Thanks to volunteer Phil for another brilliant report - recent sightings 03/11/17
On a moist and misty morning I set out down the Zigzag Path rueing the poor visibility and making for West Mead where I thought I would most likely have the best chance of seeing some birds. Despite the gloom my mood was lightened by the fascinating sight of a plethora of spider webs being picked out by the heavy dew.
Some of these webs were the classic orb shape.
Some were a rather formless mass of silk.
Others bore a passing resemblance to a hanging basket.
Most interesting of all was the one I discovered later near Winpenny which had been woven around the head of an old teasel flower.
The flower seed heads down the Zigzag path were attracting a flock of goldfinches which always brighten any scene. This photo also shows some strands of spider silk.
Several thrushes could be seen flying between the trees and I picked out my first redwings and song thrushes of the season. This song thrush was seen on the approach to West Mead hide.
Walking down the path to the hide I could hear much whistling suggesting the presence of large numbers of wigeon and on arrival I was not disappointed. It’s a long time since I have seen West Mead pool so full of birds. As well as several hundred wigeon, teal and shoveler were easy to spot, and a few pintails were present. Among this throng were many lapwings but also present was the pectoral sandpiper which has been feeding on the reserve during the last 2 weeks.
There is no way of telling whether this is one of the pair of pectoral sandpipers seen here earlier in the autumn. A pair of dunlin could also be found at the far side of the pool.
The wigeon were particularly entertaining, always gravitating from the pool to feed on the grass to the right. However, they were then frequently being spooked by some unknown presence, possibly visitors walking along the old path to Redstart Corner, and flying en masse back to the safety of the pool. This presented a real birding spectacle as seen in these photos.
With so much food around it wasn’t too surprising to see a peregrine fly across on what was not a good morning for raptors, given the poor visibility.
At Winpenny Hide, with sun gradually emerging from the mist, it was rather surprising to find a solitary tufted duck, a common diving species not often seen here because of the relatively shallow water.
The pool in front of Little Hanger is currently attracting several ducks and once again a little egret could be found. Here a wigeon was in cleaning mode, with much preening, splashing and wing flapping.
The mallard seen in this photo could also be observed completely submerging itself, presumably having a bath.
Annual maintenance work on the North Brooks has been delayed by the ground becoming too wet in the late summer rain. Recently a special tractor with caterpillar tracks has recently been hired to allow works to proceed and this is currently causing some disturbance.
As well as the usual annual control of the rushes work is currently underway to improve the ditches to help the little whirlpool ramshorn snails that live there. This is a European Protected Species, classified in the UK as Nationally Rare and Vulnerable, and is the principle reason for the reserve being designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. This brings with it obligations to look after the snails properly and work is ongoing as part of a project to improve the habitat.
To facilitate tractor access most of the water had been drained from the main pool on the North Brooks pushing the birds further away from the main viewing points. There were plenty of scattered wildfowl and lapwings to be seen distantly from the Hanger along with a small group of black tailed godwits, but it seemed likely that the disturbance had driven many of our wintering birds to West Mead.
With a little time to spare towards the end of the afternoon I returned to West Mead and was pleased to find more waders there including black tailed godwits, snipe and ruff. The latter was particularly satisfying as I have now seen ruff on every visit to the reserve this autumn. In past years they have not been ever present. With light beginning to fade I had to spend a little time satisfying myself that this was not the pectoral sandpiper but, seen in the scope, there was no doubt that the brown breast colour was fading gradually into the white underbelly, indicating a ruff.
While in Nettley’s Hide one of our visitors remarked that in recent years he had only rarely seen chaffinches on the reserve. So, to round off a very interesting day, I’m pleased to report that a chaffinch perched obligingly on a post right in front of West Mead Hide.
Other notable birds reported by visitors during the day included a small party of mistle thrushes, a solitary fieldfare and a red kite, to which I should add that a colleague reported seeing no less than 11 red kites at West Mead on Monday 30th October. Presumably they were visiting from the South Downs just a few miles away where they are now seen frequently.