The reserve is looking great in its summer colours. On a walk around the main path last week, the teasels and ragwort were buzzing with bees and butterflies. In the last couple of years I have been learning how to identify our British butterflies and West Hayling Local Nature Reserve is definitely a place to test your knowledge. The brambles seemed very popular with gatekeepers, it was easy to get some close up photos even with my little camera.
I have been watching the breeding seabird colony at the Oysterbeds for 3 months now. It is so interesting to see how it changes. Most of the black-headed gulls have now fledged, leaving the common terns to bring up their chicks with a bit more space. Currently there are chicks of all ages, from less than a week old to nearly fledging. The little balls of fluff waddle around begging for food and if you wait a little while you can watch the parent birds bringing in silvery fish, some almost as big as the chicks.
The Mediterranean gull chicks are out on the water (photo below by Marianne Eagles) and the adults are starting to moult. Interestingly, we have had a sudden appearance of sandwich terns. The sandwich terns have been out in the harbour throughout the spring but have failed to nest. We think it is possible that they were disturbed from their roosting sites. As they flew over the Oysterbeds they may have seen the Mediterranean gulls with their black heads and grey plumage and, thinking they were fellow sandwich terns, flew down to join them.
West Hayling Local Nature Reserve continues to provide all sorts of wonderful wildlife with a home. Come and discover it and learn more with our volunteer guides, every weekend and some weekdays.