Blean Woods and Seasalter Levels autumn update
Hi all,It’s been 3 months since I started here as assistant warden and the time has absolutely flown by! I came to Blean and Seasalter looking for a new challenge and it has been an excellent...
View ArticleBlean Woods National Nature Reserve mid-October to mid-November 2016
Michael Walter's latest report:Last month I was writing about solitary jackdaws that fool me into thinking there is a flock in the vicinity. This month it’s the turn of the crow. An old saying runs...
View ArticleBlean Woods National Nature Reserve mid-November to mid-December 2016
Michael Walter's latest report:When people refer to me as a birdwatcher I am sometimes tempted to reply that I’m really a bird-listener as, particularly in a woodland setting, I am generally aware of...
View ArticleBlean Woods National Nature Reserve mid-December to mid-January 2017
Michael Walter's latest report:“If winter comes, can spring be far behind?” That was Shelley’s optimistic view of the hardships this joyless season can throw at us. Yesterday (11th January) I heard a...
View ArticleBlean Woods National Nature Reserve mid-January to mid-February 2017
Michael Walters latest report:At this time of year the wood is on a cusp, with bleak winter on one hand and portents of spring on the other: the season could go either way. On a dull, damp, cold day...
View ArticleBlean Woods National Nature Reserve mid-February to mid-March 2017
Michael Walters latest report:Spring announces its presence in a wide variety of ways, from the ostentatious carpets of wood anemones and bluebells that we’ll be enjoying before long, and the swelling...
View ArticleBlean Woods and Seasalter Levels winter update
Hello all,It’s March already and 2017 seems to be flying by, made all the more apparent by the fact that our noisy habitat management finished for another season! Birds are starting to sing (blue tits,...
View ArticleSpring and summer 2017 events at Blean Woods
Spring is just around the corner and we have some great events coming up at Blean! The Dawn Chorus and the first of the two Nightjar Walks are part of the National Nightingale Festival, which is...
View ArticleBlean Woods National Nature Reserve mid-March to mid-April 2017
Michael Walters latest report:The classic image of a bird’s nest, seen in every child’s nature book, is of an open structure built in the fork of a tree, but over a third of the species that nest at...
View ArticleBlean Woods National Nature Reserve mid-April to mid-May 2017
Michael Walters' latest report:The lovely sunshine of early May soon became a distant memory, and the persistent cold northerly airflow that has dominated our weather in recent weeks put rather a...
View ArticleSeasalter Levels Wetland Bird Surveys - an overview
An update composed by Blean Woods and Seasalter Levels intern, Ben Lawson:In a slight change to the blog, I am going to introduce you to Blean Woods’ associated reserve Seasalter Levels. Seasalter is a...
View ArticleBlean Woods National Nature Reserve mid-May to mid-June 2017
Michael Walters' latest report:If you have delicate plants or perhaps a fruit tree in your garden, you will be only too aware of the late April air frosts that killed apple blossom, leaving some...
View ArticleBlean Woods National Nature Reserve mid-June to mid-July 2017
Michael Walters' latest report:One of our more mysterious breeding birds at Blean, and one that most visitors won’t have seen unless perhaps they’ve been up to the wood at dawn or dusk in spring, is...
View ArticleBlean Woods National Nature Reserve mid-July to mid-August 2017
The latest update from Michael Walter:The demographics of the brimstone butterfly population at Blean Woods make for interesting reading and viewing. Back in the 1980s this large, yellow butterfly was...
View ArticleBlean Woods and Seasalter Levels volunteer Spring-Summer 2017 update
Hello everyone,Hope you’re all having a good summer and making the most of what’s been a very warm and dry season. We’ve had an extremely busy few months with multiple projects as well as the usual...
View ArticleBlean Woods National Nature Reserve mid-Aug to mid-Sept 2017
An update by Michael Walter:My most pleasing recent discovery was of two heath fritillaries, on a day when it was too overcast for them to contemplate flight, and so windy that the mauve flowers of...
View ArticleFungi Foray at Blean Woods!
On Sunday 24th September we will be hosting a 'Fungi Foray' at Blean Woods. Local expert Martin Newcombe will lead a guided walk around the woodland trails of Blean scouring the forest floor for hidden...
View ArticleBlean Woods National Nature Reserve mid-Sept to mid-Oct 2017
An update from Michael Walter:For the next few months I shall doubtless be writing about fungi, cold weather and wildlife battening down for winter, so it is heartening to be able to start this article...
View ArticleBlean Woods National Nature Reserve mid-Oct to mid-Nov 2017
Michael Walters' latest update:There can be few more stirring sights than a magnificent stag red or fallow deer brushing his antlers from side to side and bellowing in the rutting season, or marvelling...
View ArticleBlean Woods and Seasalter Levels Autumn-Winter 2017 volunteer update
Working on a nature reserve, we tend to think of the year in two halves; the noisy and grubby habitat management season (September to February) hopefully laying the groundwork for good results in the...
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