Colour is theme that I come back to regularly in this blog, with good reason. Nature is full of colour, especially in the spring when birds are in their breeding finery, butterflies and dragonflies are emerging, and flowers are blooming throughout the reserve. Colour also features prominently in the names of many of our species, including a few of the rarer species that have been seen this week.
Probably the rarest bird of the week was a Black Kite that flew north over the Work Centre one morning. This is an overshooting migrant that has drifted a little too far north and west from its usual migration route to central Europe. The is true of another rare visitor that has proved frustratingly difficult to spot. A Purple Heron has been present on the South Levels all week, but has only been seen very briefly in flight once or twice per day, so has eluded most birdwatchers.
Spotting the Purple Heron has been made even harder by the presence of several Grey Herons feeding in the same pools and ditches, where both Little and Great (AKA Great White) Egrets can also be seen.
Waders, too, have colourful names, including Redshank, Greenshank, Green Plover (better known as Lapwing), Grey Plover and Black-tailed Godwit which have all been seen this week. So too, have Dunlin, Sanderling, Knot, Turnstone, Bar-tailed Godwit and both Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers. There were two Temminck's Stint last weekend, too. Many of these waders are in their full breeding colours ready for their arrival on breeding grounds further north. This Grey Plover, example, was possibly the brightest one that I've ever seen, and obligingly fed right next to South Hide.
Of course, the most popular wader for most of our visitors is the Avocet, and we're pleased to report that the first chicks of the year were spotted yesterday. These beautifully patterned black-and-white birds may not have a colour in their name, but when seen wheeling around against a clear blue, as in David Naylor's photo (below), they look simply stunning.
Many of the other birds on the Scrape are also largely black-and-white, including Shelducks, Little, Common and Sandwich Terns, hundreds of nesting Black-headed Gulls and a handful of Herring, Great and Lesser Black-backed and Mediterranean Gulls. The literal translation of the latter's Scientific name is "Black-headed Gull", reflecting their jet-black head, in contrast to the chocolate-brown of the Black-headed Gull (as seen in David Naylor's photo of a Black-headed Gull carrying nesting material).
The colour theme is perhaps most evident among our insects, one of the most obvious of which this week has been the beautiful day-flying moth called a Silver Y. Like many of our birds, this moth is a migrant, and weather conditions this week have obviously been perfect for a large influx to the East Coast. I even watched one flying in the rain yesterday.
Among the butterflies on the wing this week are Red Admiral, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Green Hairstreak, Common and Holly Blue and Brown Argus, while dragonflies include Black-tailed Skimmer, Large Red Damselfly, Common Blue and Azure Damselflies. The first Norfolk Hawker, AKA Green-eyed Hawker, of the year was spotted today too.
Norfolk Hawker by Steve Everett
Our dragonflies regularly fall prey to hunting Hobbies, which continue to be seen regularly from Bittern and Island Mere Hides, but they're not the only predators keen to feast on dragonflies. Visitors to Bittern Hide this week were treated to some amazing views of a couple of Bitterns catching dragonflies by plucking them from reed stems. In fact, it's a brilliant time of year to spot Bitterns, with some males still indulging in courtship flights and chasing females around the reedbed, while other females already have young and and are doing their feeding flights.
Hobby chasing fly by David Naylor
Elsewhere around the reedbed, the Marsh Harriers are easy to spot as they patrol the reeds looking for food, while Reed, Sedge and Cetti's Warblers are easier to hear than see. Bearded Tits are now feeding young and becoming easier to find, and Reed Buntings continue to sing from more prominent perches.
In the woods and scrubby areas, where butterflies and dragonflies can be easiest to spot, look out (and listen) for warblers such as Blackcap, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Garden Warbler and Chiffchaff, while Nightingales continue to sing from the car park entrance and North Hide area. Green Woodpeckers are quite vocal at the moment, but not always easy to spot, and Great Spotted Woodpeckers continue to visit the feeders regularly.
It's also been a good day for mammal sightings. As well as the regular Red Deer, Muntjac, Rabbit and Grey Squirrel sightings, our guides have reported Stoat at Bittern Hide and Otter at Island Mere (very early morning), while many visitors have enjoyed close view of a foraging Pygmy Shrew behind reception this afternoon. We also watched a Mole burrowing in this area, though the mammal itself refused to emerge above ground.
Finally, on the colour theme again, don't forget to enjoy the wonderful flowers that are now in full bloom,, from yellow Gorse and Yellow Flag to pink Southern Marsh Orchids and Ragged Robin, white Hawthorn and Cow Parsley of carpets of red Sheep's Sorrel.