Thank you all for your patience regarding sightings over the last few weeks. I have been away from work, on courses and generally thoroughly busy with breakdowns and management. Fortunately we have all the links at the bottom of the page to keep you up to speed with what's going on here on the reserves. A very quick summary this week with our sightings map, some pointers for next week and BIG heads up for NEXT weekend which could be spectacular and even better if the weather conditions are right.
1. With some management coming up in September, more on that later, we've pulled the plug in North Scrape and it looks total wader aceness! Peak counts this week have been 8 little stint, 5 curlew sandpipers, 40 dunlin, 20 ringed plover and 30 ruff. If there's a bit of rainfall this week and we make it to next weekend with a bit of water, this will be the place to be. Best viewed early morning from East Hide or the sea bank.
2. Wood sandpipers are well dotted around the reserve and more often than not have been found tucked in to the vegetated scrape fringe. An exception to this is the flooded area next to the path in Middle Scrape. Scan from the wooden 5 bar gate.
3. There has been at least one spoonbill around all week but we have had up to 5. Check for them roosting on South Scrape (80% of the time) then feeding on North Scrape or Roads Farm.
4. I thought there must be a garganey about and I chanced upon one this week. With so many teal about it is next to impossible to actively look for one and the last few Autumn birds have been found while looking for other things. It is all too easy that when you're out looking for a specific bird that you spend your time trying to make similar birds into it. Best to familiarise yourself with the head pattern and then hope that one swims into view.
5. We've seen a few phylloscopus warblers (chiffchaff and willow warblers) start to appear in the hawthorns on the way to East Hide and down to Tabb's Head. Migration is underway and fortune favours the bold when it comes to looking for passerines at Frampton and Freiston. With many visitors here to enjoy our wetland species it takes a brave and adventurous birder to scour the scrubby areas. Rewards over the last couple of years have been yellow-browed warbler, wryneck, barred warbler and firecrest. Check the weather and get out there to grab a goody!
6. We've had a noticeable increase in wagtails, pipits and finches and with that have also had several merlin sightings. While we are still a way away from their core winter period, it is good to know they're about so scan those fence lines.
7. We are still getting lots of requests for where to see turtle doves and these are the places to go. A big dollop of luck is needed but if you don't play you'll never win.
8. 'Shorties' sightings have dropped off considerably since the group of 5 several weeks ago but they're still out there to be enjoyed. Scanning the saltmarsh is your best bet and who knows what else you might pick up.
9. And it isn't just owls and harriers on the saltmarsh, wheatear numbers will also pick up and the short turn just opposite the Sea Bank viewpoint is as good a place as any to see them.
Hope that gives you a bit of a flavour of what to see and where. Other bits to enjoy are the ever increasing finch flocks on Middle Scrape and at our crop mixes at the south end of Freiston. Good place to look for whinchat when then move through. Yellow wagtail numbers are also up as they call and chase around the grassland and scrapes. Surely a citrine isn't out of the question? Peregrine and hobby presence is noticeable too though harder to pin down to a certain area. Look up and around when the scrapes lift to the sky.
We're asked a lot about management on the reserve... 'why no water', 'why too much water' etc etc so will try update on a monthly basis regarding where we are and why.
Water levels will now be at their lowest across the reserve as we have had a very dry summer and our abstraction license prevents us from pumping during July and August. Water has been let out of the reedbed and onto the roads farm grassland compartment which has the cattle corral in. This will cover the mud and give a second bite of the cherry to birds feeding here. The compartment nearest the seabank is being drained so we can get in and top the rush. While some rush is good (<10% coverage), it can get out of control so the key is to be on top of it when it is at a good level rather than try to recover from a higher level.
South Scrape is looking great with plenty of seed rich dock in there. Loads of duck will soon be munching away and it will be good to see if wader numbers increase after our crop mix there last year. We are letting water evaporate naturally here giving a gradual draw down to slowly expose feeding areas for waders. Middle Scrape is coming along well with the crop starting to seed up. When we get the pumps on next month we will start to flood Middle Scrape to give wildfowl access to the seeds. North Scrape is getting very dry which will allow a late bloom of autumn seeding flowers and grasses which could attract winter buntings and finches. We will flood this later in the year which will then provide wet grassy areas for wigeon and teal and break down for invertebrate food.
Marsh Farm levels will remain as they are into October as it will take a lot to fill the reservoir up. A few big downpours will help tremendously.
There will be some machinery on the reserve in September doing some moving and tweaking. This will mainly be on North Scrape as we re-level areas we couldn’t get to first time round and also on Marsh Farm. The rotary ditcher will be in for a couple of days slobbing out the ditches. We will put notes of exact dates in the diary on the desk in the Visitor Centre.
As always, if you have any queries please ask away on here or collar me out on the reserve.
And lastly a big BIG nudge and heads up. Bank Holiday weekend could be INCREDIBLE at the Lincolnshire Wash Reserves. We have our biggest tides of the year so far and at ideal times to see them. The peak tide is on Tuesday morning but high tides Saturday, Sunday and Monday will still be pretty special. If you are thinking of coming over, check the times and set your alarm for an early start, and if you can make it Sunday or Monday as times are better in the morning and tides are higher. It could be an absolute belter of a weekend and the more eyes we have on the ground to see birds, we'll hopefully find more too.
OK, so this is lastly now (the problem with not planning a blog and writing it on the hoof)..... PEC SAND ALERT!! We have been sitting on 31 wader species for the year since June and haven't had pectoral sandpiper yet! We had three together last year and while we're sure to get one we want to lay the gauntlett down to you guys and see who will be the first to get one. Ice-cream of your choice from our freezer to the finder.
That's all from me this week. Enjoy your weekend everyone, and if you can't wait 7 days to know what's going on here, keep your finger on the Lincolnshire Wash Reserves pulse by following us on Twitter and giving us a ‘like’ on Facebook. Alternatively if you enjoy taking pictures and have a Flickr account then please join our group and share your images with everyone. If you are thinking of paying a visit from near or far please do check out the tide times which can make a big difference to both numbers and variety of birds seen on the day.
The more you're out the more you see - https://twitter.com/BoyWonderBirder