Recent sightings 1/8/2016

Great birding at Burton Mere Wetlands as we move into the autumn migration, here's a flavour of what was around yesterday:

• 9 spoonbills, spending more time on the pools than the treetops in recent days
• 1 spotted crake, showing intermittently at the back of the main scrape
• up to 1000 black-tailed godwits spread across various pools
• small flocks of knot and dunlin mixed in with the godwits
• 4 ruff and 4 spotted redshank on main scrape
• 2 common sandpipers and 2 green sandpipers on Reception Pool enjoying the mud as the water level is lowered
• up to 11 snipe showing well from the Inner Marsh Farm Hide
• Kingfisher seen over Burton Mere and from Reedbed Screen
• Spotted flycatcher brood close to Burton Mere Trail at south end of Woodland Pool
• up to 3 marsh harriers hunting over the wet grassland and reedbed
• 1 raven high over Marsh Covert woodland
• 1 green woodpecker in/around car park
• common lizards showing well on the fence near the Reedbed Screen

Highlights out on Burton Marsh at the moment are a single great white egret and an early-returning ringtail hen harrier.