That red-headed smew has been giving us quite the run around the past couple of weeks. Each time someone asks where it is we have to run and check the book because it switches between Lin Dike and Village Bay every other day it seems. It has been most recently seen on Village Bay, so if you’re heading down at the weekend that’s the probably the first port of call.
Water rail have also been popping up all over the place, they were seen on Cut Lane and at Phalarope pool on Friday, and there was even one out on the duck feeding boardwalk on Monday. The Cut also yielded a little grebe and several snipe this week, and a tawny owl and meadow pipit were seen above Main Bay stack.
On the nest box cams!
It has been another amazing week for birds of prey. A red kite flew straight past the visitor centre doors on Wednesday morning as we were opening up. There was something in its talons, and we had a magnificent view as it circled above the trees next to the Kingfisher screen. On Wednesday there was also a sparrowhawk over the visitor centre, a peregrine over Main Bay, two more red kite, and several buzzard over Newfield. This morning there was a marsh harrier and a buzzard over Lin Dike hide.
Sunset over the Ings, Beki Williams
There should be some bright spells over the weekend, do pop in and say hello. It’s also binocular and telescope weekend, so feel free to drop in for any advice you might want.