Spring has certainly sprung as far as the wildlife is concerned. The past two weeks has had plenty of sunshine, warmth and has been very settled.
The migrants have been flooding North over the past few weeks, it started with a pair of garganey on 16 March, which are still present at Buckenham today. A flyover whimbrel on 25 March was possibly the first for Norfolk this year, at least two weeks earlier than expected. The first swallows were seen on 31 March as were the first wave of willow warblers and blackcaps. April began with an arrival of sedge warblers an early house martin and a large number of sand martins. The final long distant migrant to add (at the time of writing) was an early reed warbler, again a couple of weeks earlier than expected.
If you have never seen a cetti’s warbler, or not seen them well before, now is the time to visit. Throughout April Cetti’s warblers go into a louder mode than normal, plus they actually show themselves quite well at times letting you appreciate the warm brown tones contrasting with the smoky grey underparts as well as the thin supercillium; the fact that they are so illusive makes seeing them all the more satisfying.
Along with the sub Saharan migrants above, our resident birds have been singing very well and the dawn chorus is beginning to reach the expected spring high.
The fen specialities have mostly been very evident with at least two bitterns booming from the reedbed early in the morning and again at dusk most days, marsh harriers are very busy displaying and building their nests giving great views, bearded tits can frequently be seen flying over the reeds as they also create their small nests and will soon be back and forth with food for their young. Otters have been seen infrequently in recent weeks, however with day length increasing, they have more of a chance to escape the busy visitor periods.
Buckenham and Cantley are currently also alive with the sound of waders, skylarks and sedge warblers singing. In the past week Buckenham has seen a male hen harrier, 2 garganey, 5 pintail, 11 avocet, 12 black tailed godwit 40 curlew , 50+ common snipe, 1 jack snipe and 2 little ringed plover as well as many groups of ruff and dunlin. The lack of rain has most probably forced a lot of waders to our wet grassland this year, we keep the marshes very wet at this time of the year to supply food and nesting sites for waders and wildfowl, so far it is working very well.
Invertebrates have been emerging in the warmth, the butterfly tally now stands at eight with large white, green- veined white, orange-tip, peacock, comma, small tortoiseshell, brimstone and holly blue.
Reptiles have also emerged from their slumber with common lizards found basking in the sun at various spots, especially Sandy Wall, grass snakes are also out and about but are a bit more illusive than the lizards.
I would expect the first few damselflies (usually large reds first) and hairy dragonflies to emerge over the next two weeks. Other expected arrivals in the same period include common tern, grasshopper warbler and cuckoo. All of these arrivals are heavily dependent on the weather and wind directions.
The paths have dried out a lot in the past two weeks, the riverbank turning from a sticky path into a dry and cracked path! It is possible to walk to Tower Hide without getting muddy (tide dependent), Lackford Run is also drying out very quickly, although the grass in the mornings can be wet with dew so wellingtons/walking boots can still be handy if visiting early.