Can you believe it's June?! Summer has hidden from us this week and we’ve had very gloomy grey weather on the reserve. This hasn’t put too much of our wildlife off though as we have had hundreds of swifts flying over Burrowes pit catching all the insects in the air.
Cuckoos can still be heard all around the reserve and hobbies and a peregrine falcon have been seen daily too. Whitethroats seem to have made a nest in front of the visitor centre which is lovely to see. Reed and willow warblers have been seen around the reserve along with spotted flycatcher, yellow wagtail and bearded tits – all seen around the Denge Marsh area.
The islands are appearing on Burrowes pit now and are home to many waders such as common sandpipers and ringed plovers.
Gulls have also taken over many of the rafts out on Burrowes pit and Denge Marsh. Some unusual gulls have also been seen, including a laughing gull and glaucous gull.
3 stoats were seen by Denge Marsh today, and wildlife is abundant in the dipping pond and around the discovery trail as we found out today on our family event;
Frog and newt tadpoles in the pond, diving beetles, caddis fly larvae, medicinal leeches and water boatmen were all discovered today in the pond.
Damselflies, caterpillars, beetles and grasshoppers were also seen among the wildflowers which are coming into bloom nicely now!