April Highlights
There's been plenty of April showers, some cold and windy days and occasionally the sun does peek through. A typical April, really. We did get a couple of surprising floods from some unusual high tides for this time of year, but despite this, Fen Trail and the Woodland Trail are open. However, please bring your wellies if you are planning to walk to Tower Hide and Lackford Run, it is very muddy still in places. We plan to open the Meadow Trail if conditions allow by the middle of May.
Spring has fully sprung despite the slight chill in the air and we've continued to log the new species appearing across the Mid Yare Valley throughout April (which includes plenty of cute, fluffy chicks, ducklings and goslings). So, without further ado, here's this month's highlights.
There's been a further influx in migrating birds. A good chunk of them had already arrived in March, including swallows and even a possible hobby. Willow warblers were back singing along Sandy Wall by March 31st, reed and grasshopper warblers were joining them by April 8th and whitethroats and garden warblers returned a few days later on April 12th.
It seemed like the 12th was a good day for migrants as the first whimbrels and wheatears were also seen along with a ring ouzel flying over the Lackford Run. Over at Rockland, an osprey was seen on the 12th as well and the first cuckoo was heard calling a day later on the 13th. The first swift swooped over by the 26th.
There were a few bits and bobs that caught my eye in recent days (both from the board and from what I've seen). First, on the 28th, a Channel wagtail was reported at Cantley. This is a rare visiting variation of yellow wagtail. British yellow wagtails are completely yellow. The Channel one has a blue head. Speaking of wagtails, the front of reception has been a hive of activity from at least one male grey wagtail (and pied wagtails, too). He's also yellow, but with a grey back.
Also from outside reception, I managed to spot a pink-footed goose out on the broad on the 29th. It appears to be injured as it was limping around on the ground, perhaps with a broken wing as well. Most of the pink-footed geese have left to their breeding grounds further north, but a few stragglers have been left behind, most likely due to injuries. It was still a surprise for me, though, as I've never seen one on the ground here at Strumpshaw before. They usually spend more time at Buckenham and Cantley than here.
From Buckenham, there were a couple of birds that had continued their stay since the winter. On the river, the red-throated diver was still about and seems to like it there as it should be heading to its breeding grounds by now. It is nearing May and you can still find it between Strumpshaw and Cantley. At the start of this month, a merlin had been showing really well since late March. Unlike the diver, though, this small falcon has since moved on.
Crane activity has certainly been on the increase. At least one pair have been seen flying in and out of the reserve, including from reception. Meanwhile, bitterns have been booming for quite some time now. At least 6 have been heard on our reserves across the Mid-Yare. It is proving to be a great year for bitterns it seems.
Kingfishers have been regularly showing up outside reception, while bearded tits can be actively seen from Fen Hide. Otter activity had been on the more quieter side this month, but in the last week, at least one has been seen from reception almost daily. Marsh harriers continued to sky dance and have paired up to build their nests and lay their eggs. We have at least two pairs of great crested grebes attempting to create families on the reserve. One out on the broad outside reception and the other in front of Tower Hide. The latter is more visible and the female is now incubating four eggs.
There was some exciting news if you really love insects (like on an expert level). A brand new species has been discovered at Strumpshaw. What did they find? A maggot! A maggot of the Cigarillo gall-fly to be precise. It is the rarest of the four reed gall-fly species and likes to lay their eggs in reed stems that are in shady spots. Shows you how many bizarre and wonderful creatures we have on the reserve and who knows how many more are out there yet to be discovered.
Though it hasn't been that warm at times, we still managed to get an increase in butterfly species from orange-tips to speckled woods. On the 29th, the first wall brown was seen on the dandelions outside the Fen Hide.
On April 13th, emperor moths found themselves on the sightings board as a visitor with a pheromone lure attracted a beautiful male that surely wowed anyone who was by reception at the time. Emperors are the largest of the UK's moth species and they only have less than a few weeks to live as adults as they have no mouth parts and rely on what they've stored up as caterpillars. It is all about finding a mate, which the males do with their feathery antenna, and laying eggs.
Also this month was the first damselfly (a large red damselfly on April 7th) and the first dragonfly (a hairy dragonfly on April 13th).
My plant challenge has been hotting up as there's been an increase in plant species. This includes the first bluebells (though not many of them so far), germander speedwell, garlic mustard, green alkanet, lords and ladies and all the trees have grown new leaves. However, my plant of the month for April goes to the field horsetail. You can find these strange relatives of the fern family along the Sandy wall in several numbers. They grow like miniature prehistoric trees branching outwards without any leaves. They really do look like something from the age of the dinosaurs.
May is on the horizon and let's really hope it gets much warmer than it did this month. Hopefully, the first swallowtail is just around the corner. They've had a bit of a bad year in 2023, so we really hope they will do better this time round. Also, make a note in your diaries for May 6th as it is International Dawn Chorus Day. I reckon the sounds of the bitterns, cranes, cuckoos and grasshopper warblers will make waking up early worth the while! See you next month!
We have a packed events programme, find out what's coming up here https://events.rspb.org.uk/StrumpshawFen