I think the evenings of Saturday and Sunday were the warmest I’ve felt for a long time after leaving the Greylake hide at the end of the day- Saturday especially had some incredible lighting, although its slightly stronger and colder wind seemed quite determined to get in through the open viewing windows. Over the two days the usual birds were showing from the hide- mainly teal, with some wigeon, mallard, little egret, swan, and the occasional coot. There was also the large numbers of snipe that weren’t so easy to spot but were amazingly close (some just the other side of the water hiding on the muddy bulge), and once you got your eye in they just kept appearing! The best time for seeing them was definitely later on in the day as they started feeding along the grass strip leading away from the hide, also when and where they were joined by numerous lapwing coming in for their evening feed and roost. A particularly nice addition for me was several curlew which flew over the reserve calling several times on the Sunday, landing at the more distant water body where throughout the day I could also spot a few shoveler. Unfortunately this time though no pintail decided to make an appearance.
Curlew (by Nick Stacey)
Alongside the hide I saw the brambling feeding on the ground both to the right and the left, mainly on the Saturday. In comparison the water rails only made a brief appearance on the Sunday in the willow bed to the left, otherwise just making a lot of noise!
We sadly saw relatively little raptor activity on the Saturday, and the activity we did see tended to be at a further distance from the hide. On top of the numerous buzzards perched on the various gate and fence posts (or foraging for worms on the ground) the highlight was a marsh harrier hunting in the earlier afternoon followed by a barn owl hunting (but a long distance away) later in the evening. There was also a very brief sparrowhawk appearance, but both peregrine and hen harrier stayed hidden. I was surprised as Sunday again started quite quietly, although to my delight activity had picked up later on in the afternoon, and we became split between watching both a sub adult male marsh harrier and a peregrine hunting- occasionally they had a go at each other in the process.
Male marsh harrier (by John Crispin)
Whilst I was only there for brief periods the usual birds were making themselves known in the car park including the brambling and reed bunting. However, on top of these regulars feeding from the tables I could also see numerous lapwing, fieldfare, and redwing feeding in the field looking out north from the car park.
Lastly, there was also apparently a little pinging from some bearded tits around the Reedbed Loop on the Saturday. Sadly though, I do think that out of everything it’s going to be these I’m least likely to get a glimpse of next time I head to Greylake.
Bearded tit (by John Crispin)