May already! I must say though it is my favourite month. Always something going on or something new to discover. I was up early this morning at around 4.30am to lead a dawn chorus guided walk on the reserve so if this turns into monotonous drivel - you will know why.
One thing that's certainly not monotonous drivel is our star bird this week - the Great Reed Warbler. Great in both stature and sound. It was first seen late last Friday and has been wowing visitors ever since. It's in a pretty convenient place to just in the north west corner of the Loxtons section. For directions go to the first main viewpoint on path through the reserve and turn right. Follow the boardwalk down to the next bend and then carry straight on over the grass to the next section. It's generally hanging around in the second of the two open gaps in the reeds.
You may very well hear it before you see it. Far louder and more varied call than both Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler. It's way bigger too. It doesn't perch up and sing all the time, so you may have to wait a little while. It took me about 20 minutes the first time (some people have waited significantly longer) and it was immediate this morning luckily - what a great way to end the walk though. There are plenty of images on Twitter feeds and some sound recordings if you are interested. Look out for its orangey gape when it sings - I thought it really stood out. Thanks to Andrew Kirby for his shot taken this week:
If you've never took in the dawn chorus at Ham Wall, you should. This morning there was a great selection of warblers really going for it. We were able to distinguish between Garden Warbler and Blackcap with a couple of obliging individuals who were quite close together along with the supporting cast of Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Whitethroat. Add to this the songs of Blackbird, Robin, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Goldfinch and many others the woodlands were alive with sound. We even heard Treecreeper, Green Woodpecker and some cooing Stock Doves to add to the noise.
Of course we had the backdrop of booming Bitterns and the fairly constant calls of Cuckoo as a backdrop too. Having said that my impression of a Cuckoo brought one close to me a couple of weeks ago one of our participants did an excellent impression and sure enough it took a flight past us to check us out.
Just before we entered the woods we could see a fox further up the track. I had cut the route with my machine the day before and had seen what I thought was a fox cub scurry off under the fence. When I got there, there was quite a big hole, so guessing that's the earth.
Just as we exited the woodland some of the group saw a Tawny Owl and we also caught sight of a Roe Deer. Tawny Owls have also been seen from the Avalon Hide - looking back to the box visible on the woodland edge and on our nest cam box at the car park. It was certainly there last week on the rainy Thursday and again on Tuesday this week but not this morning.
The reedbed part of the walk saw us come into close contact with both Reed and Sedge Warblers. Again on a couple of occasions we were able to show the differences between the two songs, with help of obliging pairs of birds. Reed Buntings and the very punchy Cettis Warbler were also recorded.
We also sighted Cettis Warblers on two occasions. Once by the wooden gate just before you enter the woodland on the way to the Avalon Hide and another just alongside the plastic boardwalk at Waltons as we headed towards the Great Reed Warbler.
During our walk we also heard an almighty kerfuffle (not sure if that's spelled correctly) between some black headed gulls and a grey heron . Several birds just it off with a lot of aggression - not sure what he did but may think twice before doing it again. This would have been visible from the first viewing platform (VP1).
This has been quite a hive of activity this week with all sorts of waders being spotted - varying each day in type and number. Perhaps lots of birds still on the move.
Whimbrel have been in and out each day with as many as 30 counted on one occasion. There were none when we looked this morning but two were spotted to the north of the reserve on our walk. Thanks to John Crispin for his shots taken this week. One on the ground and then a group in flight:
Significant numbers of Black Tailed Godwits have also been in and out each day. Again as many as 30 recorded - at least 20 as I scanned across this morning. There have also been interesting numbers of Ruff dropping in - there seems to have been a bit of a "Ruff" event happening as plenty have been recorded across the south of the UK this week (over 20 for us - big in terms of what we usually get).
Thanks to Andrew Kirby for his shot of Black Tailed Godwits and Ruff in flight (he counted 29 Godwits and 21 Ruff):
The Spotted Redshank has also been present each day - although I have to admit to not seeing it this morning. It has now moved into it's very dark summer plumage as John Crispin's photo shows. Thanks John:
Common Redshank have been here all week too - often calling to stake their claim to the territory (again not this morning).
We did however see plenty of Lapwing - possibly as many as 4 pairs here currently. Snipe, a Common Sandpiper, 3 Greenshank, 4 Dunlin (Flying behind in the Spotted Redshank photo), up to 5 Little Ringed Plovers and up to 7 Wood Sandpiper have also been observed during the past week. Thanks to Andrew Kirby for his shots of 3 of the 5 Little Ringed Plover and a single Wood Sandpiper:
Also present from VP1 this morning were 2 Egyptian Geese. They have been present for much of the week but left this morning after a short time. Thanks to John Crispin for his shot taken on Wednesday:
There have been some Bittern flights seen from here this week too and one again landed (yesterday) in the same spot as last week - in the gap in the vegetation to the west of VP1. One also perched in the reeds for a good 20 minutes yesterday from the smaller viewpoints on the right hand side of the track as you walk onto the reserve. It sat in the reeds to the left and even perched - balancing on some reed stems over the water.
Other sightings have come from the Avalon Hide and these shots taken by John Crispin from VP2 this week. Thanks John:
Marsh Harriers too have been extremely busy - perhaps a bit too busy for a Bitterns liking. This male is carrying a prey item - looking at the size and colour we think t could well be a Bittern chick - very happy to be corrected if you think I'm wrong. Thank you to John Crispin for his photo sequence:
Other birds of pre seen this week include a Sparrowhawk seen from VP1 yesterday, several Red Kite passing over this week including 4 different birds yesterday, a Barn Owl seen hunting over the reedbeds on the bank holiday Monday and Buzzards seen daily - including one this morning getting harassed by a Carrion Crow over Waltons.
Hobby too are around - we've had a reasonable influx this week - many over the car park or from either viewing platform. On nicer days they have been flying quite high - I think there were double figures over Waltons at one point yesterday. You'll most likely see Swift too as you scan for them - as many as 20 over Waltons yesterday and this morning.
The arrival of the Hobby is coinciding with the greater emergence of damselflies and dragonflies. I saw my first Hairy Dragonfly of the year this week - they feel just a little later than normal this year. Plenty more damselflies seen this week including: Variable, Blue Tailed, Azure, Large Red and an Emerald Damselfly reported from one of the car park ponds.
Butterflies this week include: Holly Blue, Orange Tip, Brimstone, Peacock, Red Admiral, Green Veined White and Speckled Wood.
Leslie Lawrence was also lucky enough to these bats on the reserve last Sunday. Think they are Pipistrelles - not sure which we have more than one species on the reserve - I'm no bat expert so could well be wrong. Thanks for sending in your images Leslie:
Also this week: Great White Egrets seen daily including 3 from VP1 this morning along with 2 Little Egrets, a Mistle Thrush from the car park on Sunday, Great Spotted Woodpecker daily and heard drumming this morning, Swallows and martins continue to reach our shores, good selection of duck around the reserve including: Pochard, Mallard, Gadwall, Teal, Shoveler and Tufted Duck, Grey Herons continue to nest in the Waltons reedbeds - some with very well grown youngsters now, Grass Snakes seen from the old rail bridge once more, Iberian Water Frogs heard calling during the week, redpolls seen along the main path and Ravens seen and heard flying over the car park.
I'm going to leave it there. After my early start it's time to go home. Have a wonderful Coronation Bank Holiday weekend - whatever you decide to do. The reserve is open as normal if you fancy getting away from it all. Thanks for reading.