If you enjoy seeing families of birds with their young then it’s a great time to visit the reserve at the moment. We are currently about half way through monitoring our breeding water birds and the latest survey yesterday morning revealed plenty of activity with broods of ducklings, goslings and various other chicks around the lagoons.
Little Grebe Chick
Seven mallard broods were seen, some looking almost ready to fledge while others appeared to be only a day or two old. A pair of little grebes had two partially grown chicks with their smart black and white stripey heads, while two broods of coots and a brood of moorhens were also recorded. Around the deep lagoon, there were two families of Canada geese with goslings, and our mute swans have made an eagerly anticipated appearance with five cygnets. There's plenty more to come with four coots, a little grebe and several Canada geese still visibly sitting on nests, and no doubt many more tucked away in the reeds out of sight. Our pair of great crested grebes have been seen displaying and nest building so hopefully they will also breed again this year. We also still have several gadwall, teal, and tufted duck still present although there has been no evidence yet to suggest that they are breeding.
Mute Swan with Cygnets
Elsewhere on the reserve blackbirds, song thrushes, various warblers and other passerines can be seen carrying food for young, while the calling of young house sparrows and blue tits can be heard from nest boxes around the visitor centre and wildlife garden. Many of the adult song birds have become noticeably less vocal as they have turned their attention to raising chicks, although occasional bursts of song from reed and sedge warblers, blackcaps and whitethroats among others, can still be heard when walking around the reserve.
Passage birds have continued to include several wheatears of the slightly larger and brighter Greenland race as they head northwards to their arctic breeding grounds. Meanwhile the movement of whimbrel seems to have slowed down with just 3 seen on the 14th and one on the 17th. A red-breasted merganser was on the deep lagoon on the 16th and a little ringed plover was present on one of the islands on the shallow lagoon yesterday morning.
As we move further towards the summer, more flowers are starting to appear including the first southern marsh orchids.