Here at Dungeness, the breeding season is in full swing! After a very cold start to the spring, the weather is finally cheering up and the wildlife are getting busy. Some birds have had their young already such as our resident geese, coots and swans. Look out for their fluffy chicks paddling behind the adults on our lakes. Some birds are currently on nests such as our gulls out on the islands and our blue tits and great tits in the nest boxes. The majority of common terns have yet to arrive but we do already have a small colony on our new islands on Burrowes Pit. There's plenty of space for more so fingers crossed for a few more terns soon! Many warblers are still singing loudly around the reserve and although the bittern is still booming we think we have two pairs nesting over at ARC!
Bittern booming at ARC - Graham Parry
Magpies are fairly common birds and pretty noisy things too - plus they can eat an entire feeder of my fat balls in one day! However, Graham (a regular visitor) has captured a beautiful courtship dance between a pair of magpies on the reserve. The female is dancing in front of the male and fanning her tail to attract him. Magpies will mate for life and a female produces between 5 and 8 eggs on the nest.
And it's not just the birds who are pairing up, round the reserve you'll see a lot of butterflies flying around in a twosome. Soon you'll notice damselflies and dragonflies too. These grizzled skipper butterflies are a fairly rare butterfly for the UK and found in areas with low growing vegetation so Dungeness is a perfect place to see them.
Grizzled skippers - Graham Parry