One Swallow...

Okay, it might not be summer, but the bright, warm days and the
sight of our first Swallow over the loch on Friday night prove that we’re
definitely heading into spring. Although, it didn’t quite feel like it today
when the haar was so thick we had trouble seeing the tower at one point. I’m
told it was incredibly warm and spring-like a few miles inland though...

The wardens have been taking advantage of the weather to cut
and clear some of the grass on the low ground. This will hopefully create a
sward of very short grass which will be ideal for lapwing and other waders to
nest in. The Konik ponies have been moved onto the low ground as well and are clearly
enjoying some spring grass after a winter of eating the juncus out on Mosstown
Marsh.

I’ve been allowed out of the office a bit this week as well,
with a great afternoon helping Fiona our new Field Teacher at a local primary
school. The Field Teachers regularly visit local schools throughout the year as
part of our ‘Growing Up With Loch of Strathbeg’ project, and this was the last
trip out to St Combs for this term- next term they’ll be coming to the reserve
for the first time.

Bird-wise, the Greater Yellowlegs has almost become part of
the furniture (thanks to Birdguides for that!) and has been showing well from
Tower Pool Hide and the visitor centre. For those who’ve seen the Yellowlegs,
by far the most exciting bird on the reserve right now is the Bittern that’s
been lurking around Fen Hide since Monday afternoon. Bittern are not only rare
this far north but live in the thick reeds and can be incredibly hard to see. This
Bittern has been walking about in the open area right in front of the hide, so some
lucky visitors (and the volunteers) have had some excellent close up views of
it over the past week. We’ve got a motion sensitive trail camera in front of Fen
Hide at the moment, so we’re just keeping our fingers crossed that the Bittern
might decide to wander in front of it...