What a spring it has been, everything seems so far ahead, we already have 6 broods of lapwing chicks running round, enjoying the spring sunshine. Dragonflies are hawking the ditches and butterflies are dancing in the dappled light – all just reminders of how amazing the UK spring can be! The dawn chorus is now at full strength with birds fighting to be heard, from the explosive Cettis warbler to the chatter of the reed and sedge warblers. A lonely grasshopper warbler shouts from the canal bank at Exminster and swallows chatter and the swifts scream, it feels like a sensory over load down at the marshes at the moment. What a year it seems to be for blackcaps too, their delicate warble can be heard from in amongst the hawthorn blossom. If you have the patience peer in amongst the leaves to get a glimpse of the males beautiful slate grey back and black cap – but don’t be surprised if you get a peak at the female as her cap is brown!
Technology has brought us further towards understanding the dynamics of the lapwing population at Powderham Marsh as although we now have 6 broods of lapwing chicks, we have also witnessed the local fox taking a clutch of eggs. We just hope now that with a further 5 nests to hatch that he hasn’t got a taste for lapwing eggs and doesn’t devastate the remaining colony, but time will tell. Although disappointing at least we are starting to get an understanding and reasons for why our breeding waders may be suffering a decline.
The consequence of the amazing weather for a wetland reserve is that we are now struggling to keep the water levels up to maintain soft muddy margins for our feeding wader chicks and wet ditches for the broods of duck that will start to emerge. Without rainfall the levels have started to drop and we are operating our pump and pinching water from our storage lagoon to keep them topped up – but surely there must be rain on the horizon soon!