Some very hot days earlier in the week led to some very quiet days on the reserve in terms of visitors. Those that did visit were desperately seeking some shade. I did venture out on Monday for a short period but spent Tuesday catching up with some office tasks and having a bit of a sort out in our workshop.
Thankfully it cooled off slightly for Wednesday and Thursday and this morning, finally, a decent drop of rain - normal service has been resumed?
Of course much of our wildlife has been hiding out a bit too with far fewer sightings of birds such as bittern - with breeding season over, normal service has resumed here too with the far more sedentary and secretive behaviour again from these birds. Bitterns have been spotted at various places though including the second viewing platform (VP2) the Avalon Hide, Waltons and the first viewing platform (VP1).
Thanks to John Crispin who took this shot of a bittern coming in to land this week:
Great white egrets are seen daily and are hard to miss. After a very successful breeding season in the Avalon Marshes, some of this seasons ringed youngsters have certainly spread their wings, with one spotted at Brixham this week with its ringed sibling recorded at RSPB Old Moor in Yorkshire. Recently others have been spotted in Cheshire, the Isle of Wight and North Wales. This individual was seen preening at Ham Wall this week. Thanks again to John Crispin for his photo:
Grey herons are seen daily too - often feeding on the edges of the pools or the main drain, whilst in the evenings around 130 cattle egrets have been counted roosting over at Canada Farm (to the west of Shapwick Heath). You may notice groups of egrets in fields in the local area whilst you travel around - good chance these are cattle egrets. Many of these will now be considered resident birds although these numbers do swell in the winter (most likely an influx of extra birds from the continent.
Many of our migrant birds can still be seen: lots of swallows were at the car park on the overhead wires on Monday (at least 50) along with a few sand martins. A couple of swallows seemed to investigate the nest site in the shelter again - perhaps a second brood is on the cards? A few swift have been reported tis week too - I love hearing them scream as they fly over my head. Thanks to John Crispin for his swift shot taken during the week. The bulge in it's throat suggests perhaps that it's been feeding well? :
A hobby was spotted over Waltons on Tuesday but I've no doubt there have been other sightings. Blackcap and chiffchaff have both been spotted along the main path whilst the reedbeds still contain the chattering calls of the reed warbler although a lot quieter than a few weeks ago. John Crispin managed to capture this shot of a reed warbler this week. thanks John:
The whitethroat opposite VP1 is still busy feeding young (it's in the brambles and reeds opposite). We are aware that the views are partly obscured by the growth here but until we know no more breeding behaviour is seen here, we won't be touching it. There's a good chance we will now remove the bands of reed obscuring views from the Tor View Hide in the coming week though as we've seen nothing to concern us here.
Thanks to John Crispin for his shots of the busy whitethroat carrying food:
Plenty of insects and other invertebrates for birds to collect - a real variety from the whitethroat. Plenty of insect life in general at this time of year. Something new to learn whilst all the birds are quiet as they traditionally are at this time of year. Many birds behaviour has become more secretive as they recover from a frantic breeding season. Consider too that many birds pass into a moult stage at this time of year (particularly birds such as ducks) so are slightly less efficient flyers so tend to stay more hidden - also hiding out from a very hot and sunny period of weather.
Butterflies and dragonflies are a good place to start your journey into insect ID. A wide range of butterflies can be seen this month. Recorded this week: peacock, red admiral, speckled wood, brimstone, meadow brown, gatekeeper, comma, green veined white, small white and small tortoiseshell to name a few. Others could easily be added.
Look out for the spikey black caterpillars of the peacock butterfly feeding on stinging nettles and of course the very beautiful adults - both pictured below:
In terms of dragonflies there was one in particular which caught the eye of 9 year old Sam White. He was in the car park with his dad Chris this week and saw this lesser emperor right by the information hut.
Sam and his dad knew instantly what it was as they live in Spain where these are more common. For the UK however they are an annual migrant but still uncommon. They were first recorded in the UK in 1996 and have become more regular in recent years (that's our second sighting this year). I've still yet to see one myself, so well done Sam (although I am rather jealous) - keep up the good work though and many thanks for sending in your brilliant photo.
Also recorded this week: emperor, brown hawker, black tailed skimmer, southern hawker (a lovely female seen in the car park this afternoon), migrant hawker, banded demoiselle, azure damselfly, common blue damselfly, variable damselfly, red eyed damselfly and blue tailed damselfly.
Still away from birds there are still a few sightings of grass snake - often swimming (Waltons or the old rail bridge seem to be the most frequent places). I saw one myself under a plastic sheet out on the reserve along with a slow worm today. I could also hear the calling of Iberian water frogs and have had reports of a few roe deer roaming about.
No more otter sightings this week but volunteer Tracey, did report plenty of signs such as spraint (otter poo) and runways during this week's survey so they are about - keep your eyes peeled.
Also this week: bearded tits seen from VP2, kingfisher also seen at VP2, Waltons and the old rail bridge, great spotted woodpecker seen in flight at the car park, bullfinch seen by the boardwalk bridge exiting the car park, great crested grebes seen at the Avalon Hide and Tor View Hide along with little grebe, sparrowhawk seen from Tor View Hide on Tuesday, and marsh harriers seen daily - including the juveniles.
We believe another marsh harrier nest has just fledged - one in front of the Avalon Hide. It has seemed to take forever and we thought they may have failed but 2 youngsters have appeared sat in the bushes in front of the hide (can also be seen more distantly from VP1). That's great news. Look out for marsh harriers that look very brown with gingery caps. Here's and old stock photo, so you know what to look out for:
I think I will leave it there for this week....and there was me thinking that there would be very little to write about. You'd think I'd know better by know - this is Ham Wall
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!