Migrating birds are still passing through the moor at the moment on their way to their breeding grounds. I saw four hobbies hunting for large insects over the reedbed yesterday and a wheatear was hopping around out on the Ashgrave field, proudly showing off it’s prominent white rump as it flew from tussock to tussock. We were also lucky enough to see a greenshank on the lagoon on Ashgrave, as well as three ringed plover and a lone little-ringed plover. These latter 2 species can at first glance be tricky to tell apart but with careful observation, you can pick out distinguishing features such as the eye ring of the little-ringed plover and the orange legs and bill of the ringed plover.
The lagoon was teaming with lots of small insects and flies yesterday, perfect food for wading birds that feed round the muddy edges of the shallow water features we have created and which we continually manage on the reserve. We even found a rather impressive chironomid specimen, these blood worms are the larvae of non-biting midges a key food for the wading birds and their chicks... so the swarms of flying creatures on the reserve can be annoying when you have to walk through them, but they provide an essential food source for the lapwing chicks when they hatch out.