It's certainly been a wet few days at Minsmere, as elsewhere in the country, and it pays to keep an eye on any approaching black clouds before deciding to move on to the next hide as showers continue ot rattle through on a regular basis. Some of them are pretty heavy too.
Storm clouds over the North Wall recently
It paid to keep your eyes to the skies for another reason yesterday as three different large birds were spotted over the reedbed during the morning: an osprey was seen twice over Island Mere and Eastbridge; a red kite passed over Island Mere again; and a pomarine skua did a couple of circuit over both the Scrape and Island Mere. The latter is a particularly notable record, as skuas are generally only spotted passing by offshore, and rarely offer good views to visitors.
It's been a little quieter today, but we've had another sighting of the red kite, as well as the more typical marsh harriers, bitterns and hobby at Island Mere.
A red kite by Ben Hall (rspb-images.com)
Not to be outdone, there's been some good birds on the Scrape over the last few days too, although you may have check carefully and patiently to find some of them. The little gull flock on South Scrape has fluctuated between about 20 and 50 birds, with one or two Mediterranean and yellow-legged gulls seen on East Scrape. Both arctic and black terns have been among the common terns, as well as the odd Sandwich tern.
The rainfall has caused a notable rise in water levels on the Scrape, resulting in a slight redistribution of waders, with South Scrape often stealing the limelight. A little stint was seen there yesterday, alongside 13 dunlins, four knot and five ringed plovers, plus the odd spotted redshank. An oystercatcher chick is still being fed close to the hide, while several fledged redshanks can be seen on the Konik Field. For green and common sandpipers and greenshanks it's often best to try the Wildlife Lookout, while avocets and black-tailed godwits favour East Scrape. At least one little ringed plover is still present too.
Don't forget the ducks too. Althoguh harder to identify at this time of year as they lose their bright colours during the annual moult, you may be able to see mallards, gadwalls, teals and shovelers on the Scrape. the mallards and shelducks still have ducklings too - though they are now well grown. At Island Mere look out for the great crested and little grebes too.
Despite the rain there's still a good variety of insects to spot too. Dragonflies include common and ruddy darters, southern hawkers and black-tailed skimmers. Large whites and gatekeepers are the most numerous butterflies, but look out for painted ladies, red admirals and peacocks as well as the odd white admiral on the buddleias near the visitor centre. There's numerous species of hoverlflies and bees too, and the bee-wolfs are always popular in the North Bushes.
Don't forget to look at our flowers too. Delicate pink marsh mallows line the path to the sluice, purple tufted vetch climbs through the reed edge and impressively tall yellow marsh sow-thistles tower above the reeds, while on the beach look for pink restharrow and deep blue sheep's-bit.
Restharrow and sea holly in the dunes.
Fantastic sightings! Limpy was very excited about the osprey, as you can imagine.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.