I've not been around for a while so it was good to be back on the reserve again! Great weather too.
Draper hide - 4 green sandpiper, 2 little ringed plover, up to 20 lapwing on Sunday, stock dove (often overlooked), pied wagtail, common tern, gadwall, teal, shoveler, little grebe, mute swan plus the more usual waterfowl species.
By the path outside the hide there was a family of Canada geese much to the delight of visiting children, while leaving a bit of a mess on the path ... (the geese not the children!!). The parent geese were showing the chicks the tasty grass seeds and insects to be found in the long grass. Just before the Warbler hide a pair of swans had their single cygnet on the pathway.
Trails - chiffchaff, blackbird, Cetti's warbler, blackcap, collared dove, greenfinch, starling, magpie, great tit, wren, sedge warbler.
Lagoons - Common tern nesting on rafts, gadwall, lesser black backed gull, tufted duck, little grebe
Kingfisher hide - Up to 3 young kestrel in upper box on pylon, bullfinch, blackcap, great spotted woodpecker, sedge warbler. When I was there the kingfishers were at least 3 hours between changing shifts looking after their second clutch of eggs.
Warbler hide - Reed bunting, sedge warbler, Cetti's warbler, marsh harrier, wren.
A bit of interesting bird behaviour. By the Ashby hide there was a moorhen seemingly limping and dragging a wing, disappearing into the undergrowth by the bottom of the steps. Two things crossed my mind, either it was feigning injury to lure a predator (me?) away from chicks or nest, as skylarks and lapwings do and I'm sure other ground nesting birds too. Or it was caught up in fishing line or one of those plastic drink can loops. I gave it a check over as quickly as I could, it seemed OK so I let it go where I found it and walked away.
A wild flower in the car park area was given some attention by a handful of visitors. It was a moth mullein, Verbascum blattaria. This was the pale variety.