February 2015 - Avalon Marshes

Page content (index.php)

We have recently installed a TV screen showing wildlife images captured in the Avalon Marshes at the Tourist Information Centre (TIC) in Glastonbury. The 5 minute video has some lovely footage of our resident Great White Egrets and Kingfishers, along with other birds, reptiles and mammals to be found here. There is also a massive map of the area showing the best places to go and recent wildlife sightings. Upstairs in the TIC you will find the fascinating Glastonbury Lake Village Museum.

The TIC is located in The Tribunal in the High Street (post code BA6 9DP) and is open Mon-Sat, 10am – 3.15pm.

Link to location map

Page content (index.php)

On the 14th of February Tanya Camberwell, Community Heritage Officer with the Avalon Marshes Landscape Partnership (AMLP), attended “café Burtle” at Burtle Village Hall. Café Burtle is a regular event and Tanya was there to display the Images of Avalon ‘Then and Now’ photographic exhibition and to collect images for the Footprints from the Past digital archive.

The Café was bustling with people, which was not a surprise with such a wonderful collection of cakes and pastries, not to mention crumpets and bacon sandwiches! It was a wonderful opportunity to meet members of the community and spread the word about AMLP projects. One lifelong Burtle resident brought in some fascinating photographs for scanning and adding to the archive. Follow up visits will be needed as several people have kindly offered other images for scanning.

This is the first of several image collecting events within the Avalon Marshes area so keep your eyes open for the next dates on this website.

We would like say a special thank you to Café Burtle and the wider village community for your interest and support.

Two of the images collected (With thanks to Eileen Bate)

peat cutters, eileen Bate, archive photography Eileen Bate archive photography

Page content (index.php)

We have had three groups from Strode College out this week, each on SWT’s Westhay Moor NNR, and each doing different projects.

On Monday we had second year Media students working with us and Somerset Film on our Sights & Sounds of the Marshes project. They were recording the ‘unheard sounds’ of the Marshes that will be used in their magazine show about the area.

On Wednesday it was the weekly group of Strode Young Volunteers that were out cutting and burning willow from some wet woodland. They are students from different disciplines that come together to help with practical tasks on the reserves of all our different partners. This is part of the College’s Enrichment Programme.

This morning was the turn of the first year Media students who are doing a project with ourselves and the University of the West of England called ‘Interpreting Landscape Change in the Avalon Marshes’. They are working on disseminating messages about climate change and the landscape from research that was conducted a few years ago.

Keep an eye on our website for more news about these projects, and for the students’ films which will go online after Easter.

Thank you Strode College for your continued support and enthusiasm.

Page content (index.php)

The starlings on the Avalon Marshes are acting as if spring is here. They are not settled and are changing roosting sites on a regular basis, this often heralds their spring departure. If you are coming to see them try to choose a vantage point with a good all around view. That way you may not get close up but hopefully you will see the large flocks on the move.

To read more about the starlings and see some stunning photos please follow this link.