Spring has finally arrived at the reserve, which means the departure of some of our winter visitors and our first spring migrants. Bird song can be heard all around the reserve and many species are now busy gathering nesting materials in preparation for the breeding season. The Aird Meadow loch has been busy with large numbers of goldeneye, wigeon and teal, although the majority of these will soon be moving off to their breeding grounds elsewhere. Shoveler ducks have been spotted on the Aird Meadow (3 drakes and 2 females) - surface feeding birds with impressive spatulate bills, a small number will breed in the UK, but this species is more widespread in the UK during the winter months. Great crested grebe pairs have also been spotted on both the Aird Meadow and Barr lochs displaying courting behaviour.
Shoveler ducks on the Aird meadow
The scrape has again been a good place to spot many different bird species this month, with, in particular, large numbers of curlew coming in to roost. In the past curlew would be found breeding across Britain in meadows, marshes, and arable fields but sadly the UK’s breeding population has halved in the last 25 years. Despite this the UK is home to around a quarter of the world’s breeding pairs in spring and summer which means the UK plays a crucial part in the future of curlew conservation efforts.
A major highlight for waders this month was on the 29th of March when 5 black tailed godwits landed on the scrape, clearly coming into their rusty red breeding plumage. These birds are almost certainly on on migration, as very few pairs breed in the UK. Ringed plover have also been spotted , small wading birds with a distinctive black band around their eyes and orange legs. Ringed plovers are very intelligent and when nesting they have been known to fake a broken wing to draw predators away from their chicks while the chicks will sit and hide until the coast is clear.
Black tailed godwit
Chiffchaff have been both seen and heard around the trails this month, the arrival of this small, dainty warbler is a good indication that spring has arrived. They are readily distinguished by their unique song which gives the chiffchaff its name. This also helps to tell them apart from other similar warblers such as willow warblers. The first osprey of the year arrived over the Aird meadow loch on the 27th of March - these spectacular birds of prey have long wings and white underparts which can be easily seen when they are in flight. Fish make up almost all of an osprey’s diet and they catch their prey by snatching them in a shallow dive into the surface of the water. Ospreys are also one of the world's most widely distributed bird species as they breed throughout much of North America, Northern Europe, Asia, and the coast of Australia.
Osprey flying over the reserve, photograph taken by Richard Bennett in August 2021
Other sightings this month include large numbers of pink footed geese flying overhead, large numbers of common snipe on the scrape, and greenshank and redshank adding to the wader spectacle. Little grebe have been visible on the Aird meadow loch around the mouth of the new channel into the fen, and the first sand martins of the year appeared on the 25th.
Little grebe, photograph by Richard Bennett