It's been another cracking week on the reserve and the action is really ramping up. There have been vast numbers of sand martins passing through each day with people talking of numbers in their hundreds in the sky at once. Lesser numbers of swallow swift and house martins but it's still an amazing sight to watch these aerial masters. There are plenty of flying insects for them to hunt - one obvious one you will notice is the St Marks fly - these are the black looking flies with their legs dangling down. They emerge around the time of St Marks day (25th April I believe) - hence the name.
John Crispin took these shots last weekend of some on the wing and some looking to settle in the reeds - awesome shots - thanks John!
Thanks also to Graham Wagner for his shot of a single bird also from last weekend:
Hobbies are pouring in too with good numbers seen around the reserve - still waiting for the big numbers but there were 7 together from the Avalon Hide on Monday and reports of 11 over the reserve yesterday. They are great birds to watch as they hunt for prey - dragonflies are their favourite and there are a few beginning to be seen. Most likely these are hairy dragonfly but a 4 spotted chaser was reported yesterday too. Thanks to Andrew Kirby and John Crispin for their hobby shots taken this week:
Hobby: Andrew Kirby
Hobby: John Crispin
The noise levels have cranked up a bit too - the reedbeds are alive with noise particularly cettis warbler, reed bunting & reed warbler but there are a few sedge warblers also. Hard to tell the difference sometimes between reed and sedge warbler but there was one on each side of the path to the Avalon Hide this week (on the last stretch). There was a really obvious and quite showy sedge warbler on the left and a reed warbler on the right.
Tawny owls were seen in the wood last weekend too and there's always a chance of barn owl in this area at the right time of day.
Other warblers are singing away merrily too in the tree lines. A walk from the car park will almost certainly get you blackcap, garden warbler, willow warbler and chiffchaff and there's usually a whitethroat opposite the 1st platform (VP1). You can also add: chaffinch, goldfinch, bullfinch, blackbird, song thrush, long tailed tit, great tit and blue tit to your growing list.
Talking of blue tits,w e had a nice surprise this week when we turned on the nest cam on the TV in the welcome building. We have blue tits on eggs - great for all our visitors to watch this live when they visit:
You will be surprised what else you might see from the car park. 2 cranes flew over on Wednesday - they didn't circle but kept heading west - probably due to strong winds, 3 whimbrel flew west over Waltons and then the car park on Tuesday, a grass snake yesterday near the new shelter, a Peregrine on Sunday, a sparrowhawk this morning and don't forget the daily sightings of great white egrets from the reedbeds just beyond the car park.
You'll also be able to hear booming bitterns and perhaps even get the odd sighting. There were quite a few sightings from VP1 yesterday during our 'bitterns in hot pursuit' event yesterday and several other reports of birds chasing each other throughout the week. 2 were following each other in front of the Avalon Hide on Monday before dropping into the reeds. They then moved 2 more times in the next 15 minutes or so.
Yesterday on the north of the reserve 4 bitterns were in a chase - most likely 3 males chasing a female. Luckily John Crispin was on hand to take this shot - thanks John:
Great white egret flights are on the increase too - 4 were seen together in the splashy area on your left as you walk to the Avalon Hide. This area has also been a good place to look for garganey over the last couple of weeks as has the Avalon Hide with 3 seen in each place this week.
They have also been seen from the Loxtons screen as Graham Wagner discovered. One even sat on the raft. Thanks for sending in your shots Graham:
These rafts are where common terns bred not so many years ago. It would be great to have a repeat of this and there have been several sightings in the last fortnight. In fact one was seen both yesterday and this morning over Waltons and from VP1.
Waltons is a good place to stop a while - the Tor View Hide can often offer water rail. On Saturday on walked and then flew a few yards in front of the hide and there were further reports on Sunday and Wednesday this week. A yellow wagtail was also recorded in the reeds here on Monday whilst 5 were reported on the reserve last Sunday although I don't have a location for this. On the path on the way up a long tailed tits nest is visible several feet up a tree on the right but you have to look for it and the herons are still going on the right in the reedbed where there are visible youngsters.
There are at least 3 nests in Waltons and adds a bit more noise and activity to your visit. Another heron made an unwanted visit to one of the nests this week but it was this heron which showed the aggressive behaviour. John Crispin photographed the action:
He's also got this great sequence of a grey heron fishing:
...and this great shot, straight down the lens:
Thanks for all those brilliant shots John!
Also in Waltons look out for the great crested grebes. John Crispin photographed them head bobbing again this week. There are also grebes with young in front of VP1 to look out for.
Also this week: plenty of cuckoos - mostly heard but some seen with 3 from VP1 yesterday but also around Waltons with 2 from the Tor View Hide on Sunday, greylag geese with young from the 2nd platform (VP2) - also a good place to look for marsh harrier along with the Avalon Hide (4 often seen here), a roe deer seen around Waltons last weekend and a fox on our land along the Ashcott Road on Tuesday, Kingfishers seen at both Loxtons and Waltons this week, a Mallard with 8 young from the Avalon Hide, a Treecreeper photographed below by John Crispin seen along the treeline between Waltons and Loxtons and a mealy (or common) redpoll seen just through the gate at Waltons as you walk in from VP1 (lesser redpoll also seen this week).
Lots of butterflies to loo out for - orange tips are particularly abundant, but there are also: large white, green veined white, brimstone, peacock, small tortoiseshell, red admiral, holly blue and speckled wood have all been seen this week. A few damselflies about too - most likely large red or blue tailed.
That's it for this week. Have a great bank holiday weekend. The sun will be shining so it's the perfect excuse to pay us a visit.