The last blog

Yes, the time has arrived. It's hard to believe I have been here at West Sedgemoor for nearly a year. And what a strange year it has been. I'm so glad that I could sit down each week and share my experiences with you all. I hope it brought some light in the dark days of lockdown.

Before I descend into reminiscence of my time here, I'll give you a wildlife update for the week. With the departure of the last of the cattle at West Sedgemoor, I haven't been out onto the moor at all this week, meaning for the first time in many months, I've had no crane sightings at all, not even a flypast. They've started to move between the moors looking for different feeding grounds and will continue to do so over the winter and early spring, so they could pop up almost anywhere.

I've spent most of the week spread between Greylake and Swell Wood. At Greylake, the winter bird numbers are growing steadily. Lapwing and golden plover flocks have gone from hundreds to thousands, and although the duck numbers are still modest, both wigeon and teal have been seen amongst the mallards.

I also walked up to the screen at the far end of the reedbed loop and spent a short time watching blue tits, wrens and stonechats bobbing around in the reeds. The blue tits seemed to be ripping into the seed heads, filling the air with white fluff, while the stonechats were flying up and down, presumably catching insects.

Other interesting sightings at Greylake recently include bearded tits, which have been seen or heard on the path up towards the hides several times in the last few weeks. I saw them flying over on Wednesday. There seems to be a small group, maybe four or five birds, hanging around in that area, so keep your eyes and ears pealed. A water rail has also been heard in the same sort of area, with its characteristic squealing call. I also saw it slinking across the path this week. There are also plenty of reed buntings and Cetti's warblers around. So quite a lot to see at Greylake now.

Swell Wood is quieter and you would mainly go for the experience of the autumn colours and the peace of the woodlands. My last walk around on Thursday morning was particularly lovely, with the sun slanting through the trees, lighting up the brightly coloured leaves.

At this time of year, wildlife turns up in all sorts of places. I was concerned that there was some damage above my back door, but when I looked closer, it turned out to be a group of hibernating ladybirds.

I won't ramble on about everything I've seen and done in the past year. You can look back through the blogs to see all of that. I will say that's it's been an incredible year, with many highs and lows. Writing this blog has been one of my highs. It made me look closer, investigate further and research more than I would otherwise have done. There may be a break in the blog until a new residential volunteer comes in to begin it all over again but I hope it won't be too long.

I'm moving on to a new challenge, and a very different one in a much more urban setting, but I will leave a part of myself in a sunny, flower-filled meadow with the sound of cranes bugling overhead.

So, for the last time, take care.

Kathryn