Category Archives: mudflats

WeBS counts and webbed feet

Posted on March 11, 2023 by solwayshorewalker

“You can tell barnie poo from pinks’ poo because the pinks’ is greenish,” Frank bends down and points to the soft cylinders of pinkfoot goose poo that are scattered on the cropped turf. “Barnies’ are brownish. But they all have … Continue reading →

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‘Saltmarsh writing workshop’ – some words and images

Posted on September 18, 2022 by solwayshorewalker

The RSPB’s Campfield Reserve near Bowness on the Upper Solway is a perfect place for a writing workshop, especially if you want to ‘experience’, think about, and write about saltmarshes; they form a land- and sea-scape that most people probably … Continue reading →

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The charisma of Corophium, the mudshrimp

Posted on July 18, 2022 by solwayshorewalker

Snowdrifts! Small semicircles and rippling lines of white on the grass of the saltmarsh: the cast exoskeletons of thousands of mudshrimps. My friend and former colleague Professor Geoff Moore (himself an expert on amphipod crustaceans including Corophium) once told me … Continue reading →

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Strange animals of the Solway shore

Posted on January 24, 2022 by solwayshorewalker

This is a resumé of a short talk I gave at Bowness-on-Solway on Saturday 22nd January, as part of the event that launched the ‘Hadrian’s Wall 1900’ celebrations. I’m posting it here because some of the audience wanted to know … Continue reading →

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The fog and the froth

Posted on September 21, 2021 by solwayshorewalker

Diffuse, pale light glimmers and shifts with the fog above Skinburness saltmarsh. Two crows call harshly and fly swiftly towards a broad-winged shape, a buzzard, who slants his wings and flaps away, fading and disappearing into the whiteness. Along the … Continue reading →

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SACs, SPAs, SSSIs on the Solway Firth: Learning to love the acronyms

Posted on June 10, 2020 by solwayshorewalker

“Think of [the list] as not so much an inventory as a catalogue leading to compelling and interacting stories.” [1] Conservation designations: their borders aren’t marked by posts or buoys, but they are marked by lines on maps, and by … Continue reading →

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