News In Brief
Our Little Terns
Initially, hopes were high for the best breeding year ever. Counting the
nests using a telescope from the top of the Pilibox, the Warden estimated
11 Little and 7 Common Terns, 3 Black-headed Gulls, 1 Oystercatcher and
2 Ringed Plover nests all cheek to cheek (or is it beak to beak!) on the
end of Shinglehead Point. All was well up to the middle of June, when suddenly
every nest was deserted simultaneously. A marauding Fox was suspected!
Hobby first!
Birds of prey fared far better on the reserve this year. A pair of Hobbies
(a darker, more streamlined Kestrel look-alike, that snatches dragonflies
out of the air) reared a brood of young falcons in an old Crow's nest.
There was success also for a pair of Barn Owls and the resident Kestrels
who both made use of nest boxes put up previously by the Warden and his
Volunteers.
Tidy Team update!
The "Tidy Team" at Shinglehead Point - Photo: Jonathan Smith
Once again the Tide-line Tidy Teams have done a marvellous job picking
up all the rubbish that constantly adorns the base of the seawall. Trust
volunteers and members of the Friday Ramblers combined to blitz all plastic,
metals and glass on two Sunday mornings at the end of April and October.
In May, there was added excitement when George Evans, a member of the Tollesbury
Beavers and Cub Scouts, found a message in a (plastic!) bottle whilst clearing
up another section of the seawall! It was from a boy in Oostende in Belgium
who had thrown it into the water only a month before! Thanks again to everyone
for their time and help. Next clean up April 2000. Come and join us!
New Stile
The financial support from local Architect, Mr. Don Hands, has enabled
the building of a new stile of improved design along with associated stock
fencing by the Pillbox at Blockhouse Bay. The donation, much appreciated,
was in memory of his mother, Mrs. Marjorie Hands.
Special Award
Mr. Stuart Rose, Owner/Manager of SAS Land Services will shortly be receiving
a plaque to celebrate five years of Corporate Membership with the Essex
Wildlife Trust. His skills with a tracked excavator have been invaluable
in the development of the water level management on the reserve. Corporate
Supporters are companies, firms and associations who are willing to pay
a premium subscription to help fund the core conservation work of the Trust.
Other Tollesbury based Corporate Supporters include Essex Kilns Ltd., Palmer's
Garage, Redifon Mel Ltd., and Tollesbury Saltings Ltd. All continue to
give the Trust their long-term support. If there are other businesses who
would be interested in becoming a Supporter, then please make initial contact
with the Warden on 868628.
Good Wood?
The job of fencing on Tollesbury Wick will always be a bit like 'painting
the Severn Bridge'? i.e. it's never ending! A constant and sustainable
supply of posts are coming from another EWT. reserve, Copperas Wood, up
on the Stour estuary. Thanks to the Warden, Peter Smith and his coppicing
team, it will mean that an absolute minimum of pressure treated or CCA
(Copper, Chrome and Arsenic) treated timber will be used on the Wick. Wherever
possible we will aim to avoid using fence posts treated with this wood
preservative that contains toxic heavy metals and a poison!
Recycling your plastic?
Rather than binning your polythene bread bags and magazine wrappers, snip
off all paper price tags and labels and send to: Polyprint Mailing Films,
Mackintosh Road, Rackheath Industrial Estate, Rackheath, Norwich NR13 6LJ.
A whole lot of bags tightly compressed is very lightweight, so postage
costs are negligible.