World wide web?

A report on Friday's sightings from volunteer Phil:

Setting out on the trail in the morning revealed a most astonishing sight. All of the taller plants between the hedgerows down the zigzag path, and some of the hedgerow shrubs were covered in spider’s webs. I had seen nothing of these the week before but surely all these webs could not have just suddenly appeared in a huge web building orgy? The answer of course was nothing to do with a sudden spider frenzy but the magic created by a combination of a heavy overnight dew and the low angle of the sun picking out the tiny water droplets.

Now I’m no expert on spiders but I could find 3 broadly different types of web: the common circular “orb” web, a funnel shaped web, and something that I can only describe as a rather shapeless mass of silk. Doubtless an expert would be able to deduce something about the different types of spider we have from these shapes. Interestingly the webs seemed uninhabited as if they’d been used some time ago. Most likely the advancing season had forced the spiders to seek somewhere warmer. Entranced by the unusual beauty of this scene I took several photos and went on my way.

Nothing else in the day quite matched this but one particular highlight was a brief foray in front of West Mead hide by a spotted flycatcher, when last week I’d concluded that they’d all moved on. This was a timely reminder that most migratory bird species will have a few late stragglers. A grey wagtail was seen at West Mead too which was a change from the recent migrating yellow wagtails. The wigeon numbers on the pool had increased dramatically and now the typical whistling is becoming a dominant bird call to rival the honking of the Canada geese. I found my first stonechats of the season, a male and female on the fence posts beyond the pool

On the North Brooks a peregrine circled very high up without ever deciding it was sufficiently hungry to give a closer view. A great spotted woodpecker, something I’d not seen for quite some time, put in a brief appearance behind Nettley’s Hide. Two more seasonal firsts here were a pair of black tailed godwits with their sewing machine like feeding action, and a sizeable flock of meadow pipits.

What was even more interesting though was returning to the visitor centre at the end of the afternoon there was nothing to be seen of the spiders webs as if they’d all been rolled up and packed away. Once again this is a magic trick played by the light, the dew having evaporated in the warm autumn sunshine and the sun itself being at a completely different angle. Of course the webs were still there and could be found on very close inspection but no-one would have noticed unless specifically looking for them.