It's a busy time on the reserve for staff and volunteers with plenty of reed cutting and scrub management required to keep the habitat in top top shape for wildlife. It's been very mild for December and one or two staff members and volunteers have been working in short sleeves on occasions this week. Although warmer clothes are soon put on once the physical work stops. There have been some strong winds too - this often means that wildlife huddles down and is a bit less active but as usual at Ham Wall there's plenty to talk about.
Some of the best news has been the sighting of Otters once again this week. It seems to be becoming a common theme at the moment which is fantastic. 2 more reported sightings this week both came from the new Avalon Hide. Both sightings were brief however so you may have to be vigilant if you want to spot one. Tuesday morning (10.15am) and Wednesday afternoon (4.05pm) the 2 reported times.
The hide is proving popular, although the path is getting quite muddy in places. We will be looking into how to resolve any issues here in the near future but we'll see how it goes for now. Wellingtons or stout boots are advisable.
It's a great place to sit and watch a while and a variety of bird life can be seen from here: A Great White Egret was seen to be using some of the newly cut areas on Wednesday and it's a great place to see Marsh Harriers. Kingfishers also frequent the area and a selection of duck species are feeding in the open water.
Great White Egrets are also using the area in front of the 2nd platform. They can occasionally be confused in flight with Little Egret if you have no point of reference to get an idea of size. When they are on the ground together though there's no mistaking it.
The water levels in the area in front of the 2nd platform have been coming up this week as we move water from an adjacent section to undertake reedbed management work. It means there is less mud showing but the Lapwings have become more crammed together as the mud disappears. There's still a couple of hundred out there most days. On Wednesday 9 Snipe dropped in and joined them. Not easy to photograph in flight but John Crispin did manage this shot. Thanks John:
The 2nd platform has still been the place to go to see the Starlings too, although they are a little distant you can still enjoy a good show. On Wednesday evening a Peregrine flew over the platform at Starling time - obviously on the hunt for a good meal (or two). Although the main bulk of the birds are here, a small flock has bucked the trend with 3000-4000 birds dropping into Waltons yesterday. They were in this area over the Christmas period last year, which was great for visitors, so you never know it might happen again.
In Waltons, a Sparrowhawk has been seen on both Wednesday and Thursday this week from the Tor View Hide (see photos taken on the reserve this week) - on Thursday it dropped briefly into the cut channels before moving on. Maybe it's predicting the movement of Starlings here too, although there are plenty of small birds flitting around the reedbeds (Bearded Tits on occasions, Reed Buntings, Cettis Warblers and the odd Stonechat) and around the rest of the reserve. One of the most notable is the groups of Long Tailed Tits following the tree lines (often with other small birds mixed in). They always brighten my day when I see them:
Lovely to see but they need to watch out for..............
Sparrowhawks!!!
Also from the Tor View Hide this week at least 2 different Marsh Harriers. One a well marked male, the other a juvenile type. There's also several duck species, Little Grebe, a chance of Water rail on the cut edge and the usual Cormorants and Black Headed Gulls.
There seems to be a lot of Black Headed Gull activity on the reserve lately and a group of c150 were seen flying south over the reserve yesterday. It has to be said they do add some activity and noise to the reserve.
It's a bit bird heavy I'm afraid but I guess that's the time of year. However, Iberian Water Frogs were spotted in the car park pools earlier in the week and I've seen one or two bumblebees on the wing too. There's plenty of signs of mammals around such as badger and fox and always the chance of a Roe Deer sighting - particularly in the fields that border the reserve.
Also this week: Raven seen flying over, occasional Bittern sightings, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, large groups of Greylag Geese with up to 100 seen together, small groups of Redwing on the north of the reserve and the Glossy Ibis in the local area. It's still roosting over at Shapwick Heath each evening but not seen much during the daytime. Keep you eyes peeled!!
That's it for this week - have a great weekend!