Space for Shorebirds Welcomes Tara!
I am delighted to introduce myself as the newest member of the Wildlife Ranger team with Space for Shorebirds! As a lifelong lover of the Northumberland coast, I am really looking forward to meeting everyone who calls this special place home and all those visiting, including the fabulous birds.
My background is in conservation and education, a meandering career taking me across the country. I moved from Northumberland to London after finishing school to study geography at university. After my degree, I hopped between the north and south, working as a teaching assistant in a London school and volunteering with conservation charities such as the RSPB and Wildlife Trusts. Getting involved in community-centred projects, I became especially interested in access to nature for young people and people with diverse learning needs and disabilities. These are passions I’m excited to bring into my work with Space for Shorebirds, and I’m keen to collaborate with others on making wildlife education accessible to all.
I decided working with birds on the coast was the place to be after joining the RSPB on species recovery projects in Dorset and Norfolk. These projects were all about protecting nests throughout the breeding season for some our most threatened shorebird species, with the ultimate goal of increasing populations to ensure their survival. The species I worked with included the little tern, ringed plover and oystercatcher, all of which have experienced dramatic population declines over recent decades. Witnessing the incredible efforts of these birds in raising their young, they are definitely my top three favourites. We are lucky enough to share Northumberland with all of them, so here’s some introductions:
Ringed plovers reside in Northumberland all year round, over the winter spending much time running amongst sandy shingle and vegetation to catch insects, taking a well-earned rest when possible, and when spring comes they are busy nesting and raising their young close to the shoreline.
Ringed plovers, as with all shorebirds, need plenty of space from people to carry out all this hard work. If you see them on the coast, please keep your distance, following any signage you see and advice from rangers, while enjoying their endless entertainment!
Oystercatchers are also here throughout the year, often seen in large numbers on muddy estuaries in winter, and nesting on nearby fields or more urban and industrial areas such as gravel substrates in summer. A bird with beautifully vivid plumage, a bright red bill to match, and a call that becomes unmistakeable once your ear is in. If you do hear an oystercatcher calling, be mindful of where it’s coming from; they will often raise the alarm first in the face of disturbance to feeding, roosting or nesting sites.
The little tern is a migratory species, flying all the way from Africa every spring to nest throughout the British Isles. Little terns nest in shallow scrapes on sand and shingle, never venturing far from the shoreline while raising their young. In summer, look out for their impressive flights and see them hovering over the waves to catch fish. The best places in Northumberland to see little terns are the Long Nanny and Lindisfarne; if you’re lucky enough to visit these reserves, please watch your step around cordoned beaches, follow signage and have a chat with one of the many friendly rangers.
Not long into the job with Space for Shorebirds, I’m already seeing real enthusiasm for birdlife across the diverse bunch of people making up our coastal communities. No wonder, given this is one of the best places in the country for breeding, migratory and wintering species! One of the biggest challenges to the survival of shorebirds being human disturbance, I think in Northumberland there is huge potential to turn this around by protecting what we have and giving birds the space they need.
