Our reserves have been bustling with activity this week with lots of events and wonderful sightings.
Our monthly Reptile Survey Walk was another huge success with 14 Smooth Snakes found, including several very young juveniles. 3 Slow Worms were also found, along with a Dartford Warbler and a Black Darter dragonfly! Our First Night Wildlife Walk of the year was also treated to 4 Nightjars churring and flying very close by, as well as a female Sand Lizard digging a burrow, a distant singing Dartford Warbler, and Nathusius' Pipistrelle Bats. Lots of pond life was found at RSPB Radipole Lake on our Weymouth Family Day today, including a Dragonfly Nymph, some small Stickleback Fish, Freshwater Shrimp, Bloodworms, and lots of Pond Snails.
Next week, our Night Wildlife Walks continue at RSPB Arne to watch our spectacular Nightjars and look for other nocturnal wildlife on the reserve.
Video above: Nightjars flying and churring during the Night Wildlife Walk at RSPB Arne.
One of our Cuckoos was also seen flying across RSPB Arne after weeks of hearing their tantalizing calls, and the elusive Hobbies at RSPB Radipole Lake put on a great show above the Discovery Center today! A Ringed Plover and some more Whimbrel arrived at RSPB Lodmoor this week to take advantage of the wet grassland, mudflats, and scrapes on the reserve.
Our first Broad Bodied Chaser, Black-tailed Skimmer, and Black Darter dragonflies of the year were spotted this week across our reserves, and an impressive freshly emerged Eyed-hawk moth was found at RSPB Arne. Some of our flowers were also covered in glamorous Rose Chafer beetles and patches of our heather have just started to flower.
Photo above: Broad-bodied Chaser by Matt Wilkinson (rspb-images.com)
If you'd like to keep up to date with what's going on at our reserves, take a look at our events page and follow us on social media:
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Events at RSPB Arne and Garston Wood
Events at RSPB Radipole Lake
Events at RSPB Lodmoor