The last week has seen a nice selection (for us) of waders and wildfowl passing through the reserve. On Tuesday 13th the reserve's first avocet was reported, and spent half a day feeding in the shallow margins of the mere. Unfortunately none of the observers realised the rarity of such a bird here, so only one of the regular observers got to see it. The next day a redshank and a dunlin were seen, and then on Friday 16th a pair of shelducks stopped over briefly on the mere. There have also been at least half a dozen snipe and a female wigeon hanging around. None of these birds would be considered remarkable at the better known coastal sites, but they are very seldom seen here. It is nice to know that our recent management to provide a larger area of shallow water and short vegetation is delivering results, and it's only mid March.
As well as the above, the two hen harriers are still roosting every afternoon, at least one of the merlins is still here, and the first marsh harrier of the year was seen yesterday (Saturday 17th). What next...?
Doug