- The nest box survey has started!
Over the breeding season, 297 nest boxes will be monitored. Most boxes shelter blue or great tit eggs or even chicks. The eggs are white with brownish spots. The chicks mostly blind and naked will start to develop feathers this week. On average, blue and great tits produce 7 to 13 eggs and incubation time lasts between 12 and 16 days.
Blue or great tit eggs
Tit chicks, still blind and naked. Tit nests are typically made of moss, hair and feathers.
When lucky, we found small blue eggs. At this stage we can assume these are either redstart or pied flycatchers’ eggs. We had the chance to see female pied flycatchers sitting on the nest but unfortunately no redstart… yet!
Redstart or pied flycatcher eggs. The nest is mainly made of grass and leaves.
- The butterfly transect this week was not as good as the forecast suggested but we still managed to record a large white along with the typically seasonal speckled wood, green-veined white, peacock and brimstone. At the same time, the first four-spotted chasers could be seen on the bog. The large red damselflies were also seen.
- In the plant kingdom, the yellow flowers were queens of the week. Yellow pimpernels started to bloom along the trails as well as the creeping buttercups and the very first silverweeds.
Yellow pimpernels among blue bells.
Despite a cold spell, spring is most definitely still at work! A lesser whitethroat was seen on the reserve after five years of absence. Finally, the swifts, although observed in the previous weeks could also be seen in greater numbers this week.