Another post from residential volunteers Annie and David. Find out about our Halloween Events at Swell Wood, sightings at Greylake and moth trapping at the office.
This past week has been a sad one for all of us here at West Sedgemoor as we’ve had to say farewell to one of our residential volunteers, Alex, whose outgoingness and enthusiasm we will greatly miss. We all wish him good luck in his future endeavors.
Photo Credit: Abbie Thorne
Aside from that, the week began very successfully with the Swell Wood Halloween trail with an amazing turnout from the visitors – 141 children! Some dressed up all spooky for the occasion, from sparkly princesses and superheroes to frightening witches and dead knights!
Photo Credit: Annie Pickering
We’ve had to say another goodbye this week to the cows who now finished grazing and have all left the West Sedgemoor reserve. Since their departure we have prepared the site for the arriving winter migrants.
The warden team have finished up the coppicing and burning down at Greylake by the hide so there's now an ideal sight for spotting water rails! So many water rails have been heard and seen there already which is great.
Photo Credit: David Miller
October continued to be an excellent month for moth trapping and the garden here produced a lovely Webb’s Wainscot, still a nationally scarce moth, and then a migrant Clifden Nonpareil, one of our most stunning moths at two inches across. The wainscot probably feeds on Glaucous Clubrush whilst the Clifden Nonpareil may be looking for Aspen suckers, though I don't know if there are any around here. I’m told that it seems to be breeding along the south coast now. This one is however a very jaded individual, but lovely to record and see nonetheless.
Photo Credits: David Miller (Top - Webb's Wainscot, Bottom - Clifden Nonpareil)
This week the fields to the right of Greylake have been teeming with lapwing.When put up by passing marsh harriers golden plover could be seen among them. Not only the lapwing and plover (of which there are about 500 on the reserve) are being put up by passing birds of prey but wigeon were spooked by a peregrine and a sparrowhawk on Friday.
Several snipe have been seen very close to the hide and staying there for hours so definitely worth a look. Also worth having a scan for a very white fronted buzzard which has been perching in the fence line near the hide sometimes with a kingfisher perched on a dead thistle just below it. Stonechats have been seen in the reedmace and a pair of goldcrests flying along one of the paths. A bittern was seen flying from the scrape across the drove and into the reed beds so keep an eye out in this area.