It’s been a fruitful week!
Our wader surveys have been going well, with 29 lapwing pairs counted. That’s up on last year’s 21 pairs. Not one, not two, but nine lapwing chicks have been spotted, scuttling about between grass tussocks. The number will only rise: just yesterday, four more lapwing-shaped balls of fluff were seen. When you visit, you may see a lapwing swooping over a field, calling in alarm. Rest assured that it’ll probably be calling to its chicks, telling them to freeze while the danger passes.
Lapwing chick by Eric Neilson
The warm weather has also been a welcome change for the eggs in the natterjack spawn strings because it speeds up their development. Laid only at the weekend, they’re no longer static small black circles, but small tadpoles that wriggle in their spawn string now and then.
Our butterfly surveys are up and running. This week, we’ve seen orange tips, green-veined whites, small whites, peacocks and small tortoiseshells. Most of them are along the main track between the hides at the moment, so keep an eye out.
In the shade of the woodland, the white version of pink purslane is blanketing the understorey, interspersed with bluebells. You might see the odd hare dashing through, as we have.
There’s something to keep us occupied every day. Three little egrets were reported beyond Bruaich Hide on Wednesday and a female marsh harrier was marauding over the reedbed on Thursday.
And finally, for the second time in 50 years, an adder has been spotted at Mersehead. It was on Rainbow Lane, proving that you don’t need to stray far when you visit!
Adder by John Huges