Likewise Jeff got this pair of long-tailed tits against a blue sky on his Flickr page. Even more summery was this spotted flyctcatcher there this afternoon – two days off October! I usually bank on my last mid August!:
Congratulations to Rory who has managed an accolade in the RSPB’s Wildpix photo competition – details here.
Other than that a black tailed godwit was still on South Marsh East today. I forgot to post from Sunday the group of 56 golden plover which circled South Marsh East before flying on, and an interesting thread on the East Yorkshire Birding Forum shows the possible links between Tophill and Swinemoor, and the ringing team got the details of their sedge warbler return – not from far but an interesting observation on local migration routes none the less. The usual kingfisher was on North Marsh today along with plenty of grass snakes cooling off in the water and stacks of migrant hawkers.
This is brings us on to works in hand – we will be taking advantage of the weather and painting the North Marsh Hide and managing vegetation there tomorrow – so apologies in advance for the disturbance.
Likewise improvement works at Hempholme and South Marsh West continue foreseeably, with water treatment works improvements meaning disturbance to the lagoons tomorrow (29th). Next Thursday there may well be disturbance on Watton NR as we manipulate tern rafts.
Apologies for all the above – but the perils of working on a nature reserve dictate that we try and do all improvements outside of breeding season and before hibernation proper (and the apparent snows some folk keep telling me will come in October!)
Finally the fungi walk is now fully booked – so please do not turn up on the day hoping for a place.
