There's just the first touch of autumn in the air now, especially in the early morning. Swallows are grouping up before they start their long journeys home, and the starlings are making their rolling, clicking calls from the rooftops, which is always one of the first signs of the change of season for me.
We've concentrated a lot on our nightjars and hobbies in recent weeks, and although it is generally a quiet period for birds at the end of the breeding season, there's plenty of other wildlife around. There's good numbers of dragonflies this year, darting over the heaths and ponds, and these little creatures pictured are rustling around in the undergrowth, captured by Rob Gilmore on the reserve recently.
All images at The Lodge by Rob Gilmore
A pair of ravens have been around, I saw a pair low over the gardens earlier in the week, 'kronking' loudly to each other. It does seem that our nightjars have moved on now; after several nights monitoring we've had no sight or sound of them since Sunday. We confirmed that they hatched young, but we have no evidence that the young birds have fledged, so an attempted breeding on their first visit will probably be recorded. Still it's great news that they have arrived and we hope now that this will continue in following year's, with more birds settling on the heath and giving a better chance of breeding success.
The hobby pair can still often be seen with their single fledged youngster, around the pines and over the heath at the junction to Sandy, from the Buzzard trail.
It's looking like a decent weekend weather-wise, so if you aren't going to Birdfair we hope to see you here.