So August has been a month of showers, sun and lots of Kingfisher activity!
The first thing to mention is that from Thursday 31st August, our main reception will be moved into the classrooms in the visitor centre, while we have a refit. We expect this diversion to take place for a few weeks - signs will be on site to direct you.
We also now have a card machine, so if you sometimes feel like you need to scrabble in your pockets for change to buy a drink and a snack, you can now just get out your card instead!
The 3rd brood of kingfisher babies hatched last Saturday 26th August so we estimate fledging to be around 19th or 20th September. If you haven't seen a Kingfisher before or want to come down and see them again, the next few weeks will be a flurry of activity whilst they feed their young. There's been quite a few sightings of juveniles around the Draper and Gadwall hides too so keep an eye out for that flash of blue!
Last week there was also a grass snake that try to steal the limelight away from the kingfishers at the Kingfisher hide which made a nice change!
Other sightings include: common and green sandpipers, common snipe, garganey, wigeon, spotted flycatcher, red kites, peregrine, buzzards, little egrets, wheatear, greylag geese and a Jersey tiger moth, along with numerous butterflies and dragonflies.
A shrew was also uncovered under a log during our minibeast Monday session and caused much excitement for the family that discovered it. The same family also discovered a false widow spider in a tree, a first for me and a first for the reserve as far as we know. Although venomous, the symptoms are the same as a wasp or bee sting so keep an eye our for this rather distinctive arachnid!
That's one impressive looking spider!
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.