In the last week we seem to have been constantly battered by storms, peaking on Thursday (15th). Heavy rain and hailstorms have caused water levels to rise considerably meaning the access road has been flooded and several fields are now saturated. Thankfully we have not witnessed the same scenes as last January when tidal surges caused major flooding and destroyed a lot of the sand dunes.
It’s not been the nicest of weeks to be out and about, however the birds generally don’t seem to mind too much. They may try and find a sheltered area to sit the storms out but they must also continue to find food. Ducks love shallow muddy water to feed in and the recent rain has created some great feeding opportunities in the form of flooded fields full of winter crops. 100’s of Teal and Pintail have been taking advantage of this along with many Mallard, Wigeon and the many Barnacle Geese on the reserve.
Ruff (Photo Credit: Gavin Chambers)
A Ruff was discovered last weekend (10th) in a field along Rainbow Lane feeding among 500 Lapwing, 3 Redshank and 11 Dunlin and has been present all week. Ruff generally tend to be seen during the Spring and Autumn migration with a few remaining through the winter and more often than not associating with Lapwing. A Little Egret has been seen a couple of times over the last few weeks, last seen flying off the merse on the 13th.
Other sightings have included a Merlin chasing Skylarks, 12 Stock Doves feeding in wild bird cover, a few Goldcrest along hedgerows and a small flock of around 10 Long-tailed Tits flitting around the woodlands. Water Rail have been quite vocal around the Meida Hide in flooded areas of woodland, though as yet they have not been seen!
Anagram 2/12
Some of you may have seen on our Facebook page that a series of anagrams have been put out on the reserve. The first of these anagrams was posted on the page and now is time to reveal the second anagram. To make it slightly trickier I’ve not removed the snow, though I will tell you that the answer is 2 words.
Big Garden Birdwatch 2015
As many of you will know next weekend is the Big Garden Birdwatch. For details on how to take part in this survey along with thousands of other people across the UK, click HERE. Here at Mersehead we are running a couple of events related to watching birds in the garden.
On the 24th January there is a Garden Bird Identification Course where you will be able to learn more about your typical garden birds and more importantly how to best identify them.
On the 25th January we have a Help Feed the Birds event where you will be able to make your own bird food and learn about what birds would like to feed on in your garden.