The breeding season on Otmoor this year has been amazing and this was highlighted again today when we found another three fledged snipe. This brings the total found on the reserve this year to 15, loads better than any years previously. Snipe are very secretive and very well camouflaged, with a fondness for muddy, wet areas with long vegetation. Otmoor is the only place in Oxfordshire and the surrounding counties holding onto a breeding population of snipe.
Like most wading birds the females lay four eggs. When they hatch she looks after two of the young whilst the male raises the other two. Apparently because the male doesn’t help incubate the eggs and has instead spent his time lazing around, he has more energy and so can put more effort into feeding his chicks rather than himself, this means his chicks grow quicker than those raised by the female.
Finding the young fledged snipe involved dragging a rope backwards and forwards across the fields, it sounds crude and due to the fact our rope could be used for pulling an aircraft carrier, it is exhausting, but it works really well and doesn’t cause any harm to nests or young. It means you can cover a wide area and with a couple of spotters looking out for where the snipe fly up from it proves to be an effective monitoring technique for these sneaky, skulking birds. The rope dragging also threw up a few other exciting finds in the form of a very smelly tufted duck nest, lots of fledged lapwings and a few family parties of redshank.
Photos below; sadly no photos of the snipe, but instead... 1.) rope dragging, 2.) juvenile lapwing, 3.) two recently fledged lapwings feeding on either edge of a footdrain.
The glossy ibis is still being regularly seen on the reserve, with the north east corner of the Closes field being the best spot (if you stand and look at the bird feeders, this area is directly behind you). The marsh harrier was flying around today and the two turtle doves were still purring happily. We also saw our first painted lady butterfly of the year, an amazing butterfly which migrates to Europe from north Africa.