A bit of a surprise on the reserve to day in the form of a very unexpected avocet spotted on the low ground this morning. While we do get records of avocet on the reserve and it's on the yearlist after the two we had in the spring, to get them at this time of year is very rare indeed. Our only other non-spring record was the first ever for the reserve, seen by one of our regulars in January of 1986. We only got brief views as it was largely obscured by some of the juncus, but we'll keep an eye out and see if it can be lured in a bit closer tomorrow.
Today finished with a good evening Goosewatch. Again the geese decided to make us wait for a while, but we had some great close-up views of them flying in directly over the centre as the light disappeared. A distant hen harrier and very close buzzard and kestrel provided some entertainment while we were waiting. We've only got four more Goosewatches before we finish for the season so if you want to come and experience the geese for yourself then make sure you call and book for next week.