This weekend we've been taking advantage of the warm sunny weather to get out into the wetter parts of the reserve and see what's around.
Yesterday Richard and myself had a long, slightly soggy walk through the marsh, in preparation for a series of events later in the summer that we'll tell you all about very soon... The highlight of the walk was a big female Osprey fishing almost directly overhead as we walked back round the silt trap. We also spotted four fox cubs using a den out on the marshland, lovely to see but perhaps not the best news for our ground-breeding birds this spring.
Tom was also out on the marsh on Saturday evening and was lucky enough to see at least four Short-Eared Owls hunting over the grassland. He even managed to get two of them in the same photo as they rested on a pair of fence posts. The female Marsh Harrier has also been a regular sight hunting over Mosstown and to the right of the tower.
The Great Grey Shrike has been on the airfield all weekend, although despite our best efforts we haven't *quite* managed to see it from the reserve yet so it's still not on the year list. We have managed to add Common Sandpiper, seen by Vicky from Tower Pool Hide, and we had another flyover visit from the two Common Cranes that have been seen in the area for the past couple of weeks.