This weather seems to be holding the migrants back. There are a few chiffchaffs singing bravely and I saw 4 sand martins beating their way across the reserve on Sunday 29th, but that's about it. Usually I would have seen my first blackcaps and swallows by now, but I guess it's going to be hard work for them against the sort of weather we look forward to when sea-watching in Cornwall in September!
Thankfully there are still some birds to be seen. Our pair of barn owls are usually visible inside their nest box, little grebes and lapwings have been displaying around the margins of the mere, and long-tailed tits are well into nest building. There were also 2 red kites feeding in the field between the reserve and the airfield recently. One of the volunteer surveyors counted 20 common snipe and a jack snipe at the weekend, but most of those were hidden from public view.