Hello
Since the clocks changed a couple of weeks ago our evenings are defiantly drawing in. At Rye Meads we normally open from 10am until 5pm however at this time of year we start to close earlier and earlier as the night draws in. This is a great opportunity for you to experience the reserve in a new light, a time of day you would not normally get to experience at Rye Meads, Dusk.
Dusk is a period starting as the sun has dipped (6°) below the horizon until the sun has sunk low enough (18°) below the horizon that it no longer illuminates the sky.
Dusk can be a great time so see birds and other wildlife as you get the cross over between the two worlds as nocturnal creatures emerge and the diurnal (those active in day) creatures seek shelter and sleep.
At Rye Meads you may be able to see and hear starlings raucously congregating (murmuration) on the pylons over the lee marsh as dusk approaches. They then begin there magical acrobatic display before settling in to the reed bed to roost. We normally get up to a couple of hundred starlings roosting in the reed beds in autumn to early winter but then move off to join other roosts as the winter progresses. If you get the chance to visit a big starling roost such as the one on the Somerset levels it is well worth it to see thousands of starlings swirl in a synchronised dance.
Starling by Mark Hamblin
On warmer evenings before it gets too cold you may also see bats in the dusk light hunting along the tree lines. At Rye Meads we predominantly get pispistrells but also daubentons skimming over the water catching insects. Dusk is also a good time to see foxes, owls and deer moving along the trails.
Although numbers have declined at Rye Meads (and corn buntings no longer join them) we still get groups of yellow hammers and reed buntings coming in to roost in the reed beds. They arrive from the surrounding countryside and perch up in tall scrub surrounding the reed bed then gradually drop in or fly in in small groups and drop straight in to the reed.
As the winter deepens the bittern returns to Rye Meads and dusk is a good time to see these secretive reed bed birds flying as they move to a roost site.
This evening i went out to experince dusk at Rye Meads and it was well worth it. I had to wrap up warm and my gloves got their first airing this winter as the lovely clear blue skies and cool breeze ment the tremperature was quite cool, but that did not stop activity on site. Multiple water rail (which had been showing well at the tern hide today) wrens and cettis warbler were very vocal, a muntajc bound away from me, a group of blackbirds and redwings were calling to each other from the hawthorns getting ready to roost, a small group of (late) starlings flew over my head and dropped staright in the reed so i must have missed the main group heading in earlier, black birds were alarm calling from the scrub (i presume at a passing fox), a heron flew past with a throaty croak and the last of the gulls headed south for their nightly roost.
I hope this has given you a reason to extend your visit to Rye Meads so you can take a look round as dusk descends. From tomorrow we will be closing at 4.45.
thanks
Vicky
PS the male pintail was showing well again today