We're allegedly heading into summer now and it's still the small birds that are giving us the most excitment at Loch of Strathbeg at the moment.
The family of Bearded Tits are still regular around Fen Hide. Visitors have reported groups of up to 5 although sometimes there's just the odd single bird passing by. They were even spotted by some eagle eyed visitors from the centre at Starnafin last week. Quiet, windless days seem to be the best for luring them out into the open. If you don't find Beared Tit at Fen Hide there seems to be a good chance of an Otter sighting- one of our volunteers has seen them twice in the past week.
From Tower Pool Hide the Reed Warbler is still singing, although rarely seen. You'll hear plenty of Sedge Warbler and still a few Grasshopper warbler (equally the new Summer Trail to Fen hide seem to be a bit of a "Gropper" hotspot). There are several pairs of Corn Bunting nest building around the arable fields and occasionally mating on the overhead wires.
Our visiting Spoonbills seem to have moved on, with no reported sightings since last Saturday and there haven't been any Crane flyovers for a while either.
Birds of prey are becoming a bit more common again though with a resident female Marsh Harrier hunting over the marsh and Osprey making early morning visits to the loch. There's still a chance of a nice Short-eared Owl cruising over the marsh if you're visiting early morning or evening.
We are starting to see the odd sign that the breeding season is over (if it ever started!) with a trickle of waders including some beautiful Black-Tailed Godwit settling in on the low ground and a flock of 120 Lapwing on the reserve at the weekend.