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.

Here are a few pictures taken last month:-

A few more pictures from my August collection.

I was told once by a wise man that Kingfishers love a new perch and it has proved true. When I knew we had Kingfishers about I put a post in front of Dunces Corner Hide. It paid off today when we were visited again by two Kingfishers, one of which visited my perch. What a beauty!

Today we had our stall at the Environment and Community fair held in the town hall.

We got there early and bagged the best spot in the hall and even sneaked an extra bit of space😁

We had a steady stream of people and I made some very useful contacts.

A big thanks to Climate Action Wansbeck for the invite and organising the event.

Finally a very big thank you to Libby and Lynda for their help on the stall.