Its now the middle of the month and the signs of summer continue to encroach despite the freezing air and the odd snow shower.
I'm sure many of the regular visitors to the reserve are now aware of the new Konik ponies that arrived last week. They can be located at the far west of the reserve near the highland cattle, theres four of em' and they're a hardy bunch despite their friendly appearence. This breed of horse has its origins in eastern Europe and are supposedley quite adept to living on marshy grassland and in harsh weather conditions. These particular individuals have been brought here from an RSPB reserve in Ireland in the hope that they will graze the vegetation out there and reduce willow regeneration that has plagued much of the reserve.
The return of the first Osprey and Marsh Harrier occured about three weeks ago within a day of each other and have since been sighted very regularly. The return of a female Marsh harrier last week brought hope that they would nest again and very soon they were seen displaying and carrying nest material, with mating being witnessed today. So hopefully the happy couple will successfully fledge some offspring later in the summer.
The Ospreys appear to be everywhere and are seen catching fish throughout the day (generally Pike). Most Ospreys seen at one time so far is four.
Other new visitors this month have included the arrival of Chiffchaff and Willow warbler, a few Sand martins and Swallows and more Meadow Pipits. Passage birds have included Wheatear, a single Greenshank, a Ringed Plover and flock of about 40 Golden Plover.
Aside from all the new comers there are plenty of other breeding birds including, a pair of Great Spotted Woodpecker, Siskin, Goldfinch, Bullfinch and Tits in the Woods. Out on the water theres quite a few Shoveler, Gadwall, Mallard, two pair of Shelduck, as many as 80 Black - headed Gull, a dozen Lapwing, Snipe, Redshank, the odd Curlew and Water Rail - if your lucky !
Other birds of interest seen lately include, singing Tree Sparrow, a flock of marauding Redpoll, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammers, a pair of Goldcrests and Treecreeper.
As ever there are a few Red Squirrel in the woods, Roe deer everywhere, lots of Brown Hare, sometimes in front of hides and Otter - of which a big male was seen today swimming around outside Swamp hide.
Mark Wood -resi vol-