First week back
We’ve been so pleased to open up the reserve this week after being closed for so long. It has been great to welcome visitors old and new to the reserve. We’ve had a chance to catch up with the wildlife and the people that make this place so special.
As visitors have passed through the reception hide they have
logged their sightings and so I think the reserve has been well viewed over the
first week back.
The week started with a chill in the air yet chiff chaffs
and blackcaps were singing across the reserve; chiff chaffs I am sure have been
around for several weeks now but the number of singing blackcaps has increased
daily in D reservoir wood, north scrub and reception wood. As the week
progressed more summer migrants arrived with an overnight fall of willow
warblers on Tuesday, 14 noted in D woods on Wednesday morning. By the end of
the week a couple of sedge warblers (in reception wood and south scrub) had
been found. At the same time a redwing was spotted on north scrub and
overwintering goldeneye and tufted duck are still in good numbers on both
reservoirs. Several great crested grebes are on D reservoir and have been seen
displaying at times. A new bird species for the reserve was a visiting male
hooded merganser which stayed for a couple of days. The bird is believed to be
the same bird that has been seen at Hornsea mere and having a ring suggests
that it is probably an escapee from a collection. Never the less an attractive
bird. Although hiding under the far wall of D reservoir made viewing difficult
and a telescope essential. It returned on Monday 19th, giving
better, closer views. Also seen on Monday was a male long tailed duck in summer
plumage.
Sand martins have been investigating the sand wall on the
reserve, in between feeding over D reservoir. Waders are still on the move with
up to 60 curlew moving between Watton nature reserve and south marsh on Friday
16th, dropping down to 10 on Sunday 18th. Redshank have
been seen on both these sites, so too a male black tailed godwit and 2 ruff,
the males starting to show their stunning summer plumage. A pair of
oystercatchers look quite settled on south marsh and on Sunday a pair of little
ringed plover were recorded for the first time this year, fingers crossed for
some successful breeding. Lapwings are displaying over the farmland to the west
of D reservoir whereas they are in flocks on south marsh and Watton nature
reserve; these birds presumably ones that will move further north before
finding breeding sites.
The heronry in D woods is busy but will become more so once
their eggs have hatched and young need feeding. Up to 8 Little egrets have been
on south marsh, a single great white and a single cattle egret were reported on
Watton nature reserve on Monday 12th, the cattle egret recorded
again on Monday 19th.
Kingfisher sightings have tended to be on the north and
south lagoons and also on south marsh. As well as the flashes of blue flying
past, birds have been enjoyed sitting on the posts in front of the hides. Visitors
sitting in the Izzard hide have even been splashed by the plop caused by a bird
diving into the water from the roof of the hide. Now that’s what I call a
wildlife experience!
Wildfowl can be seen across the reserve, whether it’s the
wintering ducks on the reservoirs or more settled birds such as gadwall,
mallard, shoveler and teal on the lagoons. A male garganey was recorded on
south marsh on Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th. Two
families of greylag geese brought their new goslings out from the reeds on
south marsh at the weekend and its thought that a further pair are nesting on
north marsh.
There seems to be two pairs of marsh harriers, one at each
end of the reserve and a pair of buzzards around O reservoir, all giving good
views both from hides and from the footpaths. In reception wood we have a
nesting tawny owl; it can often be heard calling during the day, finding it roosting somewhere in the canopy
is quite a challenge though!
A delightful sight has been over 40 yellow wagtails feeding
on the wall at the far end of D reservoir. They arrived on Thursday 15th
and are constantly moving along the wall, along the road and into the bordering
hedgerow. In amongst them there has been a channel wagtail and a possible blue
headed wagtail, so it is definitely worth walking to that end and spending time
looking through all the birds. The channel wagtail could possibly be a
returning bird, one that has bred in the vicinity a couple of years ago. Grey,
pied and white wagtail have also been seen along the top of the wall which is
covered by emerging flies. Reed buntings and chaffinches are also feeding
there.
Cetti’s warblers are in full flow, bursting out their bubbling song at full volume and can be heard along the boardwalk bordering the north and south lagoons, but also in D woods and south scrub. Competing for volume is the tiny wren but it can be distinguished from Cetti’s by its longer and more shrill, scratchy song.
No otters have been reported by visitors this week so far,
but roe deer seem to be popping up everywhere; in some cases walking right
across the paths in front of people. They have had the reserve very much to
themselves for the last year so it may take a while before they skulk in the
bushes during the daytime to avoid disturbance. Hares can be seen clearly in
the adjoining farmland as crops are not yet tall enough to hide in; the
approach road giving some of the best views.
A number of butterflies; peacock, red admiral, large veined
white, speckled wood, brimstone and orange tip have all been seen as the
weather has got warmer over the past week. A few bee flies have also been
spotted feeding on ground ivy and violets. Cowslips along the ditches around O
reservoir make quite a carpet of pale yellow in the grass, a few primroses are
dotted around, ground ivy and violets are giving a nice blue tinge to the
woodland floor, before the bluebells emerge in full bloom in a couple of weeks.
That’s made quite an exhaustive list of wildlife in the
first week back open but as you can see the range and variety means there is
something for everyone to find and enjoy and always plenty to see.
