Well the sandwich mystery refers to the sudden appearance of young sandwhich terns on the reserve. After reporting earlier in the season that the sandwich terns have dropped off in number and non had bred on site just this week I have noticed a couple of family parties flying around the reserve. The young terns are easily picked out with a white forehead where the adults black colouring should be. I think they look like a mad professor with a bald patch and long hair at the back, They also have brown tinges to the wings and back and sometimes their calls don’t quite live up to mum and dads with a slight frog in the throat!
These young birds and adults seem to be leaving the reserve over the lagoon and then flying over the council rubbish tip towards who knows where! If anyone has any information or has seen some of these terns nesting near by please let me know. Its brilliant that they have managed to get young of somewhere and hopefully with the improvements we have planned for the next breeding season they will have no end of options on the Duddon estuary.
Sandwich Terns at their peak in May
Young birds being fed note white on forehead and brown scalloping on the wing and back (Photo: Christine Redgate)
Other birds of note are the waders which are still building in numbers as they come from their breeding grounds. In particular redshank (40+) greenshanks, common sandpiper oystercatcher and lapwing. As I have mentioned in the past mergansers and eider are also in the lagoon. On the track on the north east part of the reserve I have noticed bullfinch calling and feeding several times in the last few weeks so its worth sitting quietly there for a while to get a glimpse of this beautiful bird.
Finally Stephen mentioned to me he had seen a wheatear earlier this week....this has to be one of the earliest for the reserve potentially highlighting the effect that weather has had on birds. I've also noted curlew and pochard all earlier than planned. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions on that.