Volunteer John recounts an enjoyable morning on the reserve leading one of our 'birding for beginners' events.
We met on the terrace where over a cup of coffee we explained how to adjust your binoculars and which bird guides to get ( RSPB British Birds and Collins). As we chatted a red kite cruised by followed by a buzzard. A nice start.
Buzzard by Graham Osborne
At the Yurt we got acquainted with blue and great tit, house sparrow and chaffinch. A wheezing greenfinch came to the feeder and a pair of bullfinch glowed nearby. We had already seen a great spotted woodpecker fly over us with its distinctive dipping flight and one posed in a tree enabling us to identify it as a female. Like all good birders we also looked behind us and there above the car park were ten buzzards and a red kite just circling around and passing the time of day mewing to each other. It looked like it was going to be a good morning!
At Fattengates we added a noisy jay, dunnock and bank vole. We had by then become nonchalant about the many chiff-chaff but it was good to see one to show off a typical ' little brown job'.
Chiffchaff by Graham Osborne
Along the Green Lane a burst of activity in the east field brought out the telescope for the first time. About 25 birds flew up into the trees and disappeared. That was the first clue. I managed to scope one and confirmed that we had found fieldfare. Very obligingly they began to drop down to the field edge so that everyone could see them. Someone noticed a bird nearer to us and, obligingly again, it was a song thrush posing to show us the contrast with it's bigger cousin.
Song thrush by Anne Harwood
As we got near the dog-leg the rooks made their presence felt and the first blackcap burst into song, rather half-heartedly as if it was still learning. From the corner we had our first sight of the north brooks which still held a good number of duck - mallard, teal, wigeon, shoveler, pintail and shelduck. In the nearest corner two waders were poking about and were soon identified by the colour of their legs. The two redshank were later joined by a similar sized wader - dark back, white underside, speckled breast, short bill and much bobbing up and down. After a quick check to see how far up the shoulder the white extended we could confirm that it was a green sandpiper.
On to the hanger where we added a brief glimpse of linnet and more bullfinch. By now our visitors were familiar with the songs of robin and wren and could distinguish the racket made by the different corvids. Things got a bit quiet for a while until we got to the Winpenny junction. There curled up in the grass was a decent-sized adder, still warming up as it made no attempt to slope off despite the close attendance of our group and other passers-by.
We glimpsed our first lapwing on the south brooks. There were none on the north. Two egyptian geese wafted over the brooks but it wasn't until we got back to the terrace that we were able to show one off through the telescope. As we plodded back a peregrine soared but just as everyone saw it it went into a power dive and disappeared at a considerable rate of knots presumably seeking it's lunch.
The group had been out for about three hours and had seen and heard 48 species of bird and an adder in that time. As we left through the shop two ladies were booking for a dawn chorus walk. I think all of our guests had enjoyed out lovely morning on the reserve.