We have had some lovely spring-like days over at Beckingham in the last week, lifting spirits and looking forward to the breeding season ahead. And indeed the breeding season is nearly upon us, with both lapwing and redshank heard displaying on site in the last week. Look and listen out for their distinctive display flights, lapwings wheeling around in the air and redshanks flying low to the ground, whilst calling.
Redshank. Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
We also saw our first butterflies on the reserve last week (17th March), with both peacock and small tortoiseshell on the wing.
Small tortoiseshell. Colin Wilkinson (rspb-images.com)
Our volunteers have now finished laying the 100m stretch of hedge at the eastern end of the site and it looks fabulous - looking forward to seeing it spring into life in the next few weeks. We are now focussed on fencing repairs ready for the cattle coming back onto the site for the spring and summer.