The beautiful warm weather over the last couple of days has encouraged a wider variety of insects to emerge as adults and take their first flights - though sadly it looks as if the temperatures may be set to fall again later in the week.
Two of our volunteers were out completing their weekly butterfly transect this morning and found an impressive (for early May) eleven species: brown argus, small copper, small heath, peacock, comma, speckled wood, orange tip, brimstone, green-veined, small and large whites. An unexpected bonus this morning was a broad-bordered bee-hawkmoth seen nectaring on ground ivy close to the Whin Hill Watchpoint - it was also seen there on Friday, so might be worth looking out for this week.
Broad-bordered bee hawkmoth by Ian Barthorpe (this one was photographed on Buddleia last summer)
There's an increasing variety of dragonflies and damselflies emerging too. Large red and common blue damselflies are quite numerous, with azure and blue-tailed damselflies now on the wing. Of the dragonflies the commonest are hairy dragonflies and four-spotted chasers, but one or two southern hawkers were also seen this morning - a very early record.
I sometimes wish that computers allowed me to add smells too, as the coconut-scented gorse and the sweet scent of bluebells waft around the reserve, but you'll just have to enjoy the beautiful bluebells in this photo instead.
Bluebells by Ian Barthorpe
With all these insects around it's perhaps not surprising that numbers of swifts, swallows, sand martins and hobbies have increased this week too. Up to nine hobbies have been hawking over the reedbed, and the sand martin bank is looking very busy again.
There is still only one nightingale singing around the visitor trails (near the Springwatch studio), but several can be heard around Westleton Heath on your way into the reserve. Warblers are in good voice now though, especially sedge and garden warblers and whitethroats - and the almost ubiquitous Cetti's warblers. There was a briefly heard grasshopper warbler along the North Wall this afternoon - and an even briefer golden oriole near the Work Centre on Friday morning.
Within the reedbed, the great white egret remains and can sometimes be seen from Whin Hill. At least five different otters continue to be seen daily - the female with two cubs and two different dog otters. Bitterns are beginning to become more visible, and we expect females to start their feeding flights any time now. Marsh harriers are very active too, and bearded tits are quite showy at Island Mere (from the boardwalk) and North Wall.
The Scrape is becoming much busier with about common terns joining the increasing number of black-headed gulls and about 40 avocets. We've had 12 little terns on South Scrape today too. Among the passage waders are grey and golden plovers (the latter in full summer plumage), greenshanks, bar-tailed godwits and dunlins, while the pair of little ringed plovers reamin on West Scrape and the stone-curlews continue to show occasionally from the North Wall. Finally, at least one spoonbill remains on the South Levels.
Hobby by Oscar Dewhurst