Contact us at
info@fpwnr.org
Friends of Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve
Thanks to Councillor Nicola Holland for coming along to offically launch the new Salt Marsh Noticeboard.![]()
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The noticeboard takes pride of place at Portbury Wharf Salt Marsh. It is located at the entrance to the salt marsh near to Portishead Marina. The salt marsh is a Site of Special Scientific Interest but few people know about this fragile habitat. So Portishead Town Council and the Friends of Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve have been working together to change this. Portishead Town Council paid for one of its redundant silver notice boards to be refurbished and installed, while the Friends of Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve have created a series of panels to display the amazing facts about the salt marshes. ![]()
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The salt marsh is a wildlife refuge as well as helping to protect our local and global climate. Did you know that salt marshes are much better at burying harmful carbon than rain forests? Do you know what's under the mud and why the Severn Estuary is so important? There’s a lot to learn about our salt marshes and how we can all help to protect them. If you can't wait to find out, you can get a sneak preview on the Friends of Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve website www.portburywharfnaturereserve.co.uk/salt-marsh/.![]()
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Hilary Kington of the Friends of Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve said: “We have a biodiversity crisis as well as a climate crisis. So championing and protecting the salt marsh and its wildlife is a win win scenario. If every community takes care of its green and wild spaces, it will add up to a big difference globally. We owe it to future generations to safeguard these precious places."
An important announcement from NSC, who are taking over ownership of Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve.We have agreed to take over the ownership of Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve in Portishead.![]()
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The 116-acre site is a popular recreational and wildlife area which provides a buffer between the port and the Ashlands housing development. ![]()
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By adopting the site we have secured the future of the nature reserve for future generations. ![]()
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We have also secured £75,000 from developers Persimmon towards ongoing maintenance costs.
With halloween only a couple of days away we thought you might like to know a bit more about our not so scary bats. ![]()
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You can also find out more at www.bats.org.uk/about-bats/what-are-bats/uk-bats.![]()
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While Young Friends may like to visit our Halloween webpage to find out about our owls, spiders, bats and poisonous plants www.portburywharfnaturereserve.co.uk/halloween/![]()
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Happy Halloween everyone.![]()
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Portishead Parent
The lovely Boat Folk at Portishead Marina have put up some of our salt marsh information display boards around the marina. We are working together to spread the word about our great salt marshes and wildlife.
The ‘SPLASH’ has landed in Swan Lake.![]()
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This eye-catching artwork, designed and sculpted by Cod Steaks in Bristol was originally installed in one of the North Pools. Now it has been moved to a much more prominent position on Swan Lake just down from Robin Place.![]()
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It is moulded and cast in clear resin and designed to enhance the environment without disturbing the surrounding wildlife and nesting birds.![]()
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A special thanks to Mags (@mags_mega_pix) for letting us share her lovely photo of this cygnet crowned with the splash. Perfect timing Mags! Swans are royal birds owned by the Queen and this youngster certainly looks good wearing a crown!
September Wildlife - Post 3![]()
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Have you spotted either of the darter dragonflies yet? Well here is another one for you to watch out for this weekend . . .![]()
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It is the Migrant Hawker. You might see it whizzing past as it "hawks" for insects along the hedgerows. When it is not hawking it likes to rest on low vegetation.![]()
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The photos are of a male which is dark with blue spots and yellow flecks along the abdomen. It also has blue eyes! The brown-eyed female has a brown abdomen with yellow spots though can occasionally have blue spots too.
September wildlife - Post 2![]()
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The second dragonfly to look out for in the autumn is the Ruddy Darter. It is slightly smaller than the Common Darter with a 'waisted' abdomen. Males are bright red. Females are very similar to female Common Darters but have all black legs.
September Wildlife - Post 1 ![]()
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Although dragonflies are beginning to die off now their larvae, or nymphs, are still very much alive in the ponds and rhynes. ![]()
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However, there are three species that you can still look out for in September. The first is the Common Darter . . . ![]()
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You will often see them perched on the tip of a prominent twig or fencepost. From here they will dart out to catch flies before returning to the same perch – hence their name!![]()
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If you ever get close enough you might notice the cream or yellow stripe on their black legs! The females have a light yellow thorax and abdomen turning darker brown with age while the males turn a red colour as they mature. ![]()
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Still to come Ruddy Darter and Migrant Hawker . . .
By the meteorological calendar, the first day of autumn begins on 1 September and ends on 30 November. So autumn is officially here. ![]()
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While we still hope for some sunny and warm days, nature is already preparing for the hardships to come. Fruits and nuts are ripening, many animals are fattening up for hibernation or migration - some have gone already!
Thank you to everyone who came along to the very first Portishead Salt Marshes Day on Saturday.![]()
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There was such a lovely atmosphere and plenty of information to be shared about our amazing salt marches.😀
Portbury Wharf’s Birds
Home > Portbury Wharf’s Wildlife > Portbury Wharf’s Birds
Portbury Wharf’s birds – there are so many. We have the usual garden and hedgerow birds but because we are on the coast we also have lots of visiting wildfowl and waders.
According to the RSPB, 1 in 4 UK birds are now on the Red List of Conservation Concern as numbers have dropped considerably. Eighteen of the birds that we regularly see among Portbury Wharf’s birds are on this red list with another 23 on the amber list (not quite as bad as the red list). Click here to read about the red and amber lists.
What to look out for at Portbury Wharf
Below is what you might see on the reserve, or close by, but of course this is not exhaustive. There will always be unusual visitors to keep an eye out for like avocets and bitterns. We have divided the lists seasonally so you know what you are likely to see and when.
What you may see at anytime of the year
What you will only see in the spring or summer
What you will only see in the winter
NB birds marked with * or ** may also be “Passage” birds ie passing through at other times of the year
We will be adding photos and more information about each bird in due course. Though with so many species this will be a labour of love and will take a little while to detail all of Portbury Wharf’s birds. So please be patient with us.
You can download our A5 spotting card to take with you to the reserve. You will find it on our Wildlife Monitoring page.
Birds you could see at any time of the year
(Chloris Chloris)
They have a fizzy wheezing call.
(Aegithalos caudatus)
Oystercatcher
One of the slightly easier birds to identify is the Oystercatcher The Oystercatcher is a black and white bird with a bright red beak, red eye and pink legs and feet. It is quite a noisy bird with… Read More
The Summer Birds
These birds fly from Africa and beyond to spend the summer here. They will nest and raise their families before flying back to warmer climates for the winter.
* these are Passage birds ie on their way through in spring and summer.
The Winter Birds
These birds fly from northern and arctic regions to spend the winter here. So they will escape the worst of the cold harsh conditions to spend a relatively mild winter here. In spring when the arctic temperatures rise and the light increases they will fly back north to nest.
Read more
This bird is the most threatened of all our birds.
Dunlin**
Read more
Wigeon
You can hear it in this clip:
** these are also “passage” birds ie on their way through in spring and summer
Bird Posts
Oystercatcher
One of the slightly easier birds to identify is the Oystercatcher The Oystercatcher is a black and white bird with a bright red beak, red eye and pink legs and feet. It is quite a noisy bird with… Read More
January – What to look out for
Happy New Year! Although it is a shiny new start to the year, sadly we are in another lockdown . . . . . . but our winter birds are still flying free along our coast and on… Read More
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Murmuring starlings or whispering dunlins?
It was twilight. The stars had faded away but it was not yet sunrise when hundreds of pairs of wings purred past my shoulder. What were they? Where had they come from and where were they going? I… Read More
Gordano Valley Lapwings
This morning at sunrise I watched 18 lapwing lift off from the North Pool. Once upon a time you would have seen flocks of a hundred strong. Sadly over the last 20 or so years, numbers have fallen… Read More
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Winter Birds
Look out for the winter birds: From August onwards lots of birds migrate here to escape the harsh northern winters. These winter birds will stay until the spring before heading back up to breed so in the meantime… Read More
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