Quite where did the last 4 weeks go? It seemed such a long period prior to my arrival, when I was armed with enthusiasm and a long list of things I’m going to see, do, change, develop, support, visit and generally experience. Four weeks on and I’ve certainly ticked off a lot of that list and more besides that I hadn’t even considered. Plus, hopefully, I’ve helped out in some small way to the aims and vision of
the Landguard Partnership.
For those of you that like lists, here follows a couple. For those of you don’t, please forgive me and possibly give them a whirl.
List Number 1 - My shopping list of flora and fauna.
For the sake of brevity, I’ve taken the liberty to miss out a few of the more common species, so apologies to the Blue Tits and Chaffinches of this world.
Wryneck, Sea Spurge, Serin, Kale, Whitethroat, Sea Rocket, Spotted Flycatcher, Sea Pea, Shelduck, Common Stork’s-bill, Oystercatchers, Bird’s-foot-trefoil, Little tern, Common Blue, Common Tern, Small Copper, Ringed Plover, Orange Tip, Swallows, Scarlet Pimpernel, Wheatear, Yellow Horned Poppy, Linnets, Black Redstart, Wood Warbler, Yellow Wagtail, Cuckoo, Hobby, Reed Bunting, Marsh Harrier, Tawny Owl, Kittiwake…
List Number 2 - Things learned, experienced, enjoyed
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That walking to work along a beach and through a nature reserve is a much more civilised way to start the day than a 90 minute commute.
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Secondly, and very important this one, to stop waxing and combing my hair and let the Landguard winds do their worst, which they invariably do!
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How special, rare and fragile shingle habitat really is.
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Boy, such a lot of effort and thought goes in to pulling together a museum display.
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How to Tweet, # and @
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The sheer numbers of Wheatear, and other rarities that pass through this neck of the woods in May.
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When leaving in the morning always, always, always pop in the waterproofs.
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How to write, photograph and upload to a Blog.
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A lone Wood Warbler puts in so much effort in trying to find a mate.
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The memories rekindled by climbing Darell’s Battery again after 30 years.
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That a Countryside Rangers job is pretty varied.
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How to watch different users of a nature reserve and understand better their needs,
motivations and worries. -
Experiencing how essential the hard work of volunteers is - so much time and energy all for the love of it.
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Knowing my Sea Pea from my Spurge from my Trefoil from my Stonecrop.
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And finally, that so much can be conserved and achieved through working together, even if the core interests are very different.
Before signing off one last time just thought I’d give one last quick update from my final week.
The fine weather saw not only the flora really coming in to its own, but also plenty of butterflies putting in an appearance. The Landguard Bungalow had visits from Small Coppers along with many Common Blues, the males seemed to spend more time sparring vigorously with each other than feeding. The females (who happen to be brown) didn’t seem that interested and neither did Haggis, my dog, who gave more
attention to sunbathing.
Out on the shingle the Ringed Plovers seem to be settling in for the season and happily making home in their roped off area. Trying to spot them is so difficult, blending in uniformly with the pebbles around them. Can you spot one in the picture above?
So all that remains to be said is a big thank you to all the people down at Landguard that made me so welcome this last month. I really appreciate the time taken to explain things to this mere rookie and to all of them I extend my best wishes. As I say goodbye it is also time to say a big welcome to Kate, the new Landguard Ranger, who I’m sure will be updating you on things of interest very soon.
If you haven’t experienced the variety down at Landguard, or it has been a while since your last visit, then I would recommend finding the time to pop along.
Take care and bye for now.
Darren