Quite frosty this morning but generally it's still pretty mild. With Valentines day on the horizon many of the reserves birds certainly have love on their minds. An increase in bird song can be heard during sunny spells. Song thrush in particular have been far more vocal this week and great tits too can be heard - perhaps staking out a claim to territories.
Other birds have already moved onto the next stages with amorous displays and nest building well underway for some. In the Waltons section, grey herons (traditionally early nesters) are well into construction as you can see from John Crispin's photo. We think currently there are 4 nests under construction in the Waltons area as well as elsewhere on the reserve - thanks John:
and here's the progress so far, with thanks to both John and Sandie Andrews for their shots of herons at their nests taken in Waltons this week:
As mentioned and shown in a previous blog the male has been displaying and sky pointing like a bittern. Captured again by John Crispin this week:
Having mentioned bitterns I guess I should talk about them next. Plenty of booming males across the reserve this week - although early mornings are usually best, they can be heard throughout the day. One of our volunteers had a rather wonderful sighting this week. He was sat at the first seat you come to on the main path which looks through a gap in the trees to the area in front of the first viewing platform (VP1). He spotted a bittern on the ground, but not only that he could see and hear it booming. After a while a female dropped in to greet him and they then took off together and flew right over his head giving amazing view. I have to admit to being slightly jealous, but what a sighting.
Some great crested grebe pairs often start quite early too and these two have taken things to the 'next level'. They have already been seen head bobbing and weed dancing but things have certainly moved on. Thanks to John Crispin's photo sequence we can see the grebes: selecting a mating platform and then bringing material to it, the female laying prone on the platform, the mating process and the dismount followed by two very happy grebes with the 'deed done'.
These grebes can be seen from VP1 but there area also closer views to be had from the Waltons screens or the Tor View Hide. Also from VP1 this week: drake pintail still present this morning, great white egrets daily and several lapwing, which can also be seen over on the cut islands at Waltons (at least 200 on the island from the third screen on Tuesday - also look out for well camouflaged snipe). Thanks to John Crispin for his shots of a lapwing having a good preen this week:
Also within Waltons: plenty of shoveler, gadwall, mallard, little grebe and tufted duck. The noisiest residents are probably the coots, with plenty of calling, fighting and splashing to add a bit of action to the proceedings. Thanks to Mike Pearce who took these shots of a coot in flight this morning:
One absentee this week has been the ring necked duck, which appears to have switched his allegiance to Shapwick Heath along with a few hundred thousand starlings - well that's just charming isn't it?
Anyway, as far as I'm aware the starlings are continuing to roost in the Meare Heath area of the reserve - that's the end nearest Ham Wall. Dusk is around 5.15pm at the moment, so arrive in plenty of time - we normally suggest an hour before to get yourselves in position and wait for the show.
With the starlings moved on the marsh harrier action from in front of VP1 has decreased slightly - most likely due to less prey availability in this area. 4 birds (2 pairs) have been seen quite regularly in front of the Avalon Hide - they normally breed in this area, so this is no real surprise.
Two of the most prominent birds are pictured below from John Crispin. First a male , followed by a female. With female the photo shows well the plumage of the bird with the 'alula' (or *** wing if you'll pardon my French) on the leading edges of the wing. This helps to smooth out any air turbulence over the wing when coming in to land. Thanks again John!
Out in the reedbeds listen out for the screams of the water rails and the punchy calls of the cettis warbler - both of these loud birds are more heard than seen although in the case of cettis warblers, they will soon get a bit braver as the perch up to sing for their territories soon - offering good photo opportunities before the leaves come out and they return to their normal, more secretive behaviour.
Also you may see or hear bearded tits - a few sightings at Waltons lately has been encouraging but it is generally the north of the reserve they prefer, so closer to the Avalon Hide gives you a better chance.
Another bird see mainly in the reed bed is the reed bunting (surprise, surprise). Thanks to Sandie Andrews for her shots of a female taken this morning on the reserve. You can see from the colouration how well the fit into that environment:
Also seen on the reserve this week: a green woodpecker at the car park this morning sat on the rails, a brambling in the feeders area on Tuesday, the same day a firecrest from the boardwalk bridge leading out of the car park towards the reserve note the snowdrops out on the other boardwalk area leading to Shapwick Heath), a coal tit on the feeders, bullfinch along the main path, water pipit seen at Loxtons, ravens seen and heard flying over daily, kingfisher this morning from the old rail bridge whilst in the same area a drumming great spotted woodpecker thanks to Sandie Andrews for her photo).
Look out along the rail path for other species including: redpoll, siskin, treecreeper, goldfinch, goldcrest, long tailed tits (thanks to Mike Pearce for his photo), chiffchaff, blackcap, stonechats from VP1, robins (plenty of friendly ones), blackbirds and wrens thanks to Sandie Andrews for her picture).
In the local area you could look for: the Baikal teal which is still at Greylake, cattle egret in the surrounding area (a few hundred), 2 glossy ibis hanging around with some of them and Egyptian geese for company too, goldeneye at Westhay and a red kite seen over Catcott this week. Check out the Somerset Ornithological Society website for any latest news on these.
That's it for this week. Thanks for reading. Happy hunting and have a great weekend!