It was a bit of a shock on Wednesday with temperatures of -6 degrees on the reserve during the day. This however did not stop me from hearing my first booming Bittern of the year. I sounded like it was over at Waltons and boomed in sets of 3 on several occasions. One closer to me tried to reply but let out a single more wheezy effort . Yesterday another bird was heard booming from the other end of the reserve - somewhere towards the second viewing platform area (so that's 3 in total).
On both days I was stood at the same location - the path to the Avalon Hide. Thankfully the rubber matting arrived during the day on Wednesday, so yesterday was spent tracking them all out to site and getting started with laying them down. We've made a great start but there are a couple of tricky sections coming up, but with our skillful volunteers on the case it should prove no problem. We'd like to think we'll have it finished by next Friday but I'm not making any firm predictions.
The highlight yesterday was seeing the Glossy Ibis fly over us into the area in front of the 2nd platform as we moved the matting and there were several sightings of Marsh Harriers throughout the day with at least 4 separate birds seen. The area in front of the 2nd viewing area was packed with birds on Wednesday as many other areas were frozen. Hundreds of Lapwing were seen but a vast array of wildfowl too. I'd got the sense that there were a lot more Teal on site recently and the WeBS (Wetland Bird Survey) count confirmed this on Monday with 705 counted up from just 80 for December. Gadwall also showed a good increase from 289 up to 408.
Teal take to the air......
The first platform area has also been showing a good selection of birds with a Great White Egret showing daily - usually arriving just after 8am. It had particular fishing success on Wednesday:
and a shot from further off:
Pintails too have been seen here this week. Just one on Wednesday but this had grown to 7 by Thursday with 4 males and 3 females present. Handsome looking ducks:
Thanks to John Crispin for all the above pictures.
It was great to be able to write about the Barn Owls (and Tawny Owls) last week. Well, they've been seen again. Barn Owl was seen out and about in the daytime on Monday. A lovely sight but can be a worry as being driven to hunt in daylight hours means hunger. I guess wet and rainy nights take their toll. A Tawny Owl was seen poking its head out of the box on Tuesday. It's situated jsut a little further down the wood from the one visible from the 1st platform. Lets hope for more breeding success for both of these this coming season.
Waltons is also turning up a few good sightings. Last Sunday saw a Sparrowhawk tucking into its kill on the cut island in front of the 3rd screen. It then flew off with the remainder of its prey to the trees on the rail path. The day before an Otter was seen at the end of the channel facing the Tor from the Tor View Hide. There was a big panic and commotion as birds took to the air. The culprit appeared a few minutes later and John Crabb managed to get this shot - thanks John.
Icy times in particular can be a great time to see Otters as they scamper over frozen water. Other wildlife such as Water Rails can also become more obvious as they search harder for food. There have been fairly recent sightings of them from the Tor View Hide so it's always worth bearing in mind when visiting it.
These areas are still accessible and open in spite of the bridge on the rail path remaining closed. The Environment Agency's contractors have not been in at all this week due to it being just too wet or too cold to be able to paint the bridge. It is hoped they will make some progress here next week so that we can get the main track open again. To access you need to walk thew other side of the main drainage channel and cross back at the next bridge just past the 1st platform. It is a little muddy so stout boots or wellingtons are a great idea.
No reports of the Dusky Warbler along this path this week - that's not to say it's not still here (I've just had no reports of it). 2 Chiffchaff were seen at the end of the first strip of woodland on Wednesday and a treecreeper was heard on Tuesday. Watch out too for mixed groups of tits - particularly Long Tailed (they often hide other birds such as Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs).
It's always worth scanning the reeds for smaller birds too. You never know what you might pick up. I was lucky enough to hear and have the briefest of sightings this morning of Bearded Tits at the back of the area in front of the 2nd viewing platform. I also heard Cettis Warbler and saw Meadow Pipit and a Reed Bunting perched up on reeds much like in this photo sent in by John Crabb:
Also this week:
up to 7 Ravens flying over the reserve on Wednesday often calling as they flew, one or two Fieldfare seen and heard, a Red Kite reported (also on Wednesday) flying east past the 2nd platform, a Kingfisher seen flying in front of the Loxtons screen, a group of 10 Snipe seen flying over on Thursday, Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming and Stonechats perched up while we cut reeds with our cutting machine.
Finally, a nice shot with great reflections of 2 Canada Geese sent in by John Crabb:
That's it for this week. Have a great weekend!