Yet another month has flown by in a flash. Though October has been fairly warm at times, Strumpshaw was still a slightly muddy place to be, especially towards Tower Hide thanks to high tides on the River Yare. The path will be closed if flooding does occur, while the Lackford Run will be closed off for the winter. Meanwhile, as you may know, the clocks went back an hour on Saturday, this means our reception hide has now reverted back to our winter opening times of 10am-4pm.
In wildlife sightings news this month, it has been an interesting time in the Mid-Yare Valley as migratory birds began to arrive onto our reserves. Our expert spotters have been out and about making note of the numbers of all these migrants as they pass over Strumpshaw in the early hours. They have counting the flocks of usual wintering species such as redwings, pink-footed geese, water pipits, siskins and bramblings as well as some surprising birds such as hawfinches. But we've also had a few really special species. One of them being especially exciting.
On October 25th, over at Buckenham, the biggest highlight of the month was spotted out on the marshes. A lesser yellowlegs! It is basically the US equivalent of a redshank, but with yellow legs instead of red ones. This American wader is likely blown over due to the recent hurricanes wrecking havoc on the other side of the Atlantic. It could be there for several days or maybe weeks, so go check it out. Don't forget to bring your scope with you!
Another highlight was discovered on October 8th when one of our expert spotters located a yellow-browed warbler near the feeder area. This is a small warbler, around goldcrest size. It is another one of those LBJ's (little brown jobs) that expert birders just love deciphering and has a noticeable supercelium (stripe above the eye) that gives the bird its name. Listen out for its 'tsu-wheep' call, sounds sort of like a squeaky shoe.
The red-throated diver continues to take residence in the river and can be seen between Buckenham Marshes and Strumpshaw Fen as usual. It has been almost a year since we had this bird around here.
Our usual crowd pleasers have continued to show well this month. Kingfishers, bitterns and otters have all been appearing in front of our hides throughout October. Bearded tits have been fairly active recently as they've popping out of the reed beds in large flocks. Listen out for their pinging calls. Meanwhile, great white egrets have been on the increase lately and seems to be seen from the hides on the daily.
I have few plants to pick from as my plant of the month for October as many of them are out of season. But my pick this month goes to the many trees that make up the woodland trail as it was the time for autumn colour, falling leaves and a glutton of berries, nuts and seeds that have provided a feast for jays, squirrels and other creatures.
October has been a great month for fungi hunters. Though I am not an expert on identifying them, I still have been noticing and enjoying the many toadstools and other fungal shapes sprouting from the trees and leaflitter. Keep searching into November, you'll never know what you'll find.
Can you believe we've reached the penultimate month of the year already? If you are looking for something to do to entertain the little ones, our halloween trail will continues until the 3 November with plenty of spooky activities for them to do. Don't forget to keep an eye on our social media pages for the latest path closure news and I will see you again next month.