We knew we had water voles at Fairburn Ings but we think the population is small and sightings are rare, so you can imagine our delight when one was spotted paddling about just metres from the visitor centre! This little guy was seen by some of our visitors swimming in and out of the reeds just near our metal heron sculpture, from the boardwalk.
Round the corner at the Kingfisher screen its namesake has been seen fishing from the various perches. Last week one luck visitor actually saw a pair of kingfishers perched together on a branch downstream, and even managed to get a photograph of the male feeding a fish to the female!
A green sandpiper has been feeding along the spit in front of Cut Hide for the past couple of days, and if you're in that part of the reserve, keep an eye out for the magical displays of courting great crested grebes and goldeneyes.
Over on the other side, 14 pink footed geese were seen from Lin Dike Hide and 6 Avocets have returned to Hicksons Flash, which you reach by carrying on from Lin Dike Hide towards the canal for anyone who hasn't been before. This seems to be their favoured spot when visiting Fairburn.
Frog spawn is cropping up in all the ponds, the blackthorn's in flower and I'm seeing more and more butterflies with every sunshiney spell. Fingers crossed for more weather like we've had this week!