A Day with the RSPB
“This Autumn we took some of the Weird Fish HQ shoal to the RSPB Sandwell Valley Nature Reserve in the West Midlands to do a bit of team bonding and some volunteering.
Sandwell Valley is a mixture of wet grasslands, wildflower meadows, woodland, and a picturesque lake. The lake is managed for the benefit of wintering birds such as goosanders, shovelers and wigeons and breeding birds like lapwings and little ringed plovers. The site is managed by clearing vegetation from the islands and building rafts for nesting and roosting.
Our team got stuck into racking the long dead grass that covers the hillside running down to the lake, and clearing the weeds away.
This keeps the land open for breeding lapwings and wintering waders and water birds. It also ideal for hunting kestrels, feeding finches and blooming wildflowers in the summer.
We were looked after for the day by volunteer Ross, who was a fountain of knowledge about the reserve and gave us a tour of the site. It is a great place to take little visitors for a day out with walks along the bug-friendly paths, wildlife challenges, activities and natural play features. And wildlife watchers can head to the hide which is right on the water, to get the best view of the birds. Why not borrow a bug hunting or pond dipping kits which can be borrowed at different times of the year too.
The whole day we were there, the team were testing out our latest Autumn/Winter range of T-Shirts, fleeces and jumpers, and they certainly stood up to the task.
We had a great day out, and it was really nice to be able to do a bit more to give back to this charity we have worked with since 2015. You can buy out latest collaboration T-Shirts; Doctor Hoot or Stranger Wings now, and £5 from each sale goes directly to the charity.
