April Showers

So April is here and so are the birds! As are April showers which have soaked a few people out of the reserve today but it's worth the effort! The last couple of days has seen the return of Willow Warblers and Blackcaps which are now joining Chiffchaffs and Swallows which have been building up over the last week. Big excitement yesterday was provided by an Osprey fishing out in Middlebere throughout the day and it’s been seen again today. It was sadly narrowly missed by our ‘Discover Arne’ walk this morning but they enjoyed brilliant views of a Marsh Harrier flushing hundreds of Black-tailed Godwits. A few Spoonbills are still hanging around but lots of the waders and ducks have now departed. However a Spotted Redshank has been seen a few times in Middlebere this week.

More entertainment has been provided by a Great Spotted Woodpecker who’s taken drumming on the bird feeder outside the hut. There’s a short video of him on our RSPB Arne & East Dorset Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/RSPBEastDorset/

Don’t forget we’ve got the Sounds of Spring walks coming over the next three weeks. We'll make the most of the migration this month and we really hope to hear Arne's first Cuckoo of this 2016 on one of these walks. This Sunday is the first followed by the next two Sundays. Ring us up on 01929 553360 to grab a space. Starts at 7am at the visitor hut. The cafe will be very kindly opening slightly earlier for us that day so we don’t have long to wait for a coffee!

We had some great feedback from a visitor last week who specifically came to Arne after seeing a picture of some cake. We promised we’d continue so here’s some vanilla and chocolate marble cake! So if it does rain the cafe's a great alternative.