Great British Beach Clean in Goring

There have got to be worse ways to spend a Saturday than strolling along a beach in the blazing sunshine while looking after the environment at the same time. For me, it doesn't get any better. Today was my beach clean up event for the MCS Great British Beach Clean weekend. I have held two other clean ups at this beach this year and I was fortunate enough to have fantastic teams of volunteers for both. Today's team was no exception!

In total, there were 25 of us scanning the length of the survey area, including five under-18s. I'm always extremely pleased to have young people taking part in these cleans, particularly when I see that they are enjoying themselves. Getting children and teenagers interested in their environment is absolutely vital and events like these are a brilliant way to make learning about nature into something fun and engaging. Of course, I love to have volunteers of all ages taking part! I spoke to several of the adults helping me today who all expressed amazement at what gets washed up on the shores and dropped by the public. It fills me with hope whenever I come across people who care as much as I do about looking after our planet.

As there were so many of us, it didn't take us long to cover the 100m survey area. Much like the clean I did back in June, there wasn't a massive amount of litter to be collected, not in terms of weight anyway. Generally, Goring-by-Sea is a pretty clean beach from first glance but once you really start looking closely at the pebbles and in between the groynes, all of the small pieces of twine, fishing line and plastic start appearing. One of the teams recorded a large piece of carpet, which we were all hoping had not been used for disposing of anything untoward! The same team also found a large, plastic receptacle that looks as if it was used as a marker buoy. I picked up my first shoe; it was a Croc, so no great loss there! (Please don't take offense if you're a Croc-wearer! Each to their own...)

The last time I was down at Worthing, I nearly got blown off my feet by the strength of the breeze so I came prepared today with my rain mac. I would have been better off dressed in a swimming costume I think, so I could have had a quick dip in the sea to cool off! It was absolutely roasting today and there was quite literally not a breath of wind. I'm certainly not complaining but it was most unexpected, especially after the lack of summer we've just had. 

Several of my volunteers expressed interest in the results of our collection and what the data gets used for, as well as when I will be holding future events. Beach-cleaning is such a great way to not only do some good for the environment but also to get some fresh air and exercise. Living on a small island as we do, none of use are ever too far away from some form of coastline and if we could all pick up litter each time we visited a beach, it would make the world of difference. 

The results from today's clean were as follows: 

-32 metal items

-32 sanitary items

-38 paper items

-20 wood items

-539 plastic items

-21 rubber items

-32 cloth items

Flying Teaspoons and Blackbird DIY

 Nest construction is well under way in our garden. I'll begin with the apex nest box in our oak tree which housed a family of blue tits last year. This year I have observed both blues and great tits inspecting the box and gradually I began to see only the greats popping in and out. Yesterday the greats started to bring in nesting materials, their beaks stuffed with moss, which is a promising sign and exactly what I'd hoped for. I obviously did a decent enough job of clearing out the box.

Over the past week or so, I have noticed a female blackbird spending quite a lot of time in one of the bushes just across from our kitchen window and I wondered whether she might be building a nest there. Balancing on a chair, I ventured a peek through the branches and saw that I was right! A very neat, well-shaped nest it is too. I managed to take a few snaps, though not particularly good ones but enough to see inside and spot the mud lining. She has been back and forth with new materials since I discovered it and watching her sitting and squashing everything down has been wonderful.

Based on when I originally saw nest material start to appear on this site, I have estimated that she has been building for around a week and a half which suggests that she should more or less be done now. I am really hoping that she does choose to lay a clutch of eggs as I will be able to monitor her progress and make observations. With the visibility of the nest site being so clear, I am keen to watch the eggs hatch and the chicks fledge and hang around to be fed by their parents. We shall see what the next few weeks hold!

Today, I actually discovered another new nest site and this was purely by chance. I happened to be taking a photo of a patch of primroses at the edge of our driveway when a "chuck chuck" sound caught my attention and brought my gaze up, where a long-tailed tit, affectionately known as flying teaspoons (!) was perched on an overhanging branch, its beak filled with a white, fluffy material that looked to me like cotton wool. I stood up slowly, keeping my eyes on the bird and watched it flit around, still chuck chucking before it flew inside the hedgerow in front of me. It didn't seem particularly fazed by my which is surprising, given that they are quite a timid species. I was stood very still and quiet so it's likely it didn't know I was still there. 

It was soon joined by another long-tail and the pair of them chuck chucked for a while before darting out of the hedge. I waited for them to leave the area before I had a look at their handiwork, as I didn't want them to become distressed. From what I could see, they are at the very early stages of building a nest as there was a layer of moss, some feathers and leaves starting to form the foundations. Long-tails are similar to wrens in that they build a dome-like structure that fully surrounds them and their chicks. Although there were no signs of a dome just yet, I will most certainly be keeping my eyes on their progress. It can take up to three weeks before they complete it so it will be interesting to see how it takes shape.  

The nest site is quite well-hidden in dense vegetation so the chance of predation is unlikely, though the threat is always there, no matter the location. I'm pleased that they've chosen a spot where I will be able to observe them with relative ease. In the below photo, you can see one of the pair leaving the hedge; the nest is located in the top right section.

I read up on the nesting and breeding habits of long-tails and I am quite amazed that they can lay between eight and fifteen eggs in one clutch! I wouldn't have thought such a compact nest structure would be enough to house that many chicks, once they all hatch out.

I have registered both of these new nests with the BTO Nest Box Challenge as I can monitor the progress of them with relative ease. I now have three nest sites and more importantly, three different nesting species to observe so, assuming they all successfully lay eggs in their chosen spots, I will be kept quite busy!

Cleaning up Goring-by-Sea!

It may have been heavily overcast and the wind may have had a slight chill to it, but that didn't stop myself and 22 other brilliant volunteers from arming ourselves with litter pickers and tackling the shores of Worthing on Sunday!

I posted back in January about becoming a beachwatch survey organiser for the Marine Conservation Society and the weekend just gone saw my first event go ahead. I was quite nervous beforehand, having never arranged anything like this before, and I was concerned that less volunteers would turn up than the 18 I had confirmed on the site. Particularly as, despite the Saturday being gloriously sunny and (dare I say) Spring-like, the weather on Sunday was that of heavy cloud that was certainly not budging. I was pleasantly surprised when the allotted time came around (an hour after high tide, of course) and lots of people began to arrive, some seasoned beach-cleaners and some (like me!) who were brand new to the game, but all raring to go! We even had several younger (and very eager) volunteers which I was especially pleased to see. 

After giving a safety briefing and dividing everyone up into groups, all 23 of us headed over to the 100m strip of beach I had measured out earlier, with clipboards, litter-pickers and bin bags in hand. At first glance, there was a fair amount of rubbish to be collected but once we all got going and started recording each piece we found, it didn't take long at all for the bags to start bulging! I was both amazed and disgusted at the level of litter in such a small area. 

A huge amount of cable ties were found as well as fishing line, cotton bud sticks and rope. As would be expected, the vast majority of litter recorded was plastic. Happily, I had several volunteers say to me that they were really enjoying it and finding relaxing and therapeutic. I'm inclined to agree with that and after a while, I wasn't taking any notice of the biting wind, just focusing on the stretch of pebbles at my feet.

I estimated with the number of hands we had that the survey would take about an hour and I was more or less on the money. We piled all of our bags together and I weighed each one individually, finally coming to a grand total of 13.45kg! It really was astounding that we had jointly managed to collect quite so much from only 100m. When you stop and think about the amount of coastline we have in this country though, it's really very worrying to think how much litter is sitting on our beaches. If 23 people can pick up seven refuse bags worth of rubbish in an hour, just think how much more could be achieved if this was carried out all around the UK!

Even though the sun hadn't made an appearance all day, there were plenty of smiling faces as we finished up and started heading back to the car park. Several of the volunteers asked if there would be more cleans coming up and I am certainly eager to arrange future events based on the success of this one. It was really encouraging to see just how many people genuinely wanted to give up their time to do something so worthwhile. As one volunteer said, it really gives you a sense of pride.

In a nutshell, we collected:

-55 metal items

-3 medical items

-26 sanitary items

-31 paper items

-15 wood items

-26 glass items

-3 ceramic items

-615 plastic items!

-37 polystyrene items

-23 rubber items

-72 cloth items

A huge thank you to everyone who turned up and donated their time and energy! You were all fantastic!

If you are interested in future beach clean-ups, visit the MCS website.

A Very Pleasant Risk Assessment

As you may or may not know, I am holding a beach clean-up event on Sunday 8th March on behalf of the Marine Conservation Society. Part of being the organiser involves carrying out a risk assessment of the beach in question and today myself and my mum popped down to Worthing for that very reason. I have been to the beach several times in the past so I know it reasonably well but I also wanted to get an idea of the space we would be litter-picking in and the sorts of facilities available to us on the day.

The last time I visited this beach, Goring-by-Sea, the wind was absolutely howling and there was misty rain in the air which made a casual stroll rather unpleasant after some time! This afternoon was a total contrast to this; the heavy clouds from earlier on in the day had broken up and the sun was out, lending a mildness to the air. We were both surprised at the lack of a coastal breeze once we were on the beach, which is often responsible for bringing the temperature down a few degrees. It was actually very pleasant and I have my fingers firmly crossed that we will have a repeat of such conditions on the day of the event!

Having forgotten to bring either a tape measure or pedometer, I roughly paced out the space we will need for the survey and then checked this area for potential hazards. While wandering along the beach, we spotted various naturally occurring debris such as fish vertebrae and various egg cases. I had to do a little I.D. work on the egg cases when we got back home as I know very little about them. I found them to be whelk and either dogfish or catshark cases. I had an inkling about the latter but the whelk case was news to me: I've always wondered where those strange objects resembling bubble-wrap came from!

I have a decent number of confirmed volunteers for the beachwatch event but more are always welcome! If you are interested in taking part, you can visit this link to register. 

Marine Conservation Society Beachwatch Survey

One of my goals for this year is to gain as much conservation-related volunteer experience as I can. I want to expand my skills in all areas, including practical/field and academic, so that I can build a solid foundation for a career in conservation. One of the possibilities I looked at was volunteering for beach clean-ups in my local area, as a means of doing something vitally important for a good cause. During my online travels, I came across the Marine Conservation Society which is a charity based in the UK working towards the protection of our seas, shores and the wildlife that lives there.

“The tide of litter washing up on our shores is not just unpleasant to look at, it can harm and even kill some of our best-loved marine wildlife. Over 170 species including seabirds, turtles and whales have mistaken marine litter for food and actually eaten it, which in many cases has resulted in starvation, poisoning and ultimately a slow, painful death. Plastic packaging and discarded fishing nets also injure, entangle and drown some of Britain’s favourite marine animals, including seals and dolphins.”

They operate a programme entirely run by volunteers called the Beachwatch Survey that runs all over the country. The goal for each survey is to comb a 100m stretch of beach, record and collect each piece of litter found within that space and then send off the data to the MCS, who use it for analysis of the state of our beaches among other vital work. For my local beaches, there were no upcoming events scheduled when I looked, so I decided to register as an organiser and arrange my own clean-up. I'm quite excited as I've never taken part in a beach clean-up before, let alone organised one, and I am looking forward to the challenge of coordinating an event like this, thereby expanding my organisational skills and working towards a worthy cause (one of a great many that rely on volunteers). It's also a brilliant way to get some fresh, sea air after being stuck inside all Winter!

After liaising with Adur and Worthing Council and gaining permission to carry out an event, I have officially scheduled my first Beachwatch for Sunday 8th March. I'm holding it on Goring-by-Sea beach in Worthing, which is a beach I know reasonably well and is my nearest coastal area from where I am in Horsham. I am hoping to get a decent amount of volunteers to take part in the event so will be working hard to get the word out and about!

If you are in the West Sussex area and you're interested in taking part in this survey, you can find the event details here where you can register as a volunteer. It would be great to see as many people as possible helping out and enjoying a bit of fresh, sea air!


Image Credit:
www.mcsuk.org
http://www.viewphotos.org/england/images-city-Goring-by-Sea-8613.html

BTO Nest Box Challenge: Exploring a Blue Tit Nest

I came across the above tweet yesterday from the British Trust of Ornithology, reminding the public to clear their nest boxes out before 31st January. Now, please excuse my ignorance, but it never crossed my mind that boxes needed old nests removed; I had assumed up until now that we shouldn't interfere with them in case the birds were put off by our scent and that they would clean old sites out themselves. Of course, after reading some more information on the BTO website, and realising that my RSPB apex nestbox actually has a removable panel for the very purpose of cleaning, I got right to it.

The box I put up only last year was nested in by blue tits maybe a month or so after that which was great news for me, and I was fortunate enough to observe the parents flying in and out, firstly with nesting materials, then with all sorts of insects. You can read about my observations of the blue tit family, as well as the nesting nuthatches in the same tree, here and here.

According to Bird Protection Law, it is legal to clean out nest boxes between 1st August and 31st January and obviously it is important to make sure that the box is no longer occupied before you open it up. Even though I didn't actually see the blue tit chicks fledge from the box, I know they haven't occupied it for some months now so I was safe to go ahead with cleaning it out. I made sure I was wearing gloves and a bucket for the nest to go in, and I kept my face well away from it in case of any harmful mould that might have been growing.

This was my first time both seeing a nest up close and clearing it from a box so it was brilliant experience to have. My initial impression was of just how clean the nest was. I was being wary as I expected to see mites and fleas and for it to be quite unpleasant, particularly as it had been sitting in the box all through the damp, winter months. The reality was quite the opposite of my expectations; there was not one single mite, tick, flea or any other insect (apart from one tiny and slightly disgruntled spider) to be found. It had no smell, no mould and no pieces of eggshell. I knew the parents were frequently removing the faecal sacs as I had observed them doing it. It just goes to show what a fantastic job they did of maintaining a clean nest.

I wanted to get an idea of what materials they had used to form the nest, so I prised sections of it apart and had a good look through, without getting my face too close, to avoid breathing in anything harmful. The primary material was moss which had been used in great volume, creating a very densely-woven framework. There was definitely some solidity despite it being a soft structure. Interspersed between the moss were a variety of other components; leaves, straw, bits of animal hair (likely to be horse and cat since I put clumps of both out last year for them), and pieces of thread and feathers, including pheasant. There were also quite a lot ivy berries, some in big clumps at the bottom of the nest box. 

You can see a piece of thread clearly in the top left section, below the leaf.

A few materials, L-R: pheasant feather, moss, ivy berries, leaf.

Today, after clearing out the box yesterday afternoon, I observed a pair of great tits flitting around the branches surrounding the box site. One of them flew into the box and remained for some time while the second spent some time perching on the opening then flying to a nearby branch and back again. I didn't see the first bird exit the box while I was watching but it gave me real hope that, not only might the box be utilised for a second year, but it might be a different species. If they do choose to build a nest and lay eggs, it will be really interesting to see how the nest constructions differ, if at all. 

I have registered my nest box with the BTO Nest Box Challenge, which is a survey run to monitor nest sites all over the country. I am hoping that our nuthatches might nest once again in the knot hole a few meters above this box so I will have more than one nest to record observations from.