Finally, the effects of the drought seem to be easing off. The water levels on the lagoons have started to creep up at last after a few weeks of rain and some days when we have been able to pump water from the Afon Ganol. We have a very long way to go yet, but the work we carried out in front of the Coffee Shop has paid off, as we now have two moats of water surrounding the new islands that we created last month, and the Coffee Shop team phoned excitedly across this morning to announce that a mallard had been seen on the water - the first duck to be seen swimming in front of the Coffee Shop for 4 months!
Out on the Deep Lagoon, a good number of waders has been seen daily, with 200+ redshank and 300+ curlew at high tides, and regular sightings of 13-14 black-tailed godwit, a handful of dunlin, the occasional greenshank and an increase in sightings of snipe, along with 2 ruff and a spotted redshank seen on 27th September. After giving extremely close views for nearly a week , the grey phalarope was last seen on the evening of 30th September.
Migration is still very visible, with good numbers of meadow pipits and pied wagtail stopping off on the edges of the saltmarsh and lagoons to feed up each day. The numbers of wigeon and teal have also built up massively in the last week or so, with 423 teal counted on Thursday 30th September, and the saltmarsh was teeming with ducks as I walked past this morning, all busily feeding amonst the sea purslane. Other visitors this week have included up to 2 grey wagtails daily by the Afon Ganol, regular wheatears on the Estuary Track, and a male stonechat. However, a memory of the summer that has just passed continues to linger with the presence of chiffchaffs and blackcaps still on the reserve, the latter probably taking advantage of the swathes of blackberries on site. It's nice to have a small reminder of a little bit of sunshine in amongst all the greyness of the rainy days!