Volunteer Phil reports on his sightings from Friday...
"Where are all the birds? This was a question asked by 2 different visitors on the day. My reply was that if they wanted to see lots of birds then winter is the best time to visit for the large flocks of wintering wildfowl and black tailed godwits, but there is still much wildlife of interest here in summer.
For example there is still a lot of birdsong to be enjoyed even if the birds can’t always be seen. Yesterday I particularly noticed whitethroat, greenfinch, song thrush and blackbird but never saw one.
So with small birds keeping out of sight in the trees and bushes more my attention turns to other wildlife. For example several butterflies could be seen such as Speckled Wood, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell and Painted Lady. Walking down by the blackthorns at the side of the zigzags several cinnabar moths were showing off their scarlet colours, more evident on the hindwings in flight. Its worth noting here a new sighting for me last week – a small magpie moth found in Nettley’s Hide.
Reaching the bottom of the zigzags a single Common Spotted Orchid was to be seen amongst all the other wildflowers. I’m more used to seeing this in profusion on chalk grassland near home so it was interesting to see a solitary one here. On examining the photo I was amazed to see a green caterpillar on the stem but have not been able to identify this.
In front of Winpenny Hide a few Banded Demoiselle damselflies were flitting around the long grasses on the other side of the ditch. These look black when you see them flying but on closer inspection turn out to be a lovely deep blue colour. There were also the much smaller and lighter blue Azure Damselfies in front of Nettleys Hide.
But for the patient there are still birds to be seen. For example a small family of moorhen chicks were visible from Winpenny Hide as was a skylark which kept rising briefly and then settling back into the grasses.. Seen from Nettley’s Hide a large family of shelduck chicks seem to have grown enormously in the last week, now being almost the same size as an adult lapwing standing next to them. Coming back up the slope from the hide a pair of bullfinches were flitting around by the path. I also spotted a nightingale in Adder Alley - always good to see, even if the best of the singing season is now over.
So visitors shouldn’t be put off by the apparent lack of birds. There are plenty of birds here but you have to be patient to find many of them and there is a lot of other interesting wildlife to enjoy as well as the lovely peaceful landscape."