As I've I've done many times before - I have left myself short on time to write the blog but I will do me best in the time available and try to give you a sense of what's been going in this week - if it reads like it's been a bit rushed - it has! Apologies!
My best encounter of the week came yesterday when I was on a bank to the right (east) of the Avalon Hide. I was cutting back some vegetation so we could read a water level gauge board when I heard a king of guttural call. It happened to be one of the Cranes - the ringed female Meg. She began circling quite widely and calling frequently. It soon became apparent to me that perhaps I was the problem. I retreated slowly and one I was at a more preferred distance she settled and landed back in the reeds in front of the Avalon Hide.
The timings suggest that eggs would have either hatched or failed by now and the change in behaviour recently gave us hope that there were young birds. Yesterday's behaviour is most likely to mean one of only two things. 1) That there is a young bird or birds in the reedbed and she is warning them (and perhaps scolding me) or 2) That the partner bird is in moult and fairly grounded and it's a warning to them. I'm fairly certain that the male has been seen over the last couple of days so it's most likely the former which is wonderful news.
Failed nests also tend to see the parent birds just leave the area too, so I must wait like an expectant father to find out what's really happened. Everybody keep their eyes peeled.
Another sighting of a single Crane late yesterday to the north of the old rail bridge too and this morning a group of 5 Cranes seen flying to the west of the Avalon Hide.
Yesterday, also saw a number of Bittern flights from both the first viewing platform (VP1) and the Avalon Hide. Most of the single birds seen are likely to be females making feeding flights but occasionally you can see two flying together. Often this is a male chasing a female but it can also be a male chasing off a rival. I think that's the case with Oliver Foster's photos here taken at the Avalon Hide last week:
The blueish colour to the lores on the lead bird in the first photo suggest that it is a male and I'm guessing the angry exchange between the two in the third photo suggests it is two males but I guess I could be wrong, any mother protecting it's young could be the wrong bird to cross paths with.
Will Strange also encountered some bitterns during his visit last weekend:
We can stick with the long legged birds and move onto Great White Egret. It's hard not to see one on a visit these days. VP1, Waltons and the Avalon Hide all offer views and they are hard to miss. At the end of breeding season we'll get you some final figures but it's impressive and still an upward trend.
This character was having a great time in front of the Tor View Hide this week as Toby Fogg's image shows. Two fish at once - now that's just greedy:
John Crispin also captured this shot of one of our ringed birds. Only problem is the lettering looks a bit muddied, so we can't tell who it is:
Cattle Egret are being seen in the local area. I sometimes see them on my commute to and from work in small numbers but lovely to see some of those breeding colours as I drive by. 5 Cattle Egret flew over the woods, slightly distant from VP1 early this week. John Crispin has captured 2 of the 5 here:
I saw a Night Heron late last week not far from our reserve and a Purple Heron has been spotted in the local area on a few occasions including once over at Noah's Hide on Shapwick Heath and once very close to the car park (Tuesday afternoon). With occasional sightings of Little Egret (we don't get many) and plentiful sightings of Grey Heron you can have a great game of heron bingo on your visits to the Avalon Marshes and see how many you can tick off.
Grey Herons are still feeding young within the Waltons Reedbeds - you can often hear the cackling of young birds as the parent drops in.
Perhaps this one got too close for comfort for the Canada Geese with their goslings this week:
Grey Heron and Canada Geese: Ross Cobley
Plenty of other young birds can be seen around the reserve this week and Ross Cobley was able to capture some images of a Great Crested Grebe chick too:
Plus some of busy parents fishing:
Great Crested Grebes: Ross Cobley
Sandie Andrews sat for a while at the weekend watching them at Waltons and a little story unfolded. I have copied the following text directly from her e-mail and it helps to annotate the pictures that follow - thanks Sandie:
It’s 7am on Sunday morning. Three of the four great crested grebe eggs have hatched and whilst the hatchlings have already climbed up on to the back of the sitting adult there is no news of the fourth egg.
A black headed gull circles menacingly above eyeing nearby coot chicks. A marsh harrier lands 20 yards from the nest but is quickly chased off by a coot.
After half an hour the second adult gets up onto the nest and the pair sit together for a few minutes. When it climbs off of the nest it takes 2 of the chicks on its back and swims away from the nest. The other adult with one chick on its back starts to follow but keeps returning to the nest and the remaining egg. This seems to be unusual behaviour, maybe somehow the adults are sensing that the egg might not be viable.
Each time it swims a little bit further until it has gone just too far and a coot takes the opportunity of climbing onto the nest and trying to break the egg. It picks the egg up and drops it. It has egg shell in its beak when something alarms it and it flees the nest.
The grebes have returned and circle the nest, checking to see what has happened to the egg. After a few minutes of circling one of the adult grebes gets up onto the nest, inspects the egg, adjusts the nesting material underneath it and then sits back down on it.
Having had a bit of a splash 2 of the chicks climb up onto the nest to join the sitting adult and this is where we leave them after 3 hours observing.
Coot chicks are being seen too but I did hear a story of somebody watching chicks when a Lesser Black Backed swooped in and took one quickly followed by a second gull which took the other leaving the Coots a bit bewildered to say the least.
Another young Coot was lost here by the looks of things. Toby Fogg's shot shows what appears to be a young Coot in the talons of a Marsh Harrier:
Plenty of action from Marsh Harriers all over the reserve really but generally VP1 or the Avalon Hide tend to be the best places.
These two were seen together this week from VP1. The bird in flight seems to be carry prey near the perched bird but there was no interaction between the two:
Look out also for this male bird with some missing primaries - I wonder what caused this. At least it makes him quite identifiable at the moment:
Another shot of a male here from Will Strange who visited Ham Wall recently:
Other birds of prey spotted this week include Buzzards seen on most days, a Sparrowhawk which whipped past VP1 on Wednesday and crossed to Waltons chasing something which we didn't catch sight of and Red Kite seen on a couple of occasions - this one towards the eastern end of the reserve:
Hobby are also being seen daily but not in great numbers. I had a great view of one from The Avalon Hide yesterday and VP1 on Wednesday. Plenty of dragonflies around for them to enjoy - particularly the Four Spotted chasers. A walk around Waltons in particular during sunny spells will produce what seems like clouds of the at times. They can be seen all over the reserve however:
Multiples on one stem can often be seen too. Thanks to Mike Uren for the above pictures and this one below:
Ross Cobley also sent in his shots:
Four spotted chaser with Blue Tailed Damselfly for company: Ross Cobley
Four Spot: Ross Cobley
Other dragonflies to look out for include: Broad Bodied Chaser, Scarce Chaser, Emperor, Hairy Dragonfly and Black Tailed Skimmer. Also a female Lesser Emperor was seen this week and a possible Norfolk Hawker today - there are a few in the area.
Damselflies include: Blue Tailed, Azure, Variable, Common Blue, Large Red, Red eyed Damselfly and Banded Demoiselle - the latter two can often be seen from the old rail bridge. I also had an encounter with a Beautiful Demoiselle this week around Loxtons. I've never seen one on Ham Wall before - more often associated with faster moving water I think. Anyway, here's my lousy photo taken with my phone as proof:
If you are at the old rail bridge take a look out for the Grass Snakes. When the sun shines they are usually these - as many as 7 seen at one time this week as well as a couple of Common Lizards. Great shot here from Will Strange taken on his recent visit:
Plenty of warblers along the main track too - lots of Blackcap and some Garden Warblers too for good measure. Listen out also for Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and of course in the reed beds for Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler and Cettis Warbler. A couple of very vocal Song Thrushes can also be heard along the main path.
Harder to see things at VP1 now the reed growth is fully underway but 2 Redshank have been spotted om a few occasions (see photos below). On both Wednesday and Thursday one landed on the Sand Martin box - sadly not used again this year. A visitor mentioned seeing a few locally.
Sand Martins may be absent but I've been seeing and hearing plenty of Swifts. A group of around 20 were over VP1 and Waltons on Wednesday - one of my favourite birds. A few sightings of Swallow and House Martin have also been recorded this week but low numbers.
Cuckoos are still being seen and heard. I caught up with the funny sounding male at the back of Waltons at least twice this week and several people have remarked on his Cu-Cu-Cu-Cuckoo song! Another male was also seen chasing a female to the south of Waltons last weekend and 2 other males were calling on the north of the reserve too.
This one zipped past the Tor View Hide for Toby Fogg this week:
Also from the Tor View Hide he spotted Reed Bunting. There have been several males calling around the reserve this week including in this area:
The Mute Swan family are still present and I've seen at least one other Swan family this week. The lonely male swan on the path towards the Avalon Hide seems to have moved on - but maybe not far. In the drain nearby he may have found a new friend :)
This pair were seen in flight by Ross Cobley this week. I can imagine the distinctive sound of their flight just by looking at the picture:
You'll see lots of Cormorants flying around too but all too often they will be perched on the rails or rafts in full view:
Also this week: The Gull-billed Tern has once again been seen in the area - most often over on Shapwick Heath but did take a brief trip over to Ham Wall on Wednesday afternoon, Ravens seen and heard over the reserve, plenty of Jays being seen each day, usual friendly Robins begging for food, Green Woodpecker heard, Great Spotted Woodpeckers seen daily (see photo below), Bearded Tits heard near the Avalon Hide and an Osprey over on Shapwick on Monday.
I'm going to stop there - it's gone home time.
Thank you to all who sent in there fabulous photos and information: John Crispin, Sandie Andrews, Mike Uren, Oliver Foster, Toby Fogg, Will Strange & Ross Cobley - very much appreciated.
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful weekend!