On the same day last week I saw a clouded yellow butterfly and my first fieldfare of the autumn - a strange mix!
There are still plenty of insects to be seen, all enjoying the record Halloween temperatures - red admiral, brimstone, speckled wood, hornets, migrant hawkers and common darters. Also, appropriately, given it was found during our Halloween bug hunting event, a devil's coach horse beetle!
In contrast, the arrival of new visitors - the fieldfares, redwings and goldcrests - signal that we are well on the way towards winter.
Redwing by Chris Prince
Sightings over the last few days include: ruff, black-tailed godwit, snipe, water rail, wigeon, teal, pintail, shoveler ,lapwing, peregrine, kestrel, sparrowhawk, buzzard, stonechat, redwing, fieldfare, goldcrest, firecrest and bullfinch. A red breasted goose (of unknown provenance) has also been accompanying the large numbers of Canada and greylag geese.
Path work continues and over the next few weeks will include resurfacing of the zig zags leading down the hill from the visitor centre. The new route through the central fields is almost complete - this new path should enable us to complete a full circuit of the wetland trail even when we are flooded. We'll be doing some tree planting between the existing and new route to make it more interesting, create additional cover for warblers and fruit-bearing trees for the bullfinches, fieldfares and redwings. Winpenny field will be developed as a wildflower hay meadow. The ramp leading up towards Winpenny hide has also been created - just needs to dry out a little before we open up the hide again.
Diversions will be in place over the coming weeks so do make sure to chat to our team in the visitor centre who will set you off in the right direction.