At last we're starting to have a little bit of rain to help refresh our lagoons and reedbed and hopefully tempt in a few birds although it does seem that already this 'hope' has come true with the re-emergence of the spotted crake at Singleton today in the same place and found by the same finder and again during heavy rain, lightning certain does sometimes strike twice!

Sunset over Marshland

But there has certainly been a nice selection of birds around site with on Friday a Bittern putting on a good show as it sunned itself on Xerox lagoon, also oodles of water rails still about and showing very well right out in the open, plus quite a few little egrets feeding near to the lagoon sluices. 

Little egret

With ultra high tides set for the beginning of next week the team are this week busy with getting the lagoons into shape so that some of them at least can be flooded ready for the winter, hopefully we will be able to keep a bit of shallow water on the odd lagoon or on Ousefleet flash but if there is a big tide then the lagoons will all flood through the water table. 

One thing we've been doing is creating edge habitat along  the side of Townend lagoon using a single furrow plough, this helps control the reed that encroaches into the open water (particularly if we can flood it soon) but also creates rough areas where snipe and other waders like to feed especially where we are adding a little bit of organic vegetation and konik dung which helps increase the invertebrate numbers. This recent rain will really help bed this new habitat in and get a few birds feeding on it, but it should be really good if we can flood it on tide next week and hopefully attract a few spinoletta pipits. 

Hopefully we will get a bit more ploughing done on the front edge of Xerox and also the team will be cutting some of the reed on some of the lagoons to create better viewing, it shouldn't affect the birds on site though as they have a few choices of where to feed and we will only work on any one lagoon at a time. 

Certainly the main theme to the week has been sit back and enjoy your birding with a nice variety of birds passing through on migration and arriving to winter including our first whooper swan of the year at the weekend that flew over but also hundreds of pink footed geese moving back and forth to feed on the arable, one evening there was an incredible evening flight of 2000+ .

Pinkfeet flying over

Stonechats have also been settling in on site with good numbers particularly around Towend and Ousefleet always a nice bird to see, but do double check its a stonechat as recently there has been a renewed passage of whinchats with two at the weekend and one today. 

Whinchat

In terms of waders there has been some lovely close viewing particularly of the ruff and snipe, but there has also been in support black-tailed godwits, green sandpipers, lapwing, curlew, spotted redshankgolden plover and grey plover (both species flying over), and redshank. There was also a late little ringed plover on Marshland on Friday, maybe the last one of the year?

Ruff

Redshank 

Lapwing

Snipe

Black-tailed godwit - now in winter plumage

Little ringed plover

 A nice variety of duck around with wigeon, gadwall, the odd pintail, teal, mallard, tufted duck but we do need a bit of water back onto Ousefleet to get the numbers back. 

Raptor wise its mostly marsh harriers at the moment but also a good chance of seeing barn owl on an evening as they draw in. 

Cattle enjoying the weather out on the grazing marsh

A nice mix of smaller birds still around with a few chiffchaff and goldcrest this morning, the odd yellow wagtail around the Ousefleet end of the reserve and plenty of meadow pipits, skylarks and on the calmer drier mornings a few parties of irrupting bearded tits. Also plenty of reed buntings, linnets, goldfinch while good to see the tree sparrows eating a bit of natural food the other day, feasting on the ripe juicy elderberries.

Tree sparrow on the elders

The long-tailed tits are looking very nice at the moment now they have all moulted into their adult plumage.

And nice to spot this lovely green carpet moth this morning that flew onto the underside of an Elder, I used flash to show it up. 

 I'll leave you with a bit of interesting curlew behaviour/diet which I witnessed with Titch while we were out birding the outer Humber at the weekend. Amazing to see this curlew take a crab, remove both its pincers and eat them and then stuff the whole body down in one! 

Removing the claws

getting ready to eat the body

And down the hatch - its like eating a meat pie in one!