Hello all
Thought you might appreciate a small update on unusual and less unusual sightings we've had lately on the reserve.
First and arguably foremost.. Kingfishers! Our pair settled down to incubate their first clutch on the 8th April, and have been spotted changing over at roughly 2 hourly intervals. So hold out until the start of May for those more frequent sightings!
Kestrels likewise, we think we've got a couple of pairs on eggs/ or nearly on eggs. One at the Kingfisher hide, and one on the pylon in the car park. Keep an eye up in the air while parking your car, and look out for the sign and telescope set up in the car park. Other raptors spotted of late include large numbers of Buzzard, a Peregrine, regular Red Kites, and even our first Hobby, spotted by Jan from the Rye Meads Ringing Group yesterday (20th April).
The reserve is alive with the sound of spring and plenty of warblers, as well as Swallows, House martins, Cuckoos, and our first returning Common Terns. The rafts have gone out for them to breed and elsewhere nests are popping up all over the place, including a potential Jackdaw one. If you look out from the Draper hide, those with keen eyes might have seen that the owl box on the right hand side has had the birds visiting with nest building materials lately, which would be an interesting addition to the breeders on the reserve.
A few weeks ago, Mary and Katy Smith, some of our regular visitors, spotted one of our Kestrels with an unusual and unidentified creature in it's mouth. After verification from members of the Herts Natural History Society and Hertfordshire Mammal, Reptile and Amphibian mapping project, we can confirm that the prey was in fact a Common Lizard. We have never before recorded a Lizard at Rye Meads, and even the nearest record isn't that nearby, so we were very excited to have this confirmed. We hope to set up some more survey days later in the season to see whether we can find some more. It just goes to show how useful you can all be in recording interesting and rare sightings on the reserve, just by being there! If you think you've captured a picture of something interesting or unusual, make sure you send it in to us so we can check it out. Thank you very much Mary and Katy.
Finally, we've had a few sightings of stoat in the past few weeks.. generally around the Draper pond area, and even as far out as the Ashby hide. These are very quick little mammals and you need to have a fast reaction time to get a great picture, but Lynne Blount did just that! She had a really close encounter with this cute little face, and perhaps this year they will breed here again, and give us more sightings as they chase the rabbits about in the car park!
While I'm here, thanks very much to everyone that supported the Funday on Saturday.. despite the cold and drizzle we raised £460 for conservation and the RSPB. And now that the weather is finally warming up, a great time to tell you that we are now offering Ice Creams from the Saffron Ice Cream Company for sale! Just £2 a tub and 6 delicious flavours including Chocolate, Strawberry and Cream, Coffee and Walnut, Vanilla, Mint Chocolate and Sherbet Lemon Sorbet. I know, I've tried them all :D Come along and try them out!