The photo is of Salty Chips. Am amazing gull made for the Cabin as a celebratory opening pressie by my amazingly talented friend Sandra Dale. He sits on his little stool keeping an eye on proceedings through the warmer months. He comes home with me when it is cold and wet so he doesn’t get damp…no one wants mould on their chips!!! The Salty Chips Titbits!!! blog is going to be what is going on outside the Cabin and in the wider world with nature, the sea and other things I am interested in 😊.
Mart and I attended several FREE guided walks to learn about coastal birds, environments and photographing what you see during the Bird Aware Art Fest organised by the lovely Rangers of Bird Aware Solent.
We learnt that it won’t be long before many of the visiting birds will be heading off on their epic journey to Arctic Siberia and other far away locations. When daylight hours get longer, the migratory birds begin to grow restlessness as they instinctively prepare for the start of their extraordinary journeys. To power this endurance feat, they need to stockpile large reserves of fat so have to dramatically increase their food intake. This means, at this time of year, it’s particularly important to give birds the space they need to feed without being disturbed. That means that humans, as well as themselves, need to ensure their dogs and children do not disturb the feeding birds either. The Rangers passed on their thanks to everyone who looks out for them, helping them thrive for generations to come. Find out more about the Solent’s role in bird migration, here.
The coastal defence scheme around Forton was completed in January 2025 but across the Harbour and around the bend the Southsea Coastal Scheme is full steam ahead. Progress and updates can be found, here. The phases that have been opened are awesome and have been completed to a very high standard. I heartily recommend catching the Gosport Ferry and walking round Old Portsmouth to Hotwalls, checking out the independent artists in the Hotwall Studios, and then walking along the “new” promenade up to South Parade Pier. If that is too much of a trek just do what you can and enjoy. Lots of seating areas now to eat a picnic or grab a bite, enjoy the view, hopefully the sun and a chat with a stranger. Everyone seems to want to share how much they love the new sections so many conversations have been had with lovely local people. There are lots of points of interests included for children so something for everyone.
The coastal defence scheme is also thinking of wildlife and has now installed 83 pools into their coastal defence solution. Most recently 20 pools were placed in the rocks that will form the main sea defence in the area between the Blue Reef Aquarium and the Beach Club – currently under construction. Karen Townsend of Misty Ceramics is collaborating with Artecology, Artswork on the Isle of Wight – Peta Rainford and Bridgemary School to explore marine habitat creation. The project is involved creating artificial rockpools that offer a simple and versatile solution for creating new wildlife habitats and hotspots on sea defences and harbours while improving ecological resilience.
Have you visited the People’s Park…Victoria Park in Portsmouth….they were awarded £2.4m of National Lottery Heritage Funding to restore and revitalise the People’s Park. It is an ongoing 4 year project that started in Spring 2022 but I visited yesterday and was really impressed. If you have children there are lots of fun activities…a nature trail where you find the “hidden” animals around the park, take along paper and crayons and there are brass rubbing opportunities of nature. Younger children now have their own area for a challenging and imaginative play experience. For the adults there is a new community building, the Greenhouse, in the centre of the park which has an amazing choice of activities that are free or low cost in many instances. There are many planned community events… have a look and see what interests you.