It was such a nice day today that I decided to spend an hour on the reserve, at Spring and Reedbed Hides and the barn owl viewpoint. I haven't spent much time outdoors lately and some recent visitors have reported seeing 'nothing', but I needn't have worried - there were birds everywhere.
A photographer in Spring Hide reported seeing a tit flock move through the scrub between the pool and the field, mainly long-tailed tits, but a pair of blue tits checked out the open hole in the kingfisher bank where great tits nested earlier this year. In the 20 minutes I spent there, I saw a juvenile male sparrowhawk lurking in the tall trees, a kingfisher flew up the channel and landed briefly on a branch, a water rail squealed, several siskins were busy in the alders, and at least three chiffchaffs were singing nearby along with robins, wrens and chaffinches.
Moving on to the barn owl viewpoint, I could hear several goldcrests in the alders, and a flock of 34 siskins flew in from the west to join their fellows. While watching the two owls in their home, a distant flock of c300 lapwings caught the eye as they twinkled in the sun, obviously having been flushed from the field* opposite the reserve entrance. I also heard bullfinch and greenfinch in the bushes, and a grey wagtail flew overhead.
*That field is worth checking - I counted 466 lapwings there last week, and it is bound to attract golden plovers and possibly something rarer.
From Reedbed Hide the mere looked rather empty, but closer scrutiny revealed half a dozen teal and several moorhens on the water, and a pair of wigeon tucked in to the bank. A grey heron stood motionless on the fence across the water, but I was not surprised that I failed to see the jack snipe that had been on the edge of the mere a couple of days ago. A dozen linnets flew past, and four meadow pipits dropped out of sight behind the reeds. The conditions were perfect for soaring raptors, and first one, then two, then three buzzards appeared over the northern end of the reserve. Two more were soaring above the west side, and an adult sparrowhawk was being mobbed by a crow. I was hoping that yesterday's bearded tits would show themselves, but they were keeping low if they are still here. Sadly I had to move on to other duties, but satisfied that the reserve was still delivering wildlife to those who are prepared to watch and wait.
PS I've just had a phone call from one of the volunteers, reporting a male stonechat by East Gate. This is the second sighting of this bird, a welcome visitor after several blank years.