Last week I decided to head straight out to Havergate on my first day back after Christmas break. It certainly blew the cobwebs away and helped me get into a good state of mind for the new year. It was a wonderful day, cold but sunny, and the lagoons were heaving with birds. I didn’t do a full count but there were high numbers of duck and waders including, Dunlin, Redshank, Godwit and Grey plovers, wigeon and teal. I also had a treat watching 2 spoonbills feeding on main lagoon. Walking between the hides I briefly watched 2 barn owls hunting and a ring-tailed hen harrier fly by.
However, it all changed this week. Yesterday (8th Jan) at high tide we sat on the river wall on the mainland and watched the tidal surge get higher and higher. It eventually started to pour over the lowered spillway that thankfully we had finished just the month before. It was great seeing the spillway do what it was designed to do.
Today, I popped over to the island to see what the lagoons looked like when completely full and it looked amazing. Unfortunately, the water also over topped the inside lagoon wall and filled up the area in front of main hide. Fingers crossed this area and the lagoons drain before our first visitor trip in the next few weeks. The rest of the island was absolutely fine and I am looking forward to getting back out there with the work party tomorrow and cracking on with some of the jobs that we need to do to get the island ready for the year.
Oh dear, that does look a bit soggy! Fingers crossed it hasn't caused damage, I don't fancy swimming across to Main hide!
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