In fact when I visited on the 23rd April it was as if the cork was out of the bottle! Everything was coming through. Out in the bay a dark phase Arctic Skua was robbing a Sandwich Tern of its catch. Gannets were wheeling about on the high tide with Common Terns fishing and yes I could hear the distinct call of Little Tern. Just the one, but for me the breeding season had started.
Chiffchaff, Willow Warblers, Blackcaps, Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroats, Sedge Warblers, Pied Wagtails and meadow pipits seemed to be everywhere. Six Little Grebe were defending territories and 17 Great Crested Grebes were doing much the same but with much more grace and poise.
On the 6th May we had the annual visit from a Little Ringed Plover, prospecting but moving on. By the 15th a Cuckoo could be heard and Whimbrel were on the scrape. Little Terns were up to 22 and in spite of the new floating islands and decoys they were going to attempt to nest on the main island where they would be open to predation! Anxious times as they shifted their nest sites around, several eggs were laid but only one fledgling was seen to survive.
(M.Maclauchlan)
The Sandwich and Common Terns also shifted sites ending up on the ski bank with the Black Headed Gulls.
The summer redeemed itself and good numbers of warblers were evident including two separate male Reed Warblers challenging each other from the only two areas of reedbed on the reserve!