We’ve had some fantastic sightings this Halloween half term, with the kingfishers seen just about daily at the kingfisher screen and down towards Charlie’s hide. The redwing and fieldfare sightings are coming in thick and fast too, as these beautiful birds migrate over here to make to the most of our berries. We’ve also had a good week for finches, with both siskins and redpolls spotted flying over the reserve, along with a male bullfinch which has been spotted repeatedly around the kingfisher screen.
Halloween night had a few surprises in store too, as we heard a green woodpecker on our way round the discovery trail when we were setting out the spooky Halloween challenge. At around half past eight when we were shutting up the visitor centre our retail manager Dawn also spotted a Tawny owl in the staff car park!
The lovely sunshine on Wednesday afternoon once again brought out large numbers of dragonflies, and I managed to get a photo of this ruddy darter on the fence by cut lane (near Charlie’s hide).
The autumnal weather means that a lot of our wildlife is busy getting ready for the winter season. There were lots of animal tracks along the Lin Dike link trail, which was a little boggy from all the rain – these wet conditions are great for spotting animal tracks, so keep your eyes open when you’re out and about!
What have you spotted when you’ve been out and about lately? Come to the reserve for a wander and let us know what you’ve seen – it’s a great time of year for spotting all kinds of wildlife.