Thanks to Ross and his RBB team for providing and fitting a nice new gate at Chippings Corner. It now has a high handle so the horse riders don’t have to dismount to open and close the gate.

A few pictures from last month

Sorry I’m a bit late with this post but last week we had a volunteer crew in to help tidy up Woggle Water Pond.

Our crew were volunteers from Northumberland Wildlife Trust and were led by Laura.

The team were tasked with removing the bullrush spreading in the pond and removing the seed heads from the plants around the pond.

After several hours and a lot of hard work they had made quite a difference.

We then used the bullrush to use as a base layer for the parking spots at the reserve entrance.

So I’d like to thank Laura and her crew for the pond work and Rory and Pat for their parking bay work.

There has been a surprising development having seen the return of Charles III and Camilla last week. The next day a single cygnet returned and then a day later another cygnet arrived. I’m pretty sure they are Charles and Camilla’s youngsters as it’s unlikely they would tolerate non family youngsters.

I suspect they will tolerate them for a little time but will eventually chase them off before it’s time for the new family in the spring.

We had to put in a new water pipe to the farm and as a result we had to dig up the whole of the front entrance to the reserve. We have spent the last two months reinstating and hopefully improving the look.

It has been a great team effort with Peter, Brian, John, Phil, 4th Morpeth Beavers (all volunteers), Libby and myself all pitching in to make the place look presentable to visitors. Still a bit more to do but almost there.

A big thank you to Mandy who has refurbished her original shutter artwork and delivered them today.

Just in time for the first named storm of the autumn!

Yes, our royal couple are back. Camilla and Charles III arrived back on the reserve yesterday. Thankfully they both look very fit and healthy. They have jettisoned their 5 cygnets, who must now fend for themselves, wherever they are!

I have augmented my mini barn with some, hopefully, useful addition for our flying friends.

These starter kits will hopefully look comfy come the spring.

We don’t often see this bird on the reserve, its a Dipper, so named because it constantly bobs up and down. A fine looking bird seen inspecting my leaky dams.