Thanks to volunteer Phil for his report and photos
Recent Sightings Friday 14th April The Strange Tale of the Easter Bunnies
Returning on Good Friday after a holiday in the Scottish Highlands I was expecting some considerable downsizing in birds from golden eagles to warblers returning for the spring and summer. Nothing prepared me however for the strange welcome from one of our gardeners who beckoned several people over to a large concrete planter outside the classroom, apparently destined for some sunflowers.
In preparing the soil she had apparently disturbed a “mole”. When we had a good look at this creature however we discovered a baby rabbit with its eyes still unopened and crawling around aimlessly with its ears pinned back and clearly just a few days or even hours old. While wondering how on earth it had got there a little careful turning over of the soil revealed another baby rabbit and it became clear the somehow the mother must have burrowed her way into the planter to give birth and may have still been there completely hidden from view, possibly with other babies.
All thoughts of planting sunflower seeds abandoned, a discussion about what to do ensued and we decided it was best to leave them alone to take their chances. Our gardener however tried to help by putting some of the nest material that had also emerged over the rabbit to help keep it warm and more out of sight as in this photo.
It looks rather formless but you can just make out a nose, whiskers and some fur on the head.
Elsewhere on the reserve it was a day of birdsong and small birds as can be expected at this time of year. Arriving at Fattengates however I was delighted to hear some snatches of nightingale song, but 45 minutes later I moved on still unable to locate the bird. It was however seen by a visitor later on in the morning and may be our first recorded nightingale sighting of the year. In the meantime however some slightly unusual birdsong proved to be from a blue tit demonstrating that the great tit does not have a monopoly in the tit family of varying its song.
At the path junction into Fattengates a willow warbler piped up but curiously seemed to start with a snatch of chiffchaff calls. We have noticed this in the same area in past years but I couldn’t be sure it was the same bird.
At West Mead a pair of Egyptian geese could be seen on the far side of the pool staying around for quite some time.
These slightly exotic looking birds, related to the shelduck, caused much interest. They are originally from Africa, hence the name, but cropped up in collections from back into the 18th century, from where escapees gradually established a feral population, mainly in East Anglia and the South East.
There was plenty of lapwing activity, including 2 birds caught in the act of mating and a female sitting on a possible nest on the bund to the left of the pool. However beware of making assumptions because lapwings are sometimes like humans and just like sitting down!
At Redstart Corner a flash of red caught my attention, but instead of being a migrating redstart it proved to be a robin looking colourful in the midst of some spring blossom.
From Winpenny a pair of redshanks could be seen and we can reasonably hope for them to nest on the reserve. Last spring we had 3 successful redshank pairings, small numbers, but much better than none at all so a cause for modest optimism. There was more lapwing activity including a spat with some crows indicating a possible nest site nearby to defend. Also present was a beautifully patterned ruff, still apparently in winter plumage, or maybe just a first year bird not ready to breed. It seemed a little larger than the nearby redshanks suggesting a male, whereas a female would have looked a little smaller by comparison.
At the Hanger I examined every visible duck carefully through my scope in the hope of finding the garganey reported recently, but with success. However this survey did confirm that we do still have a few of most of our regular wintering species still present. The only one I couldn’t find was pintail.
At the Hanger a whitethroat was singing its rather scratchy song in the bushes in front of the viewpoint.
And down the path towards Nettley’s Hide my colleague Keith pointed out a lesser whitethroat flitting around the bushes to the right of the path.
Returning to the Visitor Centre up the Zigzag path a number of buzzards were circling nearby and I managed to photograph this one, showing a very pale band across the breast.
Finally, I must mention one of my favourite sights of spring which is the orange tip butterfly. These aptly named insects can be seen around the reserve just now providing a wonderful splash of colour. Unlike many other butterflies they only produce one brood per year so we must make the most of enjoying them before the adults disappear in June. Once you have been captivated by the vivid orange wing tips of the males take a careful look at the underneath of the hindwings which display a beautiful green camouflage like pattern.
In this photo a male orange tip is nectaring on what I think is cuckooflower, or lady’s smock, a flower of damp grassland. The butterflies do seem to have a liking for these flowers which can be seen in various places including the path from Winpenny to Adder Alley, Pig Run and Jupps View.
If you see something nearby that looks like a small white butterfly it could easily be a female orange tip rather than the more familiar “cabbage white” as they look very similar on the upper wings. They do however share the green underwing pattern with the male, so can be identified without too much trouble when perched.