Today's blog written by Ben our residential volunteer-
After a rather cold wet spring, it seems that summer has finally decided to show itself. The bad weather over the past few weeks has meant it has been difficult to keep up with all the survey work on the reserve. So I took advantage of a bright sunny Monday afternoon to catch up with ringed plover surveys.
The survey basically involved a walk along one of the most spectacular beaches you’ve ever seen (volunteering can have its perks!).
Diana kindly agreed to drop Ed and I off at the cut, and no sooner had we entered the lagoon than we were greeted with a flock of 12 ringed plover moving around with a group of dunlin. This boded well for the rest of the survey, and so it proved. Ed and I saw no less than 27 ringed plover along with many dunlin, sanderling, turnstone, oystercatchers, shag, cormorant, common tern and greater black backed gull, all on the beach. Diana had agreed to pick us up at Rattray Head, where our survey finished, and on the walk back to the car park we were greeted to the sound of displaying lapwing and to the sight of wheatear hoping around the car park.
Let’s hope the good weather continues and who knows what else might turn up on the reserve.
Ben