, Greenshank, Green Sand, 2 Blackwit, 11 Ruff, 7 Snipe and 220+ Lapwing enjoying the eastern reedbed mudfest. #RSPBEcology

Long time since I saw over 100 species at one UK site in a day. Where else but @RSPBFrampton. Simply never disappoints. Absolutely rammed with birds giving nose to beak views in brilliantly maintained habitat. Mega. Happy birder. #RSPBEcology 💚💯

Great work by @BoomCumbria & @RSPBEngland #Hodbarrow #Cumbria team to translocate #SmallBlue onto site. #Butterfly bank creation and Kidney Vetch planting ahead of a release of 30 individuals in late May looks like it's now bearing fruit. #RSPBEcology @Blackledge68 @JFDIecologist

#Hodbarrow's calcareous grassland is important for many different types of plants & invertebrates. #Butterflies are one such group. Numerous #Grayling were on the wing yesterday including this ovipositing female. Look carefully & you'll see the egg! #RSPBEcology

Yet another piece in the ecological restoration jigsaw falls in to place @WildHaweswater thanks to targeted #ConservationGrazing. #MarshFritillary #RSPBEcology...

Breeding #waders continue to do really well @RSPBSaltholme thanks to a programme of habitat improvements and a new predator exclusion fence. Fantastic views of multiple broods of Avocet from the Saltholme Pools hide with chunky L, OC & RK chicks here too. 👌 #RSPBEcology

After 5 years protection from grazing by a fenced exclosure, this Rowan is liberated and now stands guard over a lush nursery of its saplings eager to reforest the fellside. #Nature can recover itself. We just need to give it the chance. At @wildhaweswater, we are. #RSPBEcology

A glorious Friday ecologising @WildHaweswater with @leeinthelakes. So much progress being made towards this wonderful reserve’s #EcologicalRestoration. A thread... #RSPBEcology

A lovely gang of #Ruff on Rimmer's Marsh at @RSPB_Ribble #Marshside. At least 54 seen on site today. #RSPBEcology #waders #shorebirds

Nice end to a few days out east ecologising. 6 #Cranes & two chicks at the small but perfectly formed @LincsWildlife #WillowTreeFen. A taste of the great #wetland richness we could restore if only there was the political will to truly upscale such habitat creation. #RSPBEcology

#EcologicalRestoration underway @RSPBSaltholme #WilderSaltholme. Formerly species-poor grazed pasture & arable being transformed. Colour, scent, sound, diversity, untidiness, complexity, chaos, structure, dynamism, LIFE! Lots more to come from this exciting project. #RSPBEcology

First #Bowland wader survey of the year near #Slaidburn this morning. The big five #Lapwing #Curlew #Redshank #Snipe & #Oystercatcher all present and correct. Lapwings on eggs, the others won't be far behind. Landowner pulling out all the stops for #waders here. 👌 #RSPBEcology

#WorldWetlandsDay. Critical parts of our planet that give us so much. We need to give back, halt their destruction & restore & create more. Working with awesome @RSPBEngland colleagues, I consider it a privilege to have these absolute urban wonders under my wing. #RSPBEcology

This gorgeous #HenHarrier is a regular sight @RSPB_Ribble #Marshside currently & treated me & @Dan_Gornall to a flyby in the winter sunshine this afternoon. All thanks to the diverse, seed-rich, ungrazed saltmarsh stacked out with finch & Skylark prey. #RSPBEcology

Nice views of #Snipe at various places around @RSPBLeightonM today, especially where the site team have purposely cut vegetation in front of the hides to provide close views for visitors. 👌 This ace #JackSnipe was with them to the right of Causeway hide. #waders #RSPBEcology