This morning I was down in Botany Bay and it’s always a pleasure to be there. I know I’ve said this before but Botany Bay is a lovely place to walk around – if you’re feeling extra energetic one day do make sure you pay it a visit as not many people do. You can reach it via the public footpath along the riverbank - there is no circular route, it’s a "there and back again" walk!
On my way around I caught the tail ends of four grass snakes in various spots, slithering into the undergrowth. Despite my cat-like stealth (!) they all heard me coming before I spotted them. I heard the "zii-zii" call of a kingfisher and managed to catch a quick glimpse of the beautiful blue and green bird zipping along the ditch. I paused a while to enjoy the song of a sedge warbler and was treated to a great view of it, popping out right at the foot of the reeds to take a drink. It was so nimble and delicate moving between the reed stems and stretching down to reach the water. Not like the nearby wren, who seemed to crash through the reeds and sedge with a surprising amount of noise for such a small bird!
I also heard one of our Botany Bay specialities – the 'willow-chiff'. I enjoy hearing this bird every year, it seems rather confused with itself but we’ve decided it’s a 'willow-chiff' rather than a 'chiff-willow'! It starts its song with the usual willow warbler descending whistle and ends it with a quick "chiff-chaff-chiff". Clearly it’s trying to catch us out but it’s definitely a willow warbler and not a chiffchaff. Here is a lovely picture of a different individual, probably one who knows what it wants to be in life!
Photo credit: Willow warbler by G A Vass
Away from the peacefulness of Botany Bay, it’s been all systems go as usual. After our bittern listen last Thursday (six boomers) Dave took volunteers David M and Roger B over to our land in Norfolk, just over the river. This area is not open to the public unfortunately but some of it is just visible from the riverbank if you walk along our northern boundary on the Suffolk side. We have been carrying out some reversion of ex-arable land to wet grassland over the past couple of months and one of the final tasks was to install a new sluice. The team got this in quickly and with no problems which is always a good job! The photos show the sluice being dug in and the channels either side being dug out as the final step.
Photo credit: Dave Rogers - contractor Paul starting the cover up work by hand before switching to the digger
Photo credit: Dave Rogers - the back channel being dug out to connect up the ditches either side of the sluice
We had some extra excitement last Thursday when the TV cameras arrived to make stars of Dave and David. ITV Anglia were filming about the Big Garden Birdwatch results and decided to include a bit extra about the reserve too. David was leading a Wildlife Explorer club session at the time and the cameramen couldn’t resist filming the children (and adults!) having fun doing some pond dipping. I was watching them watching us:
Photo credit: Ali Blaney - ITV Anglia filming the pond dipping fun
As yet however, we’re not sure if it’s been shown on TV! No one has seen it over the Easter weekend so if you're local to us, keep your eyes on the regional news and maybe you’ll recognise some places and faces.
Although this week is shorter it’s nevertheless a busy one. Tomorrow we’ll be working with the volunteers to put up a fence between the car park and the visitor centre to help protect our newly planted osier willows and the hedge (once we’ve planted it!) The hedge will eventually provide a more natural looking barrier - we don't like putting up fences if we don't have to. Our volunteers will be pleased to know we've stocked up on biscuits - we'll need them because it's a 07.30am start for the bittern listen before the work party!