Well If the weather forecast is anything to go by we had better make the most of today’s sunshine though I would love to be proven wrong on that one.
Tern numbers have dropped of dramatically these past couple of weeks with sandwich, common and little terns turning into the odd record rather than everyday. There are a few pairs of common tern on the Ski Bank which is worth having a look at. Predation is one of the main reasons for this particularly by mammals so next year we hope to have a few floating islands for terns to use that will provide a water barrier for potential predators. Also in the pipeline a floating fence .......watch this space I think.
Ducks and grebes are doing well and I’ve seen some sizeable great crested grebe juveniles just loosing their down. Also with young are shelduck and there is an Eider Crèche with four chicks and seven females. There are a few tit flocks going about the scrub which is really nice to see and hear. In the dry quarry are some particularly noisy but bright Linnets as well as Whitethroats! Thanks to everyone who has updated the board in the hide it really helps particularly if I don't get down for a few days.
I’ve been having a good rake around looking at plants today and the orchids are really worth noting. There are so many all around the site that its like a purple carpet . Outside the hide is an abudance of Bee Orchids I tried to have a count of them and got lost about 150 individual plants. You really can't miss them and when you look closely they are stunning.
Bee Orchid and my shadow....(Ophrys apifera)
I also found some patches of Wild strawberries (Fragaria vesca) when I was speaking to someone walking around the site they said they used to come down and pick the wild strawberries of the banks before it was a reserve. I only found a couple of small patches so I'm not sure you could make any jam from them! Beautiful to see and smell though!
Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca)
Another person pointed me in the direction of these flowers in the dry quarry at Hodbarrow point (or white rock as I've been told to call it!) Bloody Cranes bill- there's another purple carpet. Incidentally this is the county flower for my home county Northumberland where it grows in abundance on the coast much like it does at this spot at Hodbarrow.
Bloody Cranes Bill (Geranium sanguineum)
Anyway I hope to have a few guest bloggers on here in the next few months to give a bit of variety so watch this space.
Cheers
Mhairi