When the radio crackled into life with news of the first sightings of the day, they announcement was almost (!) as much of a surprise as the recent records of bee-eaters and an albatross. Bearing in mind the date (23 July), the report of seven brent geese flying south was unexpected. We wouldn't usually expect the first brent geese to appear until the first week of September. To arrive this early suggests that they may have had a poor breeding season in the Arctic.
Many of our other wildlife highlights at present are also heading south from the Arctic, or at least farther north in Europe, having either finished or failed breeding. Waders dominate on the Scrape, with counts today including 120 dunlins, two knots, three little ringed plovers, 36 black-tailed godwits, five ruffs, a common sandpiper, seven spotted redshanks and a greenshank. Add in more than 200 avocets and it's looking pretty good on the Scrape. There are also 42 little gulls and at least one of each of Caspian, Mediterranean and yellow-legged gulls (with bigger counts usually possible at dusk), as well as two Sandwich and lots of common terns.
Little gull by Jon Evans
At Island Mere highlights included a kingfisher, three otters, bitterns and marsh harriers, including several juveniles.
Elsewhere, the water vole was again seen at the pond, and a white admiral was in the cafe picnic area. There are good numbers of painted ladies on the buddleias, and an impressive variety of butterflies in general. A hummingbird hawkmoth was seen yesterday. Pick of the dragonflies today was a banded demoiselle near the South Hide - they've been scarce on the reserve this year.
Among the many flowers on the reserve at the moment, one of my favourites is the marsh mallow, with its pale pink flowers and soft, velvety leaves. It's a common plant along the path from Wildlife Lookout to the sluice - though nationally it has a relatively restricted distribution.
marsh mallow by Ian Barthorpe
Finally, a reminder that the consultation on the future of two important pieces of European nature conservation legislation closes tomorrow. If you haven't done so already, please join almost half a million people across Europe who have expressed their support for our campaign to ensure that the Birds Directive and Habitats Directive are not weakened during this review. It's really easy to do so, as we've already answered the questions for you. Please go to http://www.rspb.org.uk/joinandhelp/campaignwithus/defendnature/ today to add your voice.