Breeding Bird Surveys
It is peak breeding bird season across Snettisham and Titchwell which takes up a significant proportion of our week.
Starting at Titchwell, we continue with our weekly bittern monitoring which now includes watching for female feeding flights to help us identify if and where they maybe a nest. However if the female has a good food supply near to the nest then she won’t be seen.
We have also continued with our Bearded tit surveys which at last are starting show more promising behaviour including males carrying nesting material and food to different areas of the reedbed. However, they continue to remain quite elusive when you visit.
Its now apparent that the Mediterranean gulls have abandoned Titchwell this year and opted to nest at Snettisham on the roost bank. We have concluded that they have opted to nest there as it is more sheltered than Titchwell’s Freshmarsh.
Breeding avocets are noticeable by their absence at Titchwell and so far, there are not many at Snettisham either. Again, we think this may be linked to the poor weather and the birds perhaps struggling to get into breeding condition.
Beach nesting birds
It has been a super busy period managing and surveying the ringed plovers and oystercatchers that are nesting on our beaches; especially at Snettisham. On the main RSPB Snettisham there are now about 18 pairs on eggs, and each one has its own cordon to protect them from human disturbance. Our Plovers in Peril project area has an astonishing 19 pairs; we were not expecting this many. Again each one has its own cordon. Titchwell numbers are similar to previous years with 4 -5 pairs on eggs and where possible they have a cordon too.
A polite reminder to keep dogs on leads when walking on beaches to protect these birds from being predated.
We also ask you to keep away from the cordons and to not follow these birds around the beaches. If they are leading you away from a cordon, you have disturbed them from nesting which is illegal.
This week we had an outdoor meeting at Snettisham with colleagues from across the organisation to catch up on our beach nesting bird project and to identify areas that may need additional resource.
Reserve Tasks
Away from the breeding bird surveys we spent last week preparing our hides for reopening which included cutting the Parrinder path and washing down the interpretation panels inside them all.
We have also moved a family interpretation board from Parrinder North to the area at Patsy’s screen so if you are visiting with children why not explore the eastern area of the reserve.
Other tasks have included tweaking water levels in response to the weather, checking the reserve camera traps, placing supplementary seed out for the turtle doves and cleaning toilets!
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