What a week it has been for bird sightings! We've had lots of birds gather here for their migration south and also seen one or two winter visitors arrive!
The weathers turned a bit chillier this week but we are still seeing dragonflies out on the reserve - that's probably why we still have hundreds of swallows and the occasional hobby about.
A glossy ibis has been seen almost daily on the reserve, mostly hanging about in the Boulderwall fields. Today we've also had our largest number of great white egrets spotted - 14!
Image: Female hen harrier - Mark Thomas
Ospreys have been flying over and a hen harrier has been seen over Denge Marsh the last couple of days. A jack snipe was seen at New Excavations and a water rail spotted over at ARC.
A female goldeneye and pintails have been seen on Burrowes pit and the ARC.
Image: Female goldeneye - Graham Parry
Geese are here with a small group of white-fronted geese seen chilling out with the greylags in Boulderwall fields. A tundra bean goose was also seen with them too.
Our first firecrest of the autumn was seen today at Denge Gully. A pair of yellow-browed warblers were seen at Denge Marsh today and a redwing was seen there too a few days ago.
A merlin was seen yesterday over the entrance track and sand and house martins are still flying through. A gorgeous ring ouzel was also seen by Boulderwall farm today.
Image: Male ring ouzel - Andy Hay