Recent sightings and photos - Friday 2nd October from volunteer Phil
On first arriving at Nettley’s Hide in the morning the first impression was of large number of geese moving in and taking over. I estimated there to be about 300 Canada geese and 100+ greylags. Then I became aware of my first wigeon of the autumn with good numbers visible – perhaps 100 with some teal and a few mallard mixed in. I scanned for any sign of waders but apart from a few lapwing nothing to be seen despite regular recent sightings of dunlin, green sandpiper and ruff. Surely they couldn’t have all moved on already?
A closer inspection of the geese revealed a few unusual specimens. First was a single barnacle goose, much further south than I would normally expect to see one. Discussion centred around the possibility of it having escaped from a collection but there was no way of telling.
There were also 2 unusual looking geese which I wondered whether they could be Canada goose / greylag hybrids as this does happen from time to time. One was mostly white but with a bright orange bill just like a greylag. Another was just like a Canada goose but with an unusually white head.
A marsh harrier appeared briefly and a kestrel flew over. A flock of pied wagtails could be seen poking around in the mud but there was little else of interest. That is until shortly after I’d moved on when I heard my colleague Keith radio to report that a weasel had just chased a water rail out of the reeds right in front of the hide. And earlier a visitor had shown me a photo he’d taken of a kingfisher in front of Winpenny Hide. There have been several kingfisher sightings in the last 2 weeks but not by me – some people have all the luck!
Gradually progressing around the trail to Winpenny Hide I was keeping an eye out for spotted flycatchers which had been prominent on my previous visit, but none were to be seen, leaving me to think that they must have moved on until next year. Arriving in the hide I searched in vain for any sign of yellow wagtails which had been seen regularly there for the last few weeks, so concluded that they had most likely moved on south.
I had one final go at the yellow wagtails later from West Mead hide. On arrival I found the bovine equivalent of the geese at Nettley’s – a large herd right in front of the hide.
The wagtails are often seen feeding off insects attracted to cattle, so surely this herd would bring in a few birds but there were none to be seen, reinforcing my earlier suspicion.
There were still plenty dragonflies to be seen around the trail, including reduced number of migrant hawkers but with common darter quite prevalent - this female seen near Winpenny Hide
Sitting outside the Visitor Centre café at the end of the afternoon I couldn’t help noticing the large flock of goldfinches, 100+, feeding on Upperton’s field particularly on the thistles. Occasionally they would perch on one of the fences in a row rather like swallows gathering before the autumn migration.
Goldfinches can be seen on the reserve all through the year but not usually in quite such large numbers suggesting that a flock has recently moved in.
Before moving on home I took a walk down through Black Wood to Hail’s View to see if I could see any sign of previously absent waders on the South Brooks. There were several more lapwing there than I’d seen earlier and some other waders just too far away to identify. On the way back however I was pleased to see a marsh tit – something I’d not seen for a few months. The main impression however is that autumn is now just beginning to work its colour magic and with the beautiful light cast by the low sun this provided a perfect end to another glorious sunny day