We are bathed in sunshine today - there is a nice breeze keeping us cool though. With plenty of birds around this week, a trip to the reserve this weekend would be a real treat. The bittern is being seen on a regular basis on ARC and in the Hookers reedbed area each day. A Great White Egret was seen on Burrowes yesterday and from Denge Marsh Hide this morning. The numbers of different species of waders on the reserve continues to increase with highlights this week being Green Sandpipers on ARC, Common Sandpipers on Burrowes, Black-tailed godwits on ARC, Whimbrel on Burrowes Pit. On Wednesday we were all treated to close views of two tiny Oystercatcher chicks that hatched on the island in front of the Visitor centre. The adults spent much of the day piping very loudly to deter the gulls which made getting any office work done quite hard! Let's hope that they manage to keep them safe until they fledge!