The star species of the last few days would have to be the black-tailed godwits which have been seen since Thursday at Lin Dike. There has been quite a bit of other wader action, including a green sandpiper at Pick-up hide, several redshanks at Lin Dike, oystercatchers on Main Bay and little ringed plovers at Big Hole.
A bittern was seen at Pick-up which is the first sighting for a few weeks so it was good to hear. Also at Pick-up there has been a little grebe, shovelers and sand martins coming in and out of the sand martin wall, plus two marsh harriers and a hobby.
There are loads of speckled wood butterflies about on the Riverside Trail and meadow browns along the trail to Lin Dike. A ringlet butterfly has been spotted on the reserve, as well as lots of common blues, brimstones and a small copper. I spotted my first lime hawkmoth on the path of the Riverside trail and I also saw a kingfisher flying down the river by Charlie's hide. It was a fantastic walk home!
On Main Bay there have been common terns, an Arctic tern and lapwing. Dawn, our retail manager, also spotted a cuckoo flying over the bay from Newfield wood.
There are plenty of warblers around, especially towards Lin Dike where a visitor reported sedge warbler, reed warbler, whitethroat, garden warbler and a grasshopper warbler.
We have loads of four spotted chaser dragonflies and also black tailed skimmers, which can be seen around the ponds. Lots of brightly coloured damselflies are around too, including large reds, azures, common blues and one banded demoiselle.
The Wildlife Explorer group spotted a froghopper yesterday, which is a small, brown insect. Sounds a bit boring but it can jump really big distances when threatened and their larvae have a clever way of protecting themselves. They coat themselves in froth, known as cuckoo spit, which keeps them safe from predators as they feed on the plant. The larva produces this froth from it’s bottom! Here's a picture of the cuckoo spit we found out on the reserve: