Although we're well into the breeding season now, with the first mallard ducklings and Canada Goose goslings appearing a fortnight or so ago, the spring migrants are still on their way past. The occasional wheatear and white wagtail are still seen on the salt marsh, small parties (including a group of around 50 on 8 May) of summer plumage dunlin are a daily sight on the estuary, we still see the occasional whimbrel, and were even briefly graced with the presence of a wood warbler near the Ganol Trail on 6 May. Sandwich terns have also been a more or less daily occurence over the estuary, and a little ringed plover is being seen regularly.
Our summer visitors have really got into the swing of things, with the reserve alive with the sounds of reed warblers, sedge warblers, blackcaps, garden warblers, willow warblers and chiff chaffs. A grasshopper warbler has also been heard reeling away intermittently from the Ganol Trail. The reserve is also turning from the brown of winter to bright yellow (flowering bird's foot trefoil), blue (violets) and pink and white (cherry and apple blossom). Common blue, speckled wood and brimstone butterflies have been out and about on any bright sunny days.
Other visitors this week have been a merlin flying over the reserve on 30 April and a peregrine on 6 May. An unusual sighting today was a seal basking on the sand banks at low tide, a rarity this far up the estuary. The most spectacular sightings on the reserve this week though belong to the commoner species - large numbers of swifts, house martins, sand martins and swallows have been seen in the mornings and evenings, flying particularly low over the banks round the Benarth Hide. Anyone walking along the Estuary Track in this area is treated to head-skimming displays, and the swifts at times are only inches above the track. Wonderful to watch.
The owner of our errant black swan, which has been with us for several weeks now, has been found, so we'll attempt a swan-catching expedition on the lagoons once we can do so without disturbing our breeding birds - should be an entertaining proposition!