Wildlife, weather and next week's tides: 19/17/12

The weather's set to improve over the next few days so I hope you'll be making the most of it. Why not bring a picnic down to Frampton and make use of the picnic benches next to our beautiful wildlife garden this weekend?

Recent wildlife highlights:

Marsh harrier - they're been very active over the last week, with as many as 3 seen hunting at a time over the salt marsh and great views on the wet grassland from the Visitor Centre.
Whimbrel - this large wader isn't a common sight on the reserve so it was nice to see one here on Monday and Wednesday.
Turtle dove - we didn't see or hear this crooner much last week but there have been reports from the hedgerow in the last couple of days.
Black cap and white throat - these little songsters can be seen and heard along the hedgerow as well. Last year we had 20 whitethroat nests in here and we're waiting to see what this year's numbers come out as.
Greenshank - a lone adult most often see on the wet grassland near the sea bank
Merlin - the UK's smallest and most magical bird of prey was seen on Wednesday dashing across the wet grassland...perhaps it had spied a tasty warbler.
Sedge warbler and reed warbler - frequently heard and seen along the reedbed trail. If you have as much difficulty as I do telling the songs apart maybe this will help: 'Reed has rhythm, sedge has edge'.

Weather:
Saturday: mainly dry with some sunny spells and highs of 20 degrees towards the end of the afternoon. Light westerly winds.
Sunday: dry and bright with highs of 23 degrees but strengthening winds from the south east up to 16mph.

Clothing recommendation: Hopefully you won't need a waterproof this weekend (though you never know so put it on the back seat).
Sun glasses and maybe even shorts! You might need a jumper if the wind picks up on Sunday afternoon though.