Recent Sightings The wood sandpiper was still showing well on Monday but has unfortunately not been spotted since then. A common sandpiper arrived on Tuesday though which was a nice sight. Spotted redshank numbers are still increasing and there were as many as 14 snipe counted this week. There is still at least 2 avocet being seen around the reserve too. The cattle egret is still showing well, clearly happy now we have cattle grazing on both the main scrape and inner marsh. A great white egret was also seen at the beginning of the week as a nice bonus. A ruddy shelduck also arrived on Monday and was around for a few days. Two kingfishers have been spotted and appear to be becoming more regular, mostly around the meres and reception at present, now the breeding season is over. A red kite flyover was also a special sight as always.
(Kingfisher taken by Marsh Covert Hide last winter, Elizabeth Maddock)
Plenty of butterflies still around due to the warm weather, as many as 13 species were seen in one day by one visitor. A beautiful migrant hawker dragonfly was also spotted on Wednesday.
Star Sightings This week’s star sighting has to be the spotted crake. It has been showing intermittently since Tuesday and was still being seen yesterday late afternoon/evening. It has meant a sea of telescopes the last few days as people sit dedicated and determined to see this elusive bird but many good sightings have been had.
Wardens’ Wanderings This week the wardens’ were again pulling ragwort out on the wet grassland. This time they had the help of a cooperate work party from British Gas which made the job a lot quicker and now the ragwort pulling is complete for the season. Warden Al and residential volunteer Gwen also went out to help the farmer and others do a sheep round up this week. They were out on the marsh for 6 hours in the end but it was a successful round up so all the sheep will be safe from the high tide this coming weekend.
Get involved
On Sunday 12th we are supporting ‘Hen Harrier Day’! ‘Hen Harrier Day’ is raising awareness of the struggles facing hen harriers in the UK and how we can bring change to this situation and help improve things for them. There is an event down at the Old Baths car park at Parkgate from 12-3pm and some big names are set to attend so see you there! Come celebrate International Bat Night with us on the 26th August at Burton Mere! Starting at 8pm we will be going on a walk to discover the different bat species that live on the reserve. https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/events-dates-and-inspiration/events/details.aspx?id=tcm:9-455516