Blogger: Murray Brown, RSPB Volunteer Project Coordinator
It's been another very busy few days for RSPB volunteers and staff at Verulamium Park. With daily visitor numbers regularly hitting the 300 mark, there's been little time to relax and enjoy the emergence of spring around the lake.
One pair of Herons is certainly stealing the limelight as they are so obviously besotted with each other! There is quite an age gap between the lovers as the male is a handsome adult while the female is still sporting juvenile plumage. Don't ask how we know the older bird is the male...read between the lines. (The RSPB caters for adult audiences as well as children!!) The female now seems to be sitting so fingers crossed that the eggs from this pair are fertile.
We've already recorded over 50 bird species in the park since the project began on 19th February. The current total stands at 52 and we are well on the way to beating last year's 64. Red kites are seen in the distance on most days but occasionally drift over the lake, giving the public excellent close up views. In my view, these spectacular birds have to be among the world's most graceful birds of prey. At one point a kite was joined by a soaring sparrowhawk and visitors have also been able to enjoy the sight of up to four common buzzards towering above their heads.
Photo: Kite. Credit: Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
Our regular Friday volunteers, the Frearsons, saw a snipe fly from the island on Friday morning; a very unusual record for the park, and on Sunday there were two Little Egrets in the trees. Could this relatively small heronry be the one to accommodate Hertfordshire's first breeding Little Egrets? Probably not this year, but next year who knows?