It got pretty hot at Fairburn Ings over the weekend, and it seems to have brought out quite a bit of birdlife. The spoonbills have been seen on the reserve every day since Friday, they obligingly moved from Pickup to Main Bay on Sunday and Monday, and could even be seen from the feeding platform. A little egret could also be seen from the feeding platform on Monday. This fantastic photo of the spoonbills in flight over the reserve was taken by Kevin Heads.
We've had several sightings of cuckoos on the reserve over the last few days, although they can often be heard quite close to the visitor centre, it is not often they are seen, and on Monday one was spotted on the boardwalk in the middle of our Discovery Trail.
Another rare sight these days, the turtle dove, was seen on Sunday and Monday alongside the river on our recently opened footpath heading down to Lin Dike.
Other notable sightings include green sandpiper, oystercatchers and several kingfishers at Pickup. There were 4 black tailed godwits seen down at Lin Dike on Monday, along with green shank and little ringed plover. Elsewhere on the reserve we've had a mediterranean gull, buzzards, hobbys, marsh harrier, red kite, quail, and spotted redshank.