We’ve been a bit office bound recently working on the reserve annual report so just a brief overview of work this week. We had another bittern listen last Thursday, luckily the rain came beforehand so it was a lovely morning surveying the reedbeds. Our peak count is still seven from a couple of weeks back. The male bitterns don't play any part in the nesting and chick rearing process so even if they have mated already, they will continue to boom if they think there may be another unmated female out there somewhere for them. If available females are running thin on the ground, they will stop booming so we would expect numbers to drop off eventually. We had some lucky visitors who saw a bittern actually in the process of booming recently from our fabulous Mere Hide. You can read an account of this written by the visitors and see a photo of the bittern himself on our community pages.
I was most pleased to see two new birds for the year during my bittern listen. As I dropped Suzanne off at her station a cuckoo started calling nearby and it wasn't long before I spotted it in a tree. I didn't get a great view but it was definitely a cuckoo! It's lovely to hear them calling all over the reserve, we get them here in good numbers and often can hear them from the visitor centre too. I also saw a reed warbler singing away in the reeds. It took quite a while to pick him out, as the sedge warblers surrounding him were making a lot more noise and distraction! My ears did eventually locate the reed warbler song and I got a good view of him in amongst the reed stems. I forget how pale they are underneath so here is a nice photo to refresh everyones memories now they are arriving back for the spring and summer months!
Photo credit: Tim James - reed warbler
After the bittern listen we knuckled down to getting our fence up between the car park and the visitor centre. It‘s not a pretty fence but fear not, it’s only temporary. It’ll help vegetation and (at some point in the future) our new hedge to get established and stop trampling. Below is a picture of regular volunteer Roger, clearly enjoying his work!
Photo credit: Ali Blaney – volunteer Roger sorting out the wire
Volunteers Robert and Su also finished off the fish refuges, which is great as we need to get these in as soon as possible. We now have seven excellent refuges and these will provide a safe haven for small fish in our reedbeds. We will be restocking in places soon so you can expect a very fishy blog in mid May!
Photo credit: Ali Blaney – volunteer Su filling the refuge frames with willow cuttings
Finally, Katherine has started our seasonal job of strimming around the reserve. I can’t believe how quickly the grass grows sometimes! Once we have the annual report out of the way we’ll be out and about sprucing up the trails regularly. Katherine also trimmed down the new reed growth in some of our bays that we keep open along the trails. These provide great views into the reedbeds and are a good place to look out for bearded tits as they flit between the reed stands so keep an eye out for those when you next come to visit!