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Friends of Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve
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Today’s dragonfly survey turned up lots of interesting damsels and dragons busy making next year’s generation.
We also spotted a Red-veined Darter on the South Pools. It’s an uncommon species that comes across here from Europe. This seems to be a good year for them.
You can pick up your free copy of the Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve MAP from Portishead Library.
We have had many requests for a printed map so here it is! It shows suggested routes around the nature reserve and what you might see. So we hope you find it both useful and informative.
We would like to thank Portishead Raft Race who very kindly paid for the printing of the map.😁
Come and say hello to us at the Portishead Raft Race this Sunday. We will have our popular nature table plus a "match the song to the bird" game. This is a great way to learn to identify bird song. You can also pick up a copy of our new map leaflet . . . hot off the press. The printing costs were very kindly donated by the Portishead Raft Race 2019
The first Dragonfly survey of the year was done on the reserve on Thursday. Quite a few Damselflies about, but not many dragons yet!
Oh, and one strange looking Shield Bug! (possibly Verlusea rhombea). The Dragonfly is a Broad-bodied Chaser, the Damselflies are a Blue-tailed and an Azure.
The uplifting power of cranes?
This was the amazing sunrise that greeted me as I walked by the nature reserve. A flight of Canada Geese completed the picture.
There was a roebuck snoozing in the North Pool field while out on the salt marsh several curlews, many shelducks, a number of teal, a pair of oystercatchers, a duo of gadwalls and a common sandpiper was the icing on the cake.
It was so worth getting up early!
Portbury Wharf’s Wildlife
Portbury Wharf’s wildlife is very varied because wildlife loves water and there is certainly a lot of that around here. This is a coastal reserve with a series of freshwater ponds and a network of water filled ditches (rhynes).
All of this water makes it an ideal home for birds, water voles, amphibians, dragonflies and so much more.
In the summer warblers nest in the reeds while swifts, swallows, and house martins wheel over the ponds and oystercatchers strut their stuff on the island. In the winter hundreds of migrating wading birds and ducks arrive here.
Because it is only just a few wing beats from the Severn Estuary it is a safe haven for wildfowl coming from the channel. Keep a look out as sometimes even rarities come to visit the reserve adding to Portbury Wharf’s wildlife.
Mammals
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Birds
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Orchids and other plants (coming soon)
Dragonflies and Damselflies
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Amphibians (coming soon)
Butterflies (coming soon)
Wildlife Posts
March and April – what to look out for
Spring fever is in the air. March and April – what to look out for, This is such an exciting time of year with plenty of spring wildlife to look out for. Buds are budding and the first… Read More
Roe Deer Antlers
Roe deer antlers regrow each year Only the male roe deer have antlers. Each year, in late autumn they shed their antlers and grow new ones. It doesn’t take long, after casting off the old ones, before these… Read More
Keeping water voles safe
Keeping water voles safe at Portbury Wharf is very important. So the warden and his Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve Volunteers have been busy repairing the hurdles alongside the rhynes. You may have noticed them along Water Vole Lane,… 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
AUGUST – What to look for
August….it’s the month of summer holidays and lazing on the beach! But for much of our wildlife it’s almost the beginning of autumn. The breeding season’s over, lots of plants are ripe with fruit and some bird species… Read More
JULY – what to look out for
July is the start of high summer. The flowers and insects are at their best and busiest, but many of the birds will have finished nesting. In July and August many birds are winding down and moulting into… Read More
JUNE – what to look out for
June is the month when the meadows and verges are full of flowers and the breeding season for the birds is in full swing. The emergence of butterflies, damselflies and dragonflies, which has been a bit slow in… Read More
MAY – what to look out for
Listen out for cuckoos in May. Cuckoos fly all the way here from Africa and beyond to lay their eggs in other birds’ nests. Did you know it is only the male bird that calls “cuckoo”? A cuckoo… Read More
March and April – what to look out for
Spring fever is in the air. March and April – what to look out for, This is such an exciting time of year with plenty of spring wildlife to look out for. Buds are budding and the first… Read More