Our Highlights of 2025
Wow! Another year of Bird Aware over! We’ve had a great year on the Essex Coast – from fencing nests to lots of events in all weathers! As the year draws to a close, the team has taken a moment to reflect.
We started off the year in the thick of the winter season in January, with visitors excited to see our winter migrants through our scopes. Sadly we had to say goodbye to the brent geese at the start of Spring but we were eager to welcome some breeding birds back!
During the Share our Shores project we collaborated with Essex Wildlife Trust and RSPB to protect beach nesting birds. It was another successful breeding season, with even more chicks hatching than last year. Our engagement with visitors along with committed site monitoring meant that more people knew to give the birds and their nests the space they needed.
Towards the end of breeding season, Summer brought with it some brilliant events for the team! We set up by the lion’s den at Colchester Zoo for Endangered Species Day and spoke to thousands of school children in Writtle for their Skills Fest and Agricultural Day. It was especially rewarding to hear that some children recognised us from previous events, and we hope they remain inspired about protecting coastal birds.
We were extremely fortunate to be joined by our work experience student, Oliver in June. Oliver was an asset to the team for the week, increasing engagement and sharing his infectious enthusiasm for the coast with our visitors. We wish him the best of luck with his future.
Behind the scenes we have been undergoing a review of the RAMS strategy (the strategy that underpins how we deliver our project as Bird Aware Essex). It’s been great to see this take shape, with visitor surveys taking place throughout the coast to see why and when people visit. We’ve also had the chance to engage with project stakeholders who gave us their expertise on our sites. Stakeholders are groups of people that have an interest in our project, like landowners or local councils. We will use their expertise to better engage with coastal visitors in the future!
Bird Aware went on tour this year! We met up with our friends over the pond (or, estuary) at the 2025 Mitigation Meetup in Portsmouth! We swapped ideas, visions and experiences with other mitigation projects and it was great to learn how other projects handle the challenges we all face. Closer to home, we also attended the ‘Life on the Edge’ end of Project Conference in Chelmsford. This project improved the condition of various coastal sites!
We presented our project to various groups and clubs this year, from Women’s institutes to sailing clubs up and down the Essex coast. We also teamed up with Marine Conservation Society to help clean up our beaches. We loved helping on other projects that share our goal of protecting wildlife.
In October our Great Coastal Birdwatch was back for a third year! This time we kicked things off with a very popular wildlife walk in Brightlingsea where Ranger Lea shared her extensive knowledge of the area and its wildlife. We ‘popped up’ up and down the coast to encourage visitors to get involved in a bird watch and play some games. You all showed up in your hoards and submitted lots and lots of survey forms! Our top spotted birds were: Black headed gull, Carrion Crow, Herring Gull, Little Egret & Cormorant.
So our year has been full of lots of highs! I asked everyone in the team what their favourite moment of 2025 was, and they did not disappoint! Here’s what they had to say:
Lea:
The two most exciting bird encounters were both in February and both in Brightlingsea, a place which just keeps on giving!
The first one was seeing a Common Crane flying over the river Colne towards East Mersea. I have a particular fondness for cranes, and I was just planning to go and see them on Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire when I happened to glimpse this majestic creature, the size of a swan, effortlessly gliding through the cold morning air, one wing beat at a time, its finger like black wing tips stretched outwards! I think I only started breathing again when it disappeared on the horizon, it’s hard to say…
The second encounter was perhaps less majestic but also unusual, exciting and very cute for sure. I finally came across the, well known, female Black Redstart, who decided to spend the end of her winter around the Brightlingsea sailing club. She was possibly one of the two birds which have been overwintering on Mersea Island in recent years.
Redstarts are woodland birds and predominantly summer visitors to the UK. They usually don’t turn up before mid- March/April when they start arriving from their trans-Saharan wintering grounds. Moreover, they are increasingly rare in lowland England and are currently on the UK’s Amber list, so it is truly a privilege to see one. We are hoping they will breed on Mersea at some point!
Tom:
I loved getting stuck in with the Share our Shores project. At Colne Point, I was involved from the start of the season laying cages down over ringed plover nests. Setting up field cameras meant that we could monitor nest success, and any causes of disturbance. It was really rewarding to begin to see chicks running around and know that I played a part in helping their survival.
With this being the second year that I’ve been involved, it was great to meet people out and about that recognised the brand and already knew what to do with their dogs to look after the birds.
Bronwen:
My highlight happened quite recently! Back in August the team placed bets on the first day we would see the first brent geese back in Leigh on Sea! However, after a patch of particularly bad weather they were nowhere to be found for the fist few weeks of September. However, whilst on patrol in late September I could see a small group of black birds way out on the mudflats at a low tide in Leigh-on-Sea.
With just my binoculars to hand, they were too far away to confirm so I rushed back to grab my spotting scope, with excitement building. I finally got back to the same spot and set up my scope. The brent geese were indeed back for the season! I took lots of videos (and spammed the work group chat) to celebrate. What followed was a wonderful afternoon of sharing the news with passersby, some had never heard of a brent goose, and some who had lived there for a few decades, and all shared my excitement.
Now we’re in the thick of the winter season, seeing a brent goose is a daily occurrence but I’m sure I will be just as excited next autumn to welcome them back.
Chloe:
My highlight was attending the Mitigation Meetup! We were kindly hosted by Bird Aware Solent for the day. With a huge variety of workshops, the team chose to ‘divide and conquer’ so we could get involved in as many discussions as possible.
It was also so great to finally see people in person that we usually only interact with virtually. There are lots of projects, just like ours, up and down the English coastline and even some further inland! We all share the same missions of encouraging people to enjoy wildlife habitats responsibly. Learning what works and doesn’t work from others that have tried it has been super helpful. We are excited to launch some new projects targeting groups like water sports users and schools next year!
Leanne:
I really enjoyed the Chelmsford Skills festival, its so lovely seeing young people interested in what job you do and seeing them get inspired about a nature conservation career. The students asked some great questions and were keen to learn how our roles came about and what they involved.
Another highlight would be getting some temporary signage designed and installed at Point Clear. With help from the residents and the nearby caravan site, we created signage that informed visitors that they were opposite a wildlife haven for beach nesting birds, and to give them lots of space. It was well received, and the residents of Point Clear came together to keep an eye on the signage too. It was a great community effort!
Thank you for all your support this year, the Bird Aware team are excited to see what 2026 has in store for us!