Hello All
Well it's certainly been a changeable week weather wise, leaving us never sure what to expect. Arriving at the reserve this morning to blue sky, sunshine and a singing sky lark was certainly not what i expected.
Still the weather has not deterred the wildlife at Rye Mead's much, except for maybe the butterflies and dragonflies who have been putting in occasional sightings. I had my first banded demoiselle of the year yesterday and a volunteer reported a female broad bodied chaser on 2nd. A few species of butterfly have been recorded including brimstone, small tortoiseshell, peacock and speckled wood but not great numbers. The bad weather has been drawing the swifts down but we have not experienced the sheer numbers of a few weeks ago.
A may fly hatching on the lagoon during the week offered plenty of easy food as 1,000's hatched attracting black headed gulls, hobby, swift and terns who could be seen picking the mayflies off the surface of the water or catching them in flight with some fancy twists and turns.
The kingfishers continue to incubate their second clutch and change overs have been seen with the male occasionally showing off and spending time on the posts. The 153 pairs of black headed gulls are increasingly being kept busy as more and more chicks hatch. The 9 pairs of common tern are quite behind the gulls and are sitting tight through sun and rain incubating their eggs. The kestrels are actively feeding young in the box at the kingfisher hide as were a pair of cetti's, feeding 2 of their fledged young that were hanging out in a sallow at the bottom of the ramp leading to the Ashby hide offering great views of these often elusive birds and my first baby cetti's sighting, nice.
The Draper continues to be a popular hide with loafing duck tufty, pochard, gadwall, mallard and occasionally a pair of shoveler, lapwing, little ringed plover, stock dove, mute swan with cygnets, little grebe, and herring gull to name a few. Little egrets have been regular fly overs and occasional visits to draper. Yesterday offered some unusual sightings with 2 peregrines over the site, getting mobbed by some lesser black backed gulls and a drop in by 2 red shank was a nice bonus. A green woodpecker paid a visit to the car park earlier in the week offering lovely views as he hooped around the edges of the car park.
Not to be outdone the mammals have been putting in appearances this week with a muntjac barking repeatedly near the draper hide, a fox trotting up the path and a special treat for me in the form of a badger (pretty close and not often recorded at Rye Mead's) one evening as i was going home after working late.
Well that sounds like a nice lot to tempt you down.
Hope to see you soon at Rye Meads
Vicky
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