Yesterday our Conservation Officer, Carl Cornish and I were joined by members of Shipley Bird Club and Burton Joyce U3A for guided walks on site. Despite being rather blustery, the sun was shining and we headed out for the morning session hopeful for some good wildlife! As we made our way around the public footpath we started counting singing warbler species and immediately heard willow warbler, chiffchaff and blackcap from the hedgerow by the path. A lovely garden warbler singing next to silt lagoon 3 brought the total up to 4, swiftly followed by both common whitethroat and lesser whitethroat in the hedgerow alongside the lagoons. A gentle stroll around the Phase 1 reedbed added reed warbler and sedge warbler to the list, as well as grasshopper warbler reeling away by silt lagoon 7. And just when we thought we weren't going to get any more....a cetti's warbler let out a couple of short bursts of song from around silt lagoon 4 on our way back to the office. A total of 10 species of warbler in one morning - not bad at all! Other highlights of the morning session include four spotted chaser dragonflies, brown argus butterflies and a stunning longhorn beetle, Agapanthia villosoviridescens (I don't expect you to remmeber that!).
For the afternoon session we decidded to take in Phase 2 and look for some waders. We immediately saw lapwing and redshank, along with wildfowl such as mallard, shelduck, gadwall, tufted duck and mute swan. A little ringed plover and a pair of oystercatchers also delighted the crowd, but the real star of the afternoon was a hobby, spotted hunting over Phase 2. Throughout the whole 2 hours the hobby performed brilliantly for us, showing off it's red 'trousers' and beautiful black barring on it's underside, contrasting with the solid steely grey colour of it's upperback and wings. A stunning bird indeed!
Thanks to Carl for helping with these walks.