Past Events

Walk 14 Oct 2023

Six of us joined the Friends’ 08.30 Walk beneath a pure blue sky full of lark song. Swallows streamed across the salt marsh where the dazzling low sun raked rusty samphire and glaucous purslane while silhouetted Avocets swept the shallow pools.

As the Swallows are leaving, other birds arrive: Four Blackbirds could have been arrivals (especially one flying high over the village) and we saw about ten Stonechats around Flat Beach.

On Salt Pool, just beyond grazing Wigeon sat a solitary Brent Goose, but our attention was directed more towards the spectacle of 2 Kingfishers which often hovered for several seconds at a time, their backs flashing in the sunshine.

It’s always fun to estimate, then try counting, the long line of Cormorants roosting on Ternery Pool; the results vary but come out at around 350.

A last departing Wheatear consorted with Linnets among silvery grasses on the shingle, a vanguard of Golden Plovers could be heard piping and the first Rock Pipit of winter squeaked over the Discovery Centre.

Past Events

Open Day Walk 12 Aug 2023

On our Open Day 0830 walks round Flat Beach we’d normally expect see around 50 bird species but today, with most breeders dispersed and winter birds still to arrive, we found just 35.

Nonetheless, it was a beautiful sunny, breezy morning with clear light and excellent visibility. Two of the group were first-timers and so enjoyed picking out migrant Common Sandpipers and lingering Common Terns as well as practising counting a scuttling band of House Sparrows and lined-up Cormorants.

From Parkes Hide, where the waters of Ternery Pool were an extraordinary green, we shared great close views of Little Egret & Little Grebe with a visiting family. We could hear calls of Curlew & Whimbrel, an overhead Dunlin and a rushing flock of Ringed Plovers.

As usual on summer walks, we spent some of the time learning and revising plants, such as Wild Carrot, Wild Parsnip and Red Hemp-nettle.

Returning along the riverside path, we saw Wheatears perching on fence posts and a human perched on the roof of the Soon-To-Be-Even-Redder-Roofed Hut*.

*Please note that the Red-roofed Hut is privately owned and is NOT part of the Reserve.

Past Events

Open Day Walk 08 April 2023

A fabulous start to the morning walk, so still that water perfectly mirrored the blue sky and birdsong rang out so clearly that a Mistle Thrush up at Coastguard Square could be heard right down by Nook Drain and the air over the saltmarsh was full of Skylarks. The calls of returning Avocets can be heard everywhere now everywhere now, while flocks of Dunlin and Ringed Plover are feeding hungrily before continuing their journey northwards. The closeness of the path to the edge of the Salt Pool gave us excellent views of these while three newly-arrived Little Ringed Plovers, scuttling along the edges to in flight allowed us to appreciate the features which distinguish them from Ringed Plovers.
While watching these waders we noticed small insectivorous migrants searching the turf: White Wagtail with a pure, pale grey back, an apricot-fronted Wheatear and a dazzling Yellow Wagtail.
Although some common birds were mysteriously missing, the variety is increasing, so that along this short route we found 56 species.