Since the last update we have had quite a mixture of weather, with bright warm sunshine alongside showers and heavy rain, you could say its been more typical spring weather than recent years. As I write this the rain is pouring down outside, but I am filled with hope as I know the wind has finally turned to the south and the forecast is set to be pleasant next week.
Despite the changeable weather and Northerly winds, we have now welcomed back the majority of spring migrants, so when the sun does shine we are rewarded with the chorus of warblers, booming bitterns and cuckoos calling while hobbys are hawking insects from the sky. Please see the photo of the chalkboard for the arrival dates of our spring migrants, we have now recorded just about everything apart from spotted flycatcher.
This week has seen a big increase in swallows and house martins, with swift numbers also obviously increasing, as often happens the hobbys have not been far behind the hirundine passage and we had at least seven over the fen on Thursday. The riverbank and scatted scrub are now home to a good number of willow warblers, chiffchaffs and blackcaps, while at least two garden warblers are also holding territory. The dry scrubby areas hold a few pairs of common whitethroat and if you are lucky you may also spot a lesser whitethroat. We only have heard one cuckoo so far this spring, this bird can be heard daily and seems to switch from the riverbank trees to the woodland depending on weather conditions.
The reedbed has also erupted with bird song, sedge and reed warblers make up the majority of the songs emanating from the reeds with Cetti’s warblers piercing the calm with their explosive songs. It has been a very good year for grasshopper warblers with at least 21 counted on one day last week across the wider reserves, many of these will be migrants, but we have at least seven territorial males singing from Strumpshaw Fen this year. A good booming bittern can be heard throughout the day, but this year it seems that the competition is not great, the second boomer is not very loud and has been hard to track down, the lack of competition may mean that the good boomer is slightly quieter than usual, but still gives it all its got at dawn and dusk. Marsh harriers are busy nesting and if you are lucky you will see the beautiful grey males passing food to the darker, browner females. Buzzards continue to move into the area in a big way and now it is commonplace to see 5-10 buzzards and marsh harriers mixed together circling in a thermal, great for comparison of shapes and sizes…and also watch out for the very pale/white buzzard with a white rump, it can look surprisingly like an osprey with a distant or brief sighting!
The woodland has been full of bird song in the early hours of the morning, but most species are very busy feeding young at present so don’t have time to sing for long before getting back to their parental duties.
Buckenham Marshes has been overtaken by waders once again with plenty of lapwing and redshank making their presence known, a spoonbill is also present today (8th). Passage waders have included ringed and little ringed plovers, dunlin, greenshank, green, common and wood sandpipers, whimbrel, black and bar tailed godwit and with today’s weather I should think we are due a rarity in the coming days.
Believe it or not (at the time of writing) we are just seven days away from the average swallowtail emergence date! I find it hard to believe that they will be out on time this year given the cold conditions we have had in recent weeks, but as always we will be watching and waiting to see what they do this year. Invertebrates have been slow to get going with only a handful of large red damselflies reported, butterfly numbers are down compared to previous years and hoverflies only just starting to get going, it has however been a fairly good year for early season bees though. I imagine that the first spell of warm sunny weather will get everything emerging and it could be quite an impressive turnaround.
The trails are open as before, although this rain and river flooding last week has meant that the Lackford Run has quite a few muddy patches once again. I am fairly sure that it will only take a week or so of warm sunny weather for it all to be baked hard once again but do wear sensible footwear if planning to do the whole Fen trail circuit as it is muddy. The woodland trail is all open and firm. The meadow trail will be opened when ground conditions in the wet meadow allow, although I am hoping to open the trail around mid-May. The hides are currently still closed following the DEFRA guidance, however views can be obtained from the Reception platform and Fen Hide side screens as well as the multiple views over the fen from the riverbank trails.
As is often the case at this time of the year the summer wildlife is waiting patiently like a coiled spring for the perfect time to emerge, in the meantime we can continue to enjoy the spring bird migration in all its glory.