What a busy week we have had! Lots of sightings on the reserve this week include our celebrity ringed-neck duck and long eared owl.
Image: Ringed-neck duck by Martin Casemore
We have also been pleased to see our bearded tits using the well-placed grit tray too! Grit is important for bearded tits as they use it to help grind up the seeds they eat. In the summer bearded tits will feed off insects but in winter time, the insects disappear and they switch their diet to seeds. The grit helps them digest the seeds as they transition into their new diet for the winter.
Image: Bearded tits on our grit tray by Martin Casemore
Other sightings this week include: 2 bewicks swans and 6 little grebes at Denge Marsh, goldeneye, goosander, pintail and scaup on Burrowes pit, lots of waders including avocet, ringed plover, dunlin, snipe and jack snipe, bar and black-tailed godwits, water rail and redshank mostly seen on Burrowes pit on our quickly disappearing islands.
Bitterns have been seen more frequently around the reserve, four sightings were reported today! Our great white egrets are showing off as well as ever and the cattle egret is still in the Boulderwall fields. Merlin, peregrine and buzzards have also been seen around the reserve.
Image: Little grebe by Tom Marshall (rspb-images.com)
Gulls are a common site on Burrowes pit, but among them are a few rarities such as Caspian, Mediterranean and yellow-legged gulls.
Kingfishers can be seen zooming along the edges of the water and a Dartford warbler has also been seen occasionally - look out for them among the gorse bushes!
Today, our Wildlife Explorers received a special tour of our Sound Mirrors and had great fun playing Chinese whispers in the large mirror. If you are still interested in visiting the Sound Mirrors, although things may have gone quiet since our summer open day, do not worry as we are still working on ways to open up this site for the public to enjoy. Keep an eye on the website in spring time for more information.
Image: 200ft Sound Mirror by Louise Kelly