Good morning everyone!
How are you today? It's a beautiful day out there! The sun is shining and the reserve looks amazing.
Rainbow (1 Feb) by Lee Spence
I just wanted to share some of the highlights from this weekend...
There are huge numbers of ducks on site - wigeon, teal, pintail, shelduck, shoveler, pochard, mallard, and gadwall. We're also seeing fabulous numbers of waders - lapwing, redshank, golden plover (flocks of about 150 which has been lovely to see), dunlin ( a few hundred), the odd grey plover, curlew, snipe, and water rail.
We had a bit of excitement as a merlin flew over the reserve, but that's not the only bird of prey we've been seeing - peregrine, marsh harrier, barn owl, and kestrel.
The kingfisher was showing off near the Ken Barrett hide yesterday. Some of the smaller birds like skylark, stonechat, and rock pipit have been showing nicely.
The Caspian gull and yellow legged gull have been seen again - keep your eyes pealed!
One of the slightly unusual things yesterday was the sightings of a smooth newt swimming across the paths! The whole reserve is open but if you want to do a whole circuit you will need your wellies!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend! See you soon!Louise
P.S. Pop into the Purfleet Hide - all year we have exhibitions of artwork, so have a look - tey are for sale so something may catch your eye!
Some wonderful sightings there, Louise - and the rainbow is stunning.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.