CLEANING OUT THE BIRDBOXES

Today we had the pleasure of cleaning out all the nestboxes and doing some much needed maintenance on a few of them to make sure they are ready for the coming breeding season. We have over 80 boxes of various types scattered all around the coastal park, and since putting them up 2 years ago they have proved invaluable to the local bird population. One species in particular have really taken a shine to our boxes, Tree Sparrows, which is excellent news and have really helped build the population up in our area. We now have extremely healthy numbers of this vulnerable species, something we are delighted about. Once the breeding season starts we monitor the boxes to see which ones are occupied, by which species, and if occupied we see how many eggs are laid, how many hatch, and how many chicks fledge. If we get the opportunity we ring the chicks before they leave the nest. All of the data collected is then sent to the British Trust for Ornithology, or BTO, as well as kept here on site.

We have quite a lot of open fronted boxes as well as the traditional hole types

A lovely big clutch from last year, just what we love to see

THE NEW BIRD FEEDING STATION

Over the last couple of weeks we've been working hard creating a fantastic new addition to the coastal park, a new viewing screen overlooking a brand new bird feeding station. There's been a lot of hard work involved in sometimes questionable weather conditions but we are delighted to say that the building work is finally complete. The paving slabs were finished this morning which were the last things to do construction wise, and now all there is to do is put some plants and shrubs in and add more bird feeders. While we were finishing off this morning we were delighted to see a number of bird species already paying the feeders a visit, including Robins, Blue Tits, Blackbirds and even a pair of Bullfinches. It's going to be a fantastic place for birds to feed and a superb place for birders to watch them.

The beginning!

The roofing was added and painting begun

A nice comfy bench was added

The paving slabs down and made wheelchair friendly

Adding a drinking/bathing pond

A couple of feeders were put up and if you look closely you can even see they're already in use

A QUICK INTRODUCTION

As this is the first post of a brand new blog we think it's only right to say a quick hello and give you a brief introduction to who we are. Situated on the North East coast midway between the river Wear and the river Tyne, Souter Lighthouse is one of the most iconic landmarks in the region. Built in 1871 to ward ships from the dangerous rocks at Whitburn Steel, Souter was a true marvel of its time. It was the first lighthouse anywhere in the world purpose built to use electricity, but due to the development of new technology such as satellite navigation and GPS it was decommissioned in 1988. It now belongs to the National Trust and remains one of the most popular visitor attractions in the area.
To the north of the lighthouse is the Leas, a two and a half mile stretch of magnesium limestone cliffs and coastal grassland.
To the south is Whitburn Coastal Park, reclaimed colliery land and now a haven for wildlife.
And that's us! As promised it was indeed brief, but if you want to know more about the place please do come along and pay us a visit.