Orchid Extravaganza

15 Jun 2021

Recent Sightings from 7^th to 13^th June

This week has seen a purple explosion on our site as the orchids bloom. The southern marsh orchids are leading the pack, with hundreds of them popping up amongst the reeds all-round the reserve. The vivid colour of the orchids, combined with other wildflowers such as grass vetchling and buttercups, really show that summer has arrived. We also have a few bee orchids coming out around the reserve, these are rare and spectacular orchids worth keeping an eye out for. We have five species of orchid on the site although the marsh helleborine and pyramidal are yet to be seen.

Photo credit - Southern marsh orchid (Chloe Coker)

Photo credit - Bee orchid (Chloe Coker)

The abundance of wildflowers makes the area a haven for bees. There is a constant buzz along the path, and our star species, the shrill carder bee, is frequently spotted among early and buff/white-tailed bumble bees. Speaking of buzzing, dragonflies are darting more frantically across our lagoons, a sure sign that summer has arrived. Broad-bodied and four-spot chasers are the most common.

Butterflies are also becoming a common site around the reserve with peacock, small tortoise shell, common blue and speckled woods to be seen the list of butterflies is growing each week.

Photo credit - Speckled wood butterfly on nettles (Jeremy White)

As this has been a bug heavy blog, we thought we would continue that theme with a stunning picture of a thick-legged flower beetle taken by Beth on one of her lunch time walks.

Photo credit - Thick- legged flower beetle on buttercups (Beth Lewis)

Some oddities of this week are reported sightings of a kingfisher, a garganey and a spotted flycatcher for the first time this year! The kingfisher is not an unusual sighting over water, but it is not often reported here. What was reported often this week was the bittern! Seen by one couple five times and then reported three more times that day. Clearly on a mission.

In some good news the otter has been spotted this week.

This week's sightings:

Bittern, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cetti's Warbler, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Common Whitethroat, Coot, Cormorant, Cuckoo, Curlew, Dunnock, Garganey, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw ,Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Lesser Whitethroat, Linnet, Little Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine Falcon, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, Robin, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Spotted Flycatcher, Stonechat, Swallow, Swift, Tufted Duck, Whimbrel, Woodpigeon, Wren.

Rudd, Wolf Spider, Zebra Jumping Spider, Thick-Legged Flower Beetle, Red Headed Cardinal Beetle, Shrill Carder Bee, Buff/White-Tailed Bumblebee, Common Carder Bumblebee, Early Bumblebee, Common Blue Butterfly, Large White Butterfly, Peacock Butterfly, Speckled Wood Butterfly, Tortoiseshell Butterfly, Azure Damselfly, Blue Tailed Damselfly, Broad-Bodied Chaser Dragonfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Emperor Dragonfly, Four Spot Chaser, Helophilus Pendulus Tiger Hoverfly, Marmalade Hoverfly, Cinnabar Moth, Drinker Moth, Latticed Heath Moth, Oak Eggar Moth, Otter, Stoat, Bee Orchid, Southern Marsh Orchid.

Chloe Coker

Please note that we take our recent sightings list from the visitor sightings board that anyone can contribute to. This is great as everyone can get involved, but obviously can lead to potential errors too as they aren’t always verified! We try to keep this list as accurate as possible but if you see something unusual feel free to comment here!

Visitor Information

The car park is open 9am to 5pm and the charge is £3.00. Please pay (cash or card) at the welcome hut. There is no charge for RSPB members, please remember to bring your membership card to collect a free car parking token. The visitor centre is open for access to toilets (9am-5pm) cafe and shop (10am-4pm) and access to the reserve is via the Perry Lane gate by the welcome hut. The play area is closed. Dog walking is permitted on the dog walking route only (follow the signs) and please have dogs on leads at all times as there are ground nesting birds and wildlife all over the reserve. Thank you.