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Friends of Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve
Ahh another sign of spring on the reserve! Thanks David HorlickColt's-foot flowers starting to show at Portbury Wharf now. Yellow seems to be a popular colour for early signs of Spring.
Portishead's salt marshes are such important habitats that we thought they deserved their very own Facebook and Instagram pages. So as well as following the wildlife of the nature reserve on this page you can also see glimpses and even art from Portishead's salt marshes on our sister page Portishead Salt Marshes.![]()
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These fragile ecosystems need to be cherished and protected so the more people who know about them the better.
Look out for greenfinches on the reserve. The scientific name is Chloris Chloris which means greenish-yellow. They have a fizzy, wheezing call which you can hear here: www.xeno-canto.org/578272.
Temporary footpath closures tomorrow and Wednesday . . . also a couple of days in March.ADVANCE NOTCE - TEMPORARY FOOTPATH CLOSURE![]()
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On 24 and 25 February and 4 and 5 March, contractors will be carrying out some essential works to the banks adjacent to the Portishead substation entrance to the reserve. Unfortunately this means for these few days, access to this area will be restricted during daylight hours.
Our frogs are loving this warmer, wetter weather and it's been a busy night for some!🐸![]()
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Frogs don't just like ponds . . . they have made themselves at home in this shallow plant tray full of rain water.
Thank you to all the wildlife friendly dogs that bring their handlers out for a walk on the reserve and salt marsh. ![]()
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Nolly the Tibetan Terrier loves walking here and keeps to the paths. She has taken the pledge to protect the wildlife and is Dog Ranger of the month.![]()
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"I have realised that when my handlers stop to gaze into the distance along the sea wall there is usually a nice opportunity to sit and stare too." (Her handler helped her write this.)![]()
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If your four legged friend wants to take the pledge too, visit www.portburywharfnaturereserve.co.uk/dog-rangers/
well the birdlife on the reserve is picking up and some of the gulls are already taking on their summer plumages. One of our new visitors over the last couple of weeks has been a grey wagtail. Despite its name the bird has quite a lot of yellow on it and about 10 years ago it was quite a regular visitor . Now it is on the RSPB endangered red list and this is our first such visitor for quite a while . So if you are walking round - keep your eyes open as he/she tends to like the shallow ditches.
🐸🐸🐸 Send us your sightings of frogspawn 🐸🐸🐸![]()
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Now its is milder the frogs are getting frisky again. Much of the early forgspawn froze over recent days so more is needed. . . . have you seen any yet in a pond near you? ![]()
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Let us know by commenting when and where you see frogspawn. Maybe add a photo too. We can track where our frogs are most active over the coming weeks. 🐸
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Last Updated: November 3, 2020 by fpwnr
Hinkley Connection Update November 2020
This update relates to the continuation of work at Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve.
This is a briefing we have received from the Community Relations Team of the National Grid Hinkley Connection Project. We are posting these briefings so you are kept up to date with the work being done on Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve.
As you’ll be aware, we’re working with Western Power Distribution (WPD) to make changes to their local electricity distribution network and our work at the reserve includes, removing some of the existing pylons, replacing them with underground cables, making changes to Portishead substation and nearby overhead lines, and building a new line of T-pylons from Sandford to Seabank.
Together with our contractor, Murphy, we’re in the final stages of building the cable ducts along the route of the new underground electricity cables between Nailsea and Portishead substation and we’re preparing to install the electricity cables in the coming months.
From April next year, WPD will start work to install new underground cables and remove the pylons in the north of the reserve. In recent months, WPD has been carrying out ecological surveys and putting measures in place to reduce disruption to local wildlife. To stop protected species from entering construction areas, we need to manage the vegetation in each area. From Monday 2 November, we need to remove vegetation along a section of the footpath on Wharf Lane.
To keep everyone safe during this work, a section of the footpath will be closed from 2 to 6 November, between 9.00am and 3.30pm each day. We’re aware this path is well used and we’re working to reopen it as soon as possible.
Attached is a PDF of the information boards we’ve affixed at key locations in the reserve and we’ve updated our project website: https://hinkleyconnection.co.uk/portbury-wharf-nature-reserve/.
We are sorry about the inconvenience caused during this closure – should you receive any queries about this work, please direct them to our community relations team on 0800 377 7347 or by email hinkleyconnection@nationalgrid.co.uk.
Category: pylons
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