Lesley joined our guided walk earlier this month and said, "We had a great time. We couldn't believe how much there was to see. We are beginners to bird watching but Jay is really quite knowledgable and yet we all got a lot out of the session. We'll certainly keep our eyes open for more of the same & look forward to exploring the marsh on our own, but armed with our new expertise. - so thank you so much."…

What a gorgeous morning we've had today; the sky was blue, the water in the bay dead still making it easy to spot the great northern diver and the birds were singing all across the marsh.  Whilst standing on the railway bridge watching the nesting herons we could hear blackcaps, dunnocks and Cetti's warber singing.  Whilst walking along the seafront we saw little egret, snipe and teal still hanging around but when…

It was a beautiful sunny morning on the marsh today, made even more special for two early birds who saw otters splashing around. Paul and Dave were standing in the viewing area on the seafront when they suddenly caught sight of an otter in the water soon followed by two other otters. The three of them played around before disappearing into the reeds. Later on, Tony was out litter picking and he saw three adders basking…

With the wind turning to the east, a few birds are starting to arrive and Wednesday, 26th March was our busiest so far in terms of spring migrants. Sand Martins numbered around 100 on this day and were joined by four swallows and our first House Martin of the year. Common Buzzards were much in evident, displaying high overhead and one lucky observer saw a Red Kite pass through. The latter was once a very rare bird here…

Well thank goodness the floods have gone! In the photo attached, the public footpath is about three feet under water and indistinguisable from the river adjacent. This was due to a combination of heavy rain and high spring tides forcing seawater up river into the reserve...we spent an age taking out all the plastic rubbish that came in with it after the water receeded. March has started quietly on the migration-front…

The recent storms are playing havoc with our waterbirds on the marsh and in the Bay opposite with hurricane-force winds and driving rain making for really unpleasant conditions for all. However, on the bright side we have seen an influx of unusual species turning up, gulls in particular and in the last week the reserve has played host to an adult and immature Glaucous Gull from Iceland and an adult Kumlien's Gull from…

Although we have occasional reports of Otters being seen on the reserve, they are few and far between and usually only involve one or two individuals. Today, however, whilst driving past Longrock Pool I pulled over to see what looked like two animals swimming across the water and diving. Yesterday there had been a report of two otters here catching eels and crabs so I was not particularly surprised when these two turned…

We have a surprise visitor on the reserve at the moment in the form of an adult Great Northern Diver. This high arctic species usually frequents the adjacent waters in Mount's Bay at this time of year but yesterday, 21st October, one turned up on the nature reserve and it is still there today giving the most amazing close-up views of what is usually just a speck on the distant sea. It has been seen feeding there on crabs…

Marazion Marsh appears to be one of the top sites for Citrine Wagtails in the south west so we were not altogether surprised when one turned up on 23rd August. It stayed 3 days (it may still be here but wasn't seen yesterday) and was our sixth record. Apart from an adult 16th-21st May 2002 all have been immature birds and this year's arrival is a classic date for this Asian species. Previous records have been 19 Sept…

Every autumn we set mist nets in the reedbeds and other marsh vegetation in the hope of trapping an Aquatic Warbler or two, juveniles of which were once regular here. Sadly this globally endangered species is still decreasing so we make an effort each year to see if they are still passing through.  You need to be very lucky indeed to spot one as you are walking around and in fact the one trapped last year and the two in…

On 17th July, Christine Moore stumbled across a female Scarce Chaser, Libellula fulva near the front of the marsh.  This is an incredibly rare sighting and is believed to be the first documented record for Cornwall! Fortunately Christine took a photograph of it and the record has already been confirmed  by the British Dragonfly Society.

Although we haven't seen it since there are still lots of other dragonflies around…

June appears to have been quite a good month on the whole for our wetland breeding birds. I ought to say, passerines excluded as I doubt the warblers have fared very well, there are so few insects this year following the last two wet summers. Broods of Moorhens, Mallard, Grey Heron are about the place and seem to have done well. The pair of Gadwall mentioned earlier stayed until mid-June but don't appear to have produced…

Okay so I know it has been cold...but the birds have been great. A North American Lesser Yellowlegs graced the front of the reserve for two days early on (2nd & 3rd ) and commanded a lot of interest, even from hardened birders.  This species is rare enough in autumn but a spring bird is exceptional and as such the first adult (autumn birds are almost always juveniles) most of us had ever seen on this side of the Atlantic…

I would say "has arrived" but I said that back in March and then it disappeared!  The last few days have seen a welcome increase in bird numbers to the reserve with all the warblers now in: Reed, Sedge, Blackcap and Willow in addition to our resident Cetti's and Chiffchaffs. Hirundines too are back in good numbers with 250 Swallows, 16 House Martins and 80 Sand Martins yesterday.  Mind you they still don't…

In my blog last month I raised our concerns about helicopter disturbance over the reedbeds here (see my Hayle Estuary blog for more on this).  Well I'm very happy to say that following a meeting yesterday with the local Air Station, RNAS Culdrose, we have reached an agreement.  They are to instruct their squadrons not to continue to fly over the two nature reserves in future.  Whilst this may be too late this year for…

March has been a bit of a mixture with only a couple of  warm, sunny days so far. As I write today, 14th March, winter appears to have returned and it was snowing again when I left the house this morning. We did experience a mini influx of "summer" migrants at one point when 5 Sand Martins turned up on 10th with 10 next day. A Swallow also put in a brief appearance on the latter date but nobody has seen these birds since…

I said four days ago that our four Bitterns had not been seen for a while and with only one bird seen regularly over the last couple of weeks, we assumed they had moved on. Not so!  Yesterday all four put on quite a display from the viewing area on the seafront with birds flying up and down over the reedbeds throughout the day. Perhaps the better weather had encouraged them out - or perhaps, judging by the number of observers…

Now that February is here we are expecting the reedbed-nesting Grey Herons to start nest-building any day but at the moment we are grateful the cold weather seems to be delaying this, enabling us to continue with our winter reedbed management across the site - mostly clearing invasive willow scrub.

There have been up to four Bitterns this winter but only one appears to be seen regularly at present. Wildfowl numbers have…

As often happens at this time of year, the huge numbers of Starlings that we enjoy in November start to disappear; we are never sure why but it may be something to do with the fact that the weight of so many individuals per reedstem and the consequent flattening and finally breaking of so much of the reedbed area, coupled with the rising water levels may be connected! We suspect they have found somewhere higher and dryer…

Following my post 12 days ago I can confirm the Starlings are still here - and increasing in numbers.  At the weekend we estimated 200,000 birds coming into roost in the reedbeds at dusk.  On Saturday night they were even joined by a Swallow!  Oh and the Bittern is still here, if very elusive.  Our work party of volunteers saw it flying over the reedbed north of the railway line today. As mentioned before, there are some…

Over the last few days the numbers of Starlings coming in to roost in the reedbeds at Marazion Marsh have increased dramatically and we now reckon there may be 30,000 birds involved.  This is still only a handful compared to the 2-3 million that used to be found firteen plus years ago but sadly this is a reflection of the demise of the European population over this period.  Our own British Starlings largely declined before…

After the excitement of 6th October with the seven Glossy Ibises and seven Red-rumped Swallows, things have returned to normal!  The seven Glossy Ibises may still be in west Cornwall, however, as four birds continue to be seen in the Sennen area and a couple have been found at Carn Euny, Sancreed with a single bird seen sporadically at a number of places - including back on the marsh here on 16th October.  The Red-rumps were…

We've had a particularly exciting autumn at Marazion Marsh this year.  It has probably been one of the best for catching up with Spotted Crake, as mentioned in my earlier blog, with up to three birds and one on show for 40 days.  They appear to have left now but this last weekend  has been just amazing with the arrival of 7 Red-rumped Swallows and 7 Glossy Ibis! Unfortunately the Ibis only flew over (on Saturday, 6th…

As of 28th August we still have the juvenile Spotted Crake that our volunteer ringer, Margaret Rawlins trapped on 14th August.  As it was first sighted on 11th August, it has been present at least 18 days now and is reported most days - when visitors have the patience to wait long enough! It has now been joined by an adult (since 25th) and although they can both be elusive, an early morning visit seems to be the best time…

Photo of juvenile Aquatic Warbler at Marazion Marsh 12th August 2012. Photo courtesy Paul Freestone.

Right on cue, the weekend 11th & 12th August produced our first Aquatic Warbler (trapped and ringed Sunday morning) and Spotted Crake of the autumn. Last year the volunteer ringers caught two Aquatics but no Spotted Crakes were discovered so lets hope these birds are the first of a flurry. The Crake was found in one…