The frosty mornings and bright sunshine over the weekend signalled the start of winter, and with it the arrival of more wild swans. Last week's family of Bewick's swans have been joined by an additional five birds, with eight Bewick's now commuting between Island Mere and East Scrape.
It may have been a false dawn though, as autumn well and truly returned today with a typical dull, dreary November day providing little incentive to brave the elements. For those who did, though, there was plenty to see, quite apart from the delightful Bewick's swans. The ducks and lapwings on the Scrape may not have looked quite so splendid in the absence of the sun, but the lack of glare can also be a godsend when trying to spot smaller birds on the Scrape such as dunlins and snipe. Indeed, the wader count over the last couple of days has bee pretty good for late November, with up to 40 dunlins, three knots, five turnstones, several redshanks and a grey plover as well as seven late avocets and the more typical snipe, lapwings, curlews and black-tailed godwits.
The weather certainly wasn't a deterrent to the reedbed birds either, with regular sightings of bitterns, bearded tits, kingfishers and marsh harriers. No otters were reported by our guides today, but they were certainly active yesterday. Water rails, too, are regular, and my wife and I were treated to incredibly close views at East Hide on Saturday.
Water rail by Pete Etheridge
The most unexpected sightings during our visit on Saturday were undoubtedly the three swallows and one house martin that were catching insects around the car park entrance. Whilst not unprecedented, they were certainly the latest of either species that I have seen int he UK. At least the winter sun had brought a few midges out on Saturday. I'm not sure what the house martin would have found to eat today, but it was still present over the North Bushes at lunchtime!
Of course, there are still plenty of reasons to visit us, even on a dull late autumn day. Surely the delicious cheese scones, bacon butties, soups and cakes are enough to tempt you to our cafe. Perhaps you need to do a bit of early Christmas shopping, or top up the bird feeders. If you do, then you might like to come along this weekend for our Festive Fun weekend. We'll have warm spiced apple juice to welcome you, and we may even do a spot of carol singing.
Whilst in the visitor centre, you can also sit and relax and look out onto our feeders. Among the familiar blue, great and coal tits, chaffinches, greenfinches, robins, dunnocks and grey squirrels, you may be lucky enough to spot something a bit more unusual. Perhaps a great spotted woodpecker will drop in for a snack, or a treecreeper will play hide and seek in the adjacent trees. This is also a good opportunity to tick off one of our 70 species to spot too, as the feeders are often visited by two or three marsh tits, looking very dapper with the black caps and small black bibs.
Marsh tit by Christine Hall
What will you see this week?