Today we had a visit from the Natural History Society of Northumbria, there photography course participants came to the bog on a field visit to do learn the art of bird photography. The course was led by the renowned ornithologist David Noble-Rollins, a Morpethian.
Here we have my efforts while watching the group using our hide for the first time; a Blue Tit, Great Tit, pair of Long Tailed Tits, Tree Sparrow, Dunnock, Bullfinch, and Chaffinch.
I was up at 5am to see if I could capture an image of the blood moon over the bog, here is my best shot:-
I was at the launch of ‘Discover our land’ at Close House yesterday. It’s a new social media initiative by Northumberland County Council to promote the County of Northumberland. We were fortunate enough to be chosen as one of the first set of ‘stories’ to be told.
If your interested not only about Clarks Bog but also other hidden gems of Northumberland then checkout the web address below:-
We had a bit of reclaimed stone, so I was trying to decide where it could be best used. I decided to create a living wall.
We have chambers in the wall for our little furry friends, embedded logs which have been drilled for insects ( such as solitary bees), and soil placed in the top will be planted in the spring. Let’s see if this works😜.
Work began back in The summer of 2018 to replace the straw bale hide that our local rats had taken up residence in. It’s been a long road but we are nearly finished. Only the roofing felt, screws and paint have been bought all the other materials are salvaged, my little triumph for recycling! So we now have a comfortable wildlife watching hide with insulation and padded seats, luxury😀. Much thanks goes to my co builder John Bell for his time and patience working with a complete novice builder!
Our latest project is putting in a wheelchair friendly(hopefully) ramp to the entrance to hide 1:
Not quite finished yet but we are getting there.
One of our Princes Trust team came back for a weeks work experience. Alex got stuck in with building an observation mound with rustic seating. Although its not finished yet he made a good start.
Lots of lively little froglets have left the pond, mind your feet!
Once again we welcomed on site a work party from the Princes Trust. They saved me a lot of backache by helping move a couple of trailer loads of garden stone from a nearby neighbours garden to the reserve.
They also helped move a donated kennel from the same neighbour, having prepared the area they relocated the kennel and then gave it a nice camo paint job.
While this was happening another group started one of my observation mounds, this will eventually have a seat that provides a view over the reed bed.
I’m pleased to announce the birth of our first fawn of the season, born over the night of 24th May. Mother and babe doing well.
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