Full steam ahead! A great end to January

For the last three weeks we've really been tied up in the winter reed cut and there's no doubt about it I've not had much time to get out and about around the reserve, particularly when the sun is shining. But yesterday we finished and this morning I manged to get a quick look around site and get a better understanding of whats about, I certainly wasn't disappointed! 

Lapwings in front of Ousefleet hide this morning - fantastic!

However! Just as I was walking off the marsh yesterday afternoon the female ringtail hen harrier flew over the main reedbed to the left of Singleton hide, so if anyone was wondering yes the hen harriers are still about, and talking to Mr Dutton this morning apparently there was ringtail in to roost at the weekend and the week before all 3 hen harriers came in together!

Plenty of other birds of prey about too with marsh harriers (some showing sign of display), buzzards, sparrowhawks and kestrels all putting on a nice show through the day. And of course the barn owls continue to entertain and I'm not surprised judging by the number of voles and shrews still scuttling about in the reedbed despite the Autumn high tides. Some people always ask about short-eared owls which we do still get occasionally, but I suspect they don't mix well with the marsh harriers and prefer to go to areas where they don't get chased as much.

The buzzard is getting ridiculously tame!

Nice too as water levels pan out a bit to see a few more waders using the site with this morning on tide 600 lapwing, 5 spotted redshank, 7 redshank, 3 snipe, 21 black-tailed godwits, curlews and a few dunlin. Not too bad for January especially as once upon a time we would have been frozen up at least for a week or two. 

Spotted redshank at Townend lagoon on tide

Note the bird on the right is just starting to wear into its dusky plumage - you may note the waders seem to preen a lot at this time as they start to wear into their summer breeding plumage

A side on view 

The redshank are nice too

But the black-tailed godwits have always been in poor light to do their beauty justice - this ones just getting its red on the chest

A few discernible changes too in the ducks with the wigeon now looking particularly lovely with the males now sporting off their deep pink breasts. They are as they nibble the grass supported by teal, shoveler, gadwall, mallard, tufted duck and this morning one of my favourite ducks the pochard.

Wigeon are truly lovely duck

The pochard are looking dapper too - if not a little mucky billed as they hoover up the chironomid larvae

Coot numbers have gone past the twenty mark now and more little grebes seem to have returned to the ponds, while on some days skeins of pink-footed geese flight out to feed on the arable. 

These pinks were feeding next to the reserve on Saturday - worth a look through the greylags in the spud field in Whitgift too, I reckon there must be a chance of the odd white-front or bean. 

Some signs of spring in the smaller birds with a rise in dunnock numbers around site, yes we do tend to get lower number in winter, not sure where they go. But still a few fieldfares some of which are now feeding in the fields, plenty of singing Cettis warblers, a few bearded tits, stonechats and the odd water pipit around the lagoon edges or flying over and off course our resident tree sparrows. Nice too to see one or two yellowhammers about on some mornings and the odd singing skylark at Ousefleet. 

When you work in the reedbed you tend to get only 4 or 5 species of bird, wren, stonechat, water pipit, bearded tit and blue tit! But when busy cutting you can get some great views of one or tow of them. 

Yellowhammer

Stonechats - I've tried for ages to get a pair side by side!

And here's a bit of video of a water pipit

Plenty of stoat and weasel activity, plenty of roe deer and also an increase in fox sightings. 

A bit of cheeky fox vid

I'll finish with a nice bit of reedbed fungi, this species always prefers the wetter dark and dank areas.