The sun is shining and it’s been a lovely day here at RSPB Fairburn Ings. We’ve had a pretty exciting week of sightings across the reserve.
There was plenty of excitement on the reserve towards the end of last week as we had regular sightings of a great white egret flying overhead. This impressive bird is an uncommon visitor to the UK, so caused quite a stir over the few days it was here. Also towards the end of last week, while I was minding over the shop I noticed the visitor centre had practically emptied out. Everybody had gathered out on the deck with their binoculars out searching the skies. I eventually found out the cause of this mass exit – two bitterns had just flown straight over the visitor centre...and I had missed them! Bitterns are still being seen fairly regularly, so I am determined to get out and try to spot one for myself.
Bittern - Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
Another bird I haven’t yet had the pleasure of seeing myself is a cuckoo. In fact, I’ve never even heard one before (at least not while I’ve been old enough to remember). Hopefully I’ll be able to rectify this soon, as a number of visitors have heard that famous call and there have been pretty regular sightings of cuckoos too. I’m really looking forward to this Sundays dawn chorus walk (17 May), as I might get a chance to hear my first cuckoo. There are still spaces available – call the visitor centre to book!
Cuckoo - John Bridges (rspb-images.com)
Egyptian geese were originally introduced as an ornamental species and it’s easy to see why. With their striking colours and heavy dark eye patches, they are certainly attractive geese. These ornamental birds are escapees that now successfully breed in the wild. We’ve had up to five reported on the reserve at any one time, so have a look for them.
Around the discovery trail there are plenty of insects to spot - in the past week we’ve had our first blue tailed damselfly and four spotted chasers of the year zipping round the ponds. Butterflies are still frequently seen on pleasant days, lots of peacocks, green veined whites, orange tips and even a holly blue. If you want to find out more about the bugs that live at Fairburn, why not join one of our Mini-beast Safaris, running on 25 and 30 May. Also along the discovery trail, pond dippers have been catching plenty of tadpoles!
Peacock butterfly - Grahame Madge (rspb-images.com)
Finally, there has been a bit of a buzz around the reserve over the past couple of days as we’ve had sightings of a spoonbill. These funny looking birds get their name (funnily enough!) from their incredible spoon shaped bill.