A time to reflect and be thankful
Coming to the end of the third full year that Space for Shorebirds has been up and running it’s a great time to reflect upon what has been achieved.
It’s Ben’s first full year as part of the team and he had to make a flying start because I had a broken elbow due to falling on ice whilst on out on site at Newbiggin. He and Katherine then had to deliver all engagement work on the beaches and all disturbance monitoring work for the first two months of the year – both managing superbly well. Then we were straight into preparations for the breeding bird season, delivering training sessions for Coast Care volunteers and assessing the potential nesting sites.
Talks
Katherine delivered a well-attended “Shorebirds of the Northumberland coast” talk to Longhoughton Warm hub and I delivered a talk to residents in Beadnell about shorebird nesting season with James Porteus of the National Trust and a talk about our work to the Northumberland and Tyneside Bird Club. Improving awareness of the birds on the coast is a key part of our work so if you belong to a group based in Northumberland that would be interested in hosting a talk then please do get in touch.
Walks – lots and lots of walks
From Berwick to Newbiggin we’ve held more Shorebird for Beginners events this year with more people attending than ever. The feedback from these sessions is very encouraging:
“(We)…loved the experience of being out with two such experienced and thoughtful guides. We learned a lot and feel inspired to watch and learn more about the incredible local wildlife.”
Members of Berwick Educational Association at a Shorebirds for Beginners event at Little Beach in November
We’re really pleased that people see these sessions as being open and welcoming to all and it’s notable how many of the attendees are women wanting to learn more about the wildlife around them. Several people that attended our walks have since gone on to volunteer for Coast Care and have become involved in chick watch work during the breeding season. Showing that helping people to learn about the birds, their lives and challenges is important as well as presenting people with a positive way to help.
Fairs, festivals and fates
Working with a brilliant designer (Stork and Owl) we launched a new pop up exhibition so even when we’re away from the coast we can bring the shorebirds to life with colourful displays and a new gazebo! We attended a garden fate in Warkworth, the Amble Puffin Festival, Northumberland Dog Rescue’s brilliant summer show at Bamburgh and the Newbiggin Summer Festival. We’re looking forward to using the pop up exhibition more during 2024 and the years to come.
Katherine and Ben at Northumberland Dog Rescue’s Summer Sunday Funday in September
A spikey plant and restoring wildflower rich dunes
Our joint work with Coast Care volunteers continued, with Emma Wilson the new Coast Care Volunteer officer in post from March, making a push in the fight against the invasive pirri pirri bur on the dunes. In three years of painstaking pirri removal work we’ve made significant progress on Cocklawburn and Druridge dunes, with the pirri on those sites well under control and limited in scale. By removing pirri pirri bur at these sites the wildflowers of the dunes such as bloody cranesbill and purple milkvetch stand a much better chance to thrive and support a host of beetles, bumblebees and butterflies. Bamburgh dunes however will take many more years of work to feel like progress is sustained, with an approach of control around the main pathways being used here to attempt to prevent the seeds attaching to the clothing/footware of people visiting the beach and subsequently being spread to other areas.
Native wildflowers have been disappearing from our countryside for decades but on the dunes this trend can be reversed, as many have never been subject to artificial fertilisers, herbicides and fungicides, so with removal of invasive species like pirri pirri bur and restoring autumn and winter grazing with native hardy breed cattle such as Galloway, the Northumberland dunes can blaze with summer colour.
Purple milk vetch
Schools at the beach
Educating youngsters about nature is critical to them caring about the wildlife around them and 2023 was the first year that Space for Shorebirds have taken out school groups – Amble First School working with local artist Katherine Renton and in November, Duchess’s Community High School A Level Environmental Studies students. Absolutely brilliant to see the A-level students doing some disturbance monitoring, though the freezing weather meant it was a tough introduction to conservation work.
Coastal fields and shorebirds
Some species such as curlew, golden plover and oystercatcher readily use coastal fields in the search for worms, and other species like redshank need wet fields with flashes or scrapes. We are looking for opportunities to help improve the coastal fields for shorebirds and in preparation for this week we’ve been gathering records about which fields are the most valuable for the birds. Look out in 2024 for the progress of this exciting work.
Chicks & Rings – upset and joy
The breeding bird season is a focal point of the year and of our wonderful Coast Care volunteer involvement. From surveying the coast for prospecting ringed plovers to chick watch duties, dedicated volunteers are always in support and we are so thankful. This year we had 22 pairs of ringed plovers under our watch, more than double where we started in 2021, but sadly predation pressure this year took a real toll meaning the numbers of chicks fledged dropped from 13 last year to 9 this year.
A ringed plover chick at Seahouses
A huge step in 2023 was beginning a ringed plover colour ringing trial. Six of our fledgling plovers had harmless colour rings attached to their legs when they were little chicks. Each ring has a code that can be read in the field that is unique to the bird. We last saw one of our ringed fledglings – UAH – in August and several months passed until magically we heard that it had been spotted on Sein Island off the coast of Brittney, France – we were overjoyed! We’re hopeful to receive further sighting of these birds in the future and we’ll be looking out for them on the Northumberland coast in the spring. Will they return?
Dog Rangers!
This year saw us recruit our 100th Dog Ranger! We are blown away with the number of nature-conscious dog owners working with us to protect the shorebirds they see on their trips to the beach, so a huge thank you to you all for your amazing support. Please do get in touch if you would like to get involved with the Dog Ranger scheme, the more pooches we have looking out for the birds the merrier!
2024 – onwards together
What is becoming more obvious as Space for Shorebirds goes on is that the people and the wildlife go hand in hand, and in order to help the wildlife, helping people to understand the birds is vital. The support we’ve had to date has been wonderful and we’re thankful for every kind word. 2023 has been so rewarding and as always, we are lucky to have the birds to inspire us onward into 2024.
Richard with Dog Rangers Jack and Meg – AKA the Salty Sheepdogs
