At last there is a little bit more open water on the reserve and we hope that more ducks and other water birds will begin to return. On Sunday a little egret was seen landing in willows along main bay. Shovelers are returning to the water in front of Pickup hide. The smew is obviously very happy on the stream at the kingfisher screen as it has been a resident here for over 10 days now.
Up to 4 water rails have been seen at the visitor centre feeders and one showed its aggressive side again when it rushed out from the undergrowth and grabbed an unsuspecting chaffinch. After a bit of a struggle the water rail dragged it off under the bushes and disappeared out of sight!
The feeding stations are still alive with birds and the long list includes bullfinches, chaffinches, goldfinches, greenfinches, tree sparrows, great tits, willow tits, long tailed tits, blue tits, a great spotted woodpecker and a jay. We have been seeing a partially albino willow tit that has been causing a bit of confusion.
Small numbers of waxwings are still being seen around the centre with 4 present in the silver birches at the back of the building.