It's sometimes hard to know how to start writing the blog. I was thinking it was a week much like any other on the reserve but when you work here every day and are immersed in work and surrounded by this wildlife all the time it's easy to forget just how far this place has come in recent years. A normal week on the reserve is a pretty amazing one.
It only takes a few conversations with visitors to bring it home. It's pretty clear that the majority of our visitors think that Ham Wall is a pretty amazing place. It's a picturesque place full of wonderful opportunities to see some amazing wildlife.
I popped out to the reserve this morning for an hour or so and was rewarded with some great sightings I can pass on to you. I took a stroll up to the Tor View HIde but before I even got there I could hear a water rail very close to the edge of the path. I didn't see that one but there was a second one in clear view just a few feet away. We loooked at each other for a few seconds before it slinked off into the reeds. As I got to the hide I could immediately see a snipe sat just feet away again. There were a few others flyig about to and reports this week of one actually perched on the reed pile in front of the hide.
Mallard, gadwall and teal were swimming close by or loafing in the shallow areas but the highlight was the pair of great crested grebes displaying and weed dancing. In the short space of time I was there the male presented the female with several pieces of weed which he began to lay in a pile. Apparently the female had sat on it at one point and a coot decided it would tear it apart. Lets hope it doesn't put them off.
Graham Wagner sent me in his shots taken this week of weed dancing grebes and one shouting at a coot. You can also see pairs of grebes from the Avalon Hide, Loxtons and VP1. Thanks Graham:
Several Coots in altercations with each other this morning and a real scrap involving several a visitor had seen yesterday. Some pretty aggressive behaviour at times.
Also from the Tot View Hide this week: Several bittern flights, the ring necked duck on both Wednesday and Thursday although I believe on Monday it was spotted over at Shapwick Heath on Noah's lake so it's moving about a bit as last week. Pochard also seen here during the week, noisy little grebes, water rail in front of the hide and marsh harrier and raven both flying over.
After the hide I reached the screens. At the 3rd screen that faces the west of Waltons I could see a group of visitors all looking at something. My guess was kingfisher - I know one has been perching up regularly in front and to the right.
It was a kingfisher much to everyone's delight. As it happens Graham Wagner has sent me some photos of kingfisher too taken a couple of weeks ago on Ham Wall and what great shots they are - thanks Graham:
Also from this screen I could see some snipe in amongst the ducks - as many as 8 were seen here during the week.
I then quickly popped up to VP1 and could see some pintail (male and female) amongst the other wildfowl. In fact they have been seen here pretty much every day this week and also several sightings from the second platform (VP2) also. John Crispin described the sight as delightful as he watched both male and female yesterday. He got these shots of them taking off from in front of VP1 yesterday morning. Thanks John:
As I looked behind me I could see a grey heron flying across Waltons. It reminded me that a few birds have been seen in this area carrying sticks this week. At least 3 different birds were seen doing this on Wednesday and pair were also seen mating. Be interesting to see how many decide to nest in the reedbeds this coming season.
VP1 has been an interesting place to stop and wait a while recently. A good mix of both ducks and waders to scan through. Along with the pintail: mallard, gadwall, tufted duck, teal, wigeon, pochard and shoveler all recorded this week. Also a great place to look for great white egret - a few sightings here this week but also little egret. In terms of waders small groups of snipe have been seen using the area and lapwing too along with black tailed godwits. The godwits have been seen on several occasions throughout the week with several groups of around 20 seen loafing about on the islands. I counted a group of 35 on Wednesday which flitted around for some time giving great views. Thanks to Graham Wagner for his shot taken this week:
Look out also for the glossy ibis in this area. I saw it myself on Thursday afternoon but it had already been seen in the morning and the previous day. It has also been seen out and about in the local area hanging out with several of the cattle egrets. Check out the Somerset Ornithological Society website for locations where people have been spotting them.
A quick trip to Loxtons next before I had to go. The usual bunch of cormorants dominating the floating rafts but lots of noise from little grebes was the most striking thing. There are several pairs using this section of the reserve.
A particularly good sighting came from Loxtons yesterday. An otter was spotted swimming in the last section of Loxtons closest to the main track. One of our volunteers was lucky enough to see it whilst out walking. Another of our volunteers saw another on the other side of the reserve on Wednesday. It was in the pool just behind/to the left of the Avalon Hide. Great to be getting more frequent sightings.
The Avalon Hide is also a good place to visit at the moment. It's probably the best place to see marsh harriers at the moment. There are several around but 3 seems to be the magic number at the moment with 3 reported on multiple occasions this week including a very beautifully marked male. They have bred in this area for the last few years so it's no surprise to see activity here again.
Bitterns too reported from here this week including 2 very obliging bitterns who sat together out in the open (in a cut area in front of the hide) for a while yesterday. Listen out also for booming males. I was out with some volunteers yesterday trying to improve the path and we could hear one not too far away. There was also a second bird more distant in front of the hide. On Wednesday we also heard tawny owl calling from the wood but on this occasion nobdoy had seen it at the owl box visible from the hide - always worth checking this out though. It's quite possible they are on eggs already - I believe tawny owls nest quite early.
Also from the path yesterday we could hear bearded tits 'pinging' and a stonechat was seen briefly, whilst in the wood great spotted woodpeckers were both heard and seen. We've made a good start with the path and have improved the wettest bits within the wood, the slope before the wood and the track after (more work needed here though). As for the paths before this they are very muddy but passable with care - colder and drier weather will help with this. We will most likely try to reseed some of these stretches.
Also this week: a pair of sparrowhawks circling above the car park before flying off towards Shapwick Heath, c600 Lapwing in flight in front of the temporary blinds close to the Avalon Hide on Wednesday, plenty of good sightings along the main track including siskin, redpoll, bullfinch, goldcrest, chiffchaff a pair of great spotted woodpeckers and treecreeper, red kite seen in flight over the eastern end of the reserve on Wednesday, Raven over pretty much daily along with buzzard and c50 greylags lifting off from in front of VP2 around 7.30am - they have roosted here in the past.
Also after mentioning the pink footed goose last week here's a few shots of the bird seen just off the reserve in fields along with some greylags. Thanks to John Crispin for the photos:
That's almost it for this week but just a quick reminder that if you haven't voted for us yet in the Countryfile Magazine Awards please do. We've have the great honour of being nominated in the best nature reserve category and obviously we would love to win. You can vote for us here: bit.ly/2DqOvhN
If you could also sign up your social media accounts (facebook and twitter) to our thunderclap we'd be really grateful. It's just for one post on the 1st March and that's it and it's really simple to do and it will help us have a much greater reach in the search for votes. You can do that here: https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/66978-vote-now-for-rspb-ham-wall
Thank you for those who have already done it, we really appreciate your support for this wonderful place.
That is it now for this week. Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend.