Avocets, marsh harriers and the return of our summer migrants sums up this week at Blacktoft Sands. Avocet numbers have now built up to 70 individuals - all gathered on marshland today. The male marsh harriers have returned to take over territories over our reedbed - shifting some our immature males that stayed the winter and thought they had the upper hand! The sight of displaying marsh harriers is one of the magical experiences that blacktoft has on offer at the moment. This week also saw the return of sand martins, swallows and chiffchaff to the reserve. Our 50+ black-tailed godwits seem to be quite settled on xerox at the moment. Also look out for spotted redshank and barn owls in their boxes. Lastly, our bittern has started booming and can be seen on occasions from singleton hide.