Not long now....
Sorry we havent been our usual communicative selves on the blog, its been horribly busy of late. I was on site yesterday and its looking fantastic. Now that the scaffolding is down from the building its elegant shape is becoming apparent - ugly duckling to beautiful swan!
The large sweeping wing-like roofs give the building a very distinctive outline. Internally, our huge rammed earth wall is now in place and looks extraordinary. Literally earth rammed tight until it acts like concrete, this old technology will transform the energy efficiency of our building by acting as a giant storage heater. Upstairs the floor screed is completed and cables are sprouting from every wall.
The whole place is a hive of activity. Totally uninterested in the human swirl around them, our bluetit family nesting high in one of the hollow girders fledged successfully but our two swallow nestlings, perfectly safe in the upstairs plant room look like they will be with us for another week or so.
Outside is equally active. The bases of cycleways and footpaths now snake out across the reserve. The 'family' hide, a big people friendly viewing facility with floor to ceiling panoramic window, looking out over the northern reedbeds and pools, is progressing well, as is the new scrape, bringing the wetland right up to it. The road widening scheme at our entrance is completed, so we can now access the site safely from the busy adjacent trunk road. Our new entrance wetlands are developing, most of the reed has taken well, but it will be some time before the isolated clumps begin to dominate. At the moment the ubiquitous water crowfoot, is flowering and creating a delicate white lacework across the pools. The grasslands are alive with meadow brown butterflies and common blue damselflies. It all feels incredibly exciting again.
On the rare bird front, early July brought with it a first for the reserve - a Terek sandpiper. This sprightly little wader, fresh in from its Siberian tundra breeding grounds seemed quite at home on the Calorgas Pool, accompanied by redshanks and a wood sandpiper. I couldn't help a little inward smile as I watched it on the Sunday afternoon and thought 'We created that pool'.
Other interesting birds during the month have been a pair of Roseate Terns that appeared just for one day and, as with previous years, Little Egrets have returned after an absence during the breeding season. Despite the generally wet month the 300 pair strong Common Tern colony has begun to fledge lots of youngsters and adults continue to ferry supplies of sprats back from the estuary mouth to feed their growing chicks.
As we continue to fight our way over the hurdles this project throws up, the end is in sight. Despite battling against a slipping programme, we are still aiming for a public opening in November. Not long to wait now.
Posted by Kevin Bayes and David Braithwaite
Stop Press. Many thanks to Stockton Borough Council who have just told us they have an extra £80,000 funding for us. That makes our budget look much healthier!