All posts by David Pottinger

FPS Photographic Competition 2018

Photography

The theme for the FPS Photographic Competition for 2018 is

“It’s the little things.…”

Here are the entry details:

  • All photographs must have been taken at Fleet Pond Nature Reserve.
    Note: If your photograph is a close-up you need to also include a wider shot that can confirm the location at Fleet Pond.
  • Up to 3 photographs per person.
  • All photographs received will be acknowledged and may be used by FPS for any purpose it chooses.
  • Send photographs together with name and postal address by email to  photocomp@fleetpond.org.uk
  • Closing date : 6th January 2019.
  • The Rose Bowl award is donated by Fleet Photographic.
  • The taking of photographs using drones or aerial cameras is prohibited.

The winners of the competition will be announced at the FPS AGM in February 2019.

Best of luck!

Web Designer for Fleet Pond Society

People, Volunteering

Fleet Pond Society are looking for a volunteer web designer to take our site to the next level (the current site can be found here).

Fleet Pond Society is a high profile charity that has won a number of regional and local awards for their contributions to conserving Fleet Pond Nature Reserve and also for raising awareness of it’s fauna and flora and fascinating history.

The volunteering position has been advertised on Volunteer North Hampshire and you can see the advert here (and it is also given below).

Opportunity:

In 2015 the Fleet Pond Society created a new website to promote Fleet Pond, share its history, publicise key events, provide updates on environmental activities and encourage visitors to appreciate this unique local amenity. See: https://fleetpond.org.uk/

We are now looking for someone to help us make improvements to the website which will include incorporation of our blog and ecommerce functionality.

Skills:

We are hoping to find a volunteer happy to further develop our website. You will need to be adept at WordPress, web-design and hopefully have some experience in e-commerce.

The volunteer will be able to work remotely and in your own time; however it will be advantageous for the successful candidate to meet with the committee in order to plan and discuss the developments of the website face to face.

Ed. If you know a friend or colleague who may be interested, we’d appreciate it if you could pass on the opportunity.

A Note On Feeding The Ducks

Conservation, Education, Plants and Animals

An advice poster on feeding wildfowl (click to enlarge)

Taking a bag of bread down to a Pond, river or canal and feeding the swans, geese, ducks and seagulls is something that has been done for generations.

What could be better for all of us than enjoying time out in the fresh air and feeding the ducks. Better for us, yes, but as far as bread goes, not better for the swans, geese, ducks and seagulls etc.

It is proven that feeding bread to these hungry birds is not a good thing. Although it fills them up, bread has very little nutritional value for them and is doing more harm than good.

The Countryside Rangers have issued a new poster (see above) encouraging visitors to feed the wildfowl with pelleted duck food, available from most good pet stores.

It’s just as much fun and you have the happy feeling of knowing that you are feeding them well. Please look out for the posters on the noticeboards and jetties around the Pond.

See also: Keeping Our Ducks Healthy

An information board on some of the wildlife at Fleet Pond