Any walk around Ham Wall can bring great rewards but sometimes its good to just sit and wait. While you are waiting for that elusive bittern sighting you can enjoy many other sights and sounds of the reserve. Take time to listen to the bird song - particularly along the main path in the tree lines. If you keep quiet after a while many birds will come closer and begin to go about their usual business having checked you out.
The place is teeming with insects and other invertebrates too - bumblebees, hoverflies, butterflies, moths (such as scarlet tiger - a day flying moth - pictured) spiders and an abundance of dragonflies. In fact I was talking to a visitor this week about the thousands of 4 spotted chasers that are across the reserve (the Waltons trail is particularly good). They were watching a 4 spotted chaser settle on the vegetation when a spider, a fraction of its size grabbed it and pulled it down into the undergrowth - there's so much more going on right under our noses - we just need to look.
Plenty of other dragonflies are about too: emperor, black tailed skimmer, broad bodied chaser, scarce chaser & hairy dragonfly all seen this week. Great hobby food of course and there have been a fair few sightings of hobby too. Several sightings of these birds over Waltons in particular but also from the Avalon Hide and over Loxtons and areas nearby. Thanks to both John Crispin and Graham Wagner for their hobby shots all taken over Waltons this week:
Hobby: John Crispin
Hobby with dragonfly: Graham Wagner
A walk around the Waltons trail to see the many dragonflies could also bring rewards such as cuckoos. They can often be heard in this area and from the car park so it could be worth a walk. Marsh Harriers hunt here too regularly and there have been several kingfisher sightings here this week and guess what........even a mini starling murmuration, although we are talking 100 + birds only so don't get your hopes up.
Cuckoos have also been seen in other parts of the reserve including the 2nd platform (VP2) yesterday. However, my best sighting of the week came from further down the track again in the area we call Garleys. It's on the right past Street Heath (the area with the wind pump in it). 2 birds were perched in the big dead tree here and calling away. There was then a chase across this section which was great to see. At the same time a lovely male marsh harrier was hunting and both little & great white egret were using the area. A sparrowhawk also hunts this area on a regular basis. This area is where little bittern have been present the last couple of years. This year despite many evening surveys across the site we've picked nothing up in the whole of the Avalon Marshes - if you know differently we'd love to hear from you.
Great White Egrets are present however and hard to miss. There are many birds seen all over the reserve these days and they fly regularly over the car park from the adjacent section. 5 nests here contain 16 youngsters to add to the growing total with at least two other nests at other locations containing more and a third still being looked at so a successful year here. Thanks to John Crispin for this close up:
Bitterns too are busy in a few areas. Surveys took place yesterday and flights were seen in Waltons, Loxtons, on the north of the reserve and the 1st platform (VP1). Whilst repairing and tidying VP2 yesterday we saw at least 3 flights and another bird perched in the reeds at the back. A bird also did this from VP1 during the evening guided walk and was there again on Wednesday morning - thanks to John Crispin for getting these shots of it:
There are plenty of young birds and family groups being seen across the reserve, as is to be expected at this time of year. Along the main path fledged: long tailed tits, great tits, blue tits and willow warblers, whilst out on the water: young gadwall, mallard and pochard seen with plenty of coot and moorhen chicks present as Graham Wagner's and John Crispin's pictures show. Thanks for sending them in:
Moorhen chick: Graham Wagner
Coot with chicks: John Crispin
There was also a little grebe at Waltons out busy collecting small fish, larvae and other invertebrates and taking them back to its nest.
John Crispin mentioned a third bird infiltrating the territory to which this adult bird was not best pleased. Thanks for these great action shots John:
Fantastic photos, I'm sure you'll agree.
There's lots of other wildlife to see of course. Red Kites have been seen pretty much every day this week: seen from the Avalon Hide on Sunday, over the car park twice on Monday, VP1 on Tuesday, over Shapwick Heath on Wednesday and yesterday we saw one on the way to the reserve on Shapwick Road in Westhay so keep your eyes peeled we are getting plenty of sightings lately.
On a stroll down the main track look out for willow warblers, garden warbler, blackcap, chiffchaff, bullfinches and jays on a few occasions. Make sure you stop at the rail bridge. Look out for grass snakes basking on the sides or even in the water. Several sightings here this week. You can nearly always spot fish such as rudd here too.
Also this week: a fox seen trotting across Long Drove (an area south of Waltons), whitethroat from VP1, grass snakes also seen by the bridge up on the road close to car parks, 2 green sandpiper dropped into the area opposite the little bridge that leads you towards the Avalon Hide, quite a number of swallows passed over on Weds & Thurs this week but also a few swift, sand martin and house martin seen, Water rail seen from the Tor View Hide, Iberian Water Frogs heard croaking away close to the car park and with Waltons and this roe deer seen on the grass track between the Avalon Hide path junction and VP2 - thanks to Graham Wagner for his photos:
That's it for this week: Have a great weekend!