So we begin July with the reeds full of life and sound, especially the reed buntings from on top of the reeds and the moorhens from deep inside of the reed bed.
What a contrast in water levels to that of two years ago, I’ve looked back at the blogs to see what had been posted about the water levels; the wet summer in 2012 had allowed some of the excess water to drain away, we are not as fortunate this summer to have excess water and visitors might have noticed low water levels across the reserve but with a change in water level you might get an opportunity to see something you usually wouldn’t get to see.
Water rails live in the reeds; the parents are feeding their small black fluffy chicks which have huge feet for such little birds! A photo can be seen on Peter's last blog of a small water rail chick. On Friday morning I spotted three chicks and the parent, on the left hand side of the Widlife Watchpoint hide you can see our work to make improved visibility down the channel of reeds as well as the mammal feeding station. This is the area where I generally see good views of the water rail running from one side of the channel to the other and feeding chicks.
Today the estate team have been to a section of the site called Dorman’s Pool; a site protected for its wildlife. The work was to place new signs around the car park to show the RSPB and Teesmouth Bird Club members the path they can use to get to the viewpoint. My first picture below shows Ian and Linda removing old fencing. We also cut down grass and cleared litter from the car park.
My second picture displays one of the sign boards we have put up at the car park, at Dorman’s Pool.
- Josh McGowan