These past weeks have seen the arrival of the sunnier albeit colder weather, a nice change from the rain. However, the darker skies from December didn’t necessarily mean a lack of wildlife to be seen.
We’ll start with our starlings, still murmurating well into the winter. Starlings numbers have been staying consistent in terms of there being tens of thousands of them in full murmuration most evenings. All this movement has been attracting marsh harriers, sparrowhawks, and one visitor claimed to have seen a kestrel too, all having been seen soaring around the reedbed waiting for the opportunity to dive in and try pick one of the starlings off.
Photo by Jeff Howe
Photo by Claire Fidler
Over the past few years, the starlings have been moving away from ward the end of the month, before disappearing entirely once they have finished squashing all the reeds down… Whilst we can’t pinpoint exactly where they may turn up on the reserve later into January, If any of you find yourselves out on the reserve at dusk and just so happen to see the murmuration somewhere that’s not at their usual reedbed, please do let us know.
Photo by Ieuan Evans
The reserve has seen many of its winter residents making their usual appearances. The kingfisher is still frequently visiting its usual perch over the scrape, overlooking the coots, moorhens and the occasional water rail making its way through the reeds on the far side of the water. A couple of marsh harrier have been sighted hunting over the fields behind the Scrape, these could also be seen from the path heading East on the main reserve.
The sparrowhawks are still dive-bombing the feeders outside the Kiosk occasionally looking for a meal before swooping straight down Perry Lane, briefly startling the greenfinches and goldfinches, great tits, blue tits and long-tailed tits, robins, chaffinches and the occasional dunnock. They swiftly return to the feeders once the sparrowhawk has flown off looking for a slower meal. Our cheeky pheasants are still jumping up onto the table-feeders in a very wobbly fashion, only to then be shooed away by the jay, hungry for peanuts.
Photo by Liv Davies
Bitterns have been frequently sighted soaring over the reedbeds east of the lighthouse, the bearded reedlings have been as elusive as ever although one frequent visitor did sight a female at very close range, a treat for sure, and the weasels have been spotted darting across pathways at top speed. Otters have been eluding us for some time, but one was spotted in the Lagoons on the western side of the reserve. Lapwing have been sighted alongside oystercatchers, knot and curlew down on the foreshore. Large flocks of dunlin, a few thousand strong have also been seen displaying across the mud flats.
Photo by Jeremy White
The Big Garden Birdwatch will soon be upon us! The world’s largest garden wildlife survey will be here on Friday the 26th and will run until Sunday the 28th of January. Whether you’re a seasoned birder or just starting fresh with the new year, we invite you to take part in this nation-wide survey of our wonderful garden wildlife.
Last year, the Big Garden Birdwatch saw 9.1 million birds recorded, with the House Sparrow taking the top spot at 1,401,338 recordings. Could the house sparrow take top spot again this year?
To sign up, you can join online via this link:
https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/big-garden-birdwatch
You can then download our free guide, and from there all you’d need to do to take part is to spend an hour watching the birds in your garden between the 26th and 28th, recording the ones that land, and then submit your findings online via the guide.
If you have any questions or queries about how it all works, then this link to the FAQs page might help: https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/big-garden-birdwatch/faqs
Recent sightings- December ’23:
Bittern, Blackbird, Black-headed gull, Black-tailed godwit, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Chaffinch, Collared dove, Common gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great black-backed gull, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Great white egret, Greenfinch, Grey heron, Grey plover, Greylag goose, Herring gull, House sparrow, Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lesser black-backed gull, Linnet, Little egret, Little grebe, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Meadow pipit, Moorhen, Mute swan, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied wagtail, Raven, Redshank, Redwing, Reed bunting, Robin, Shelduck, Snipe, Song thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stonechat, Teal, Tufted duck, Turnstone, Water rail, white-fronted goose, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Red admiral butterfly, Rabbit,
Recent sightings- January ’24:
Bittern, Blackbird, Black-headed gull, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Chaffinch, Collared dove, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey heron, grey plover, Greylag goose, Guillemot, Herring gull, House sparrow, Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser black-backed gull, Little grebe, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Raven, Redshank, Redwing, Reed bunting, Robin, Shelduck, Snipe, Song thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stonechat, Water rail, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren