Well it is a bumper year for some of our wildlife as the butterflies and dragonflies particularly enjoy the fine bright weather, using the sheltered spots to escape the breeze and make the most of their short time to display their colours. There is a currently an excellent selection out on Exminster Marshes, which makes up for the limited variety of birds at this time of year. But dawn is still a super time to hear the otherwise secretive little brown birds, such as the sedge, reed and Cettis warblers, and at dusk watch out for bats and large numbers of swifts hawking the grassland areas to feed on the thousands of insects there. As always at this time of year the days seems to go by so fast and this year it is exacerbated by the unusual weather and nature seeming to be so far ahead. Although it is always great to wake up to the sun shining the reserve is really feeling the effect of this phenomenal dry spell. Keeping water levels up to fill the ditches, pools and scrapes is a major challenge as we desperately try to hold on to the wet feeding edges and muddy margins for our wader chicks
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