In February we were privileged to have excellent views of the Tawny Owl adult roosting in the trees around the discovery area. As hoped they did nest in the box and many of you would have been following there exploits on the various blogs over the last few months. The baby ‘s finally showed their faces as eager birdwatches looked on. All three young successfully branched and promptly disappeared in to the undergrowth. The attention now turns to the Kestrels who will hatch soon.
Spring brings a flurry of birding activity with birds moving up from Africa to take advantage of the “warm” British summer. The sporadic weather especially the temperatures has resulted in the stop/start spring but everything that is expected has now arrived and the reserve is filled with the spring bird song. Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroats, Blackcaps, Reed and Sedge Warblers have all set up territories. Other species use the reserve as refuel stops. Wheatear, Whinchat, Swifts and Sand Martins have all moved through.
Whinchat
On the scrapes Avocets and Little Ringed Plover have established their spots. Out in the Harbour on the Pagham side the Gull/Tern Colony has grown again with over 500 Black-Headed Gull, 50+ Sandwich Tern and 14 Mediterranean Gulls are making good use of our new fence, but as with last year the Little Tern are using other areas. A Black Tern on passage made a welcome addition to the selection of seabirds.