What a busy week we have had on the reserve! Most days the weather has been kind so we have been flooded with visitors over the Easter break. Our insects are starting to emerge with all of our ‘Big 7’ species of bee being spotted out and about. Peacock and tortoiseshell butterflies have emerged and our Andrena vaga bees are still buzzing around the sandy bank by the visitor centre.
Our bitterns are booming and are being seen regularly on the reserve. The tundra bean goose is still around as are the smew and goldeneye. The black necked and slavonian grebes are being spotted in their summer plumage over at New Diggings. Great white and little egrets are hanging around the pond nearest Boulderwall farm.
A red kite was seen twice on the reserve this week! They have to be my favourite bird of prey, I love watching them!
Image: Red kite - Ben Hall
Meditteranean and little gulls have been seen on the reserve today, on Burrowes pit and over at the ARC. An Iceland gull was seen at the ARC on the 2nd April too.
Common terns are here as are the sand martins and swallows!
Sedge warblers, willow warblers, chiffchaffs and black caps were seen today. A linnet, 8 redpoll, firecrests, goldcrests and bearded tits were all seen this week too.
One of our visitors, Graham Parry, witnessed a fantastic event on the reserve over by Scott hide this week. He watched a weasel kill a lizard and carry it about for a while, stopping to check the nature trail for ‘traffic’ before he shot into the bramble with his prize. Graham has kindly given us permission to share his fantastic photo here. What an amazing sighting!
Image: Weasel with lizard - Graham Parry
We still have our Easter egg hunt happening over the weekend, so snap up the chocolate eggs before they are gone! Next Saturday we will be hosting our Bittern Breakfast event, where you can dine outside whilst listening to the booms of these fabulous birds. Check out our website or give us a call for more details: 01797 320588.
Enjoy the weekend!