Hi folks - a few hours until hopefully Tophill Low re-opens properly after 18 months of flooding and pandemics. You'll have noticed that we've been purposefully restricting news from the site over this period to avoid enticing people to visit the reserve. Back in winter one of the biggest highlights was the huge flocks of pink-footed geese overwintering;
We're not sure on the full reasons but Yorkshire Water have been doing a lot of work with local farmers in the area to establish cover crops between pea crops to improve soil health - benefiting the water quality we abstract at Tophill Low downstream. Details here . Perhaps the prevalent numbers of whooper swans were helped by this also? It'd be nice to think we'd get this North Norfolk style spectacular every winter... Meanwhile the starlings didn't disappoint with the usual murmurations over the reed beds:
On the reservoirs an american wigeon was a welcome vagrant:
Even better was a cracking drake smew which unfortunately no one could see (library pic):
And what's become the usual great white egrets about:
In addition we've had a cattle egret in recent weeks (pic of the last one - Roy Lyon):
Poplars are not long lived trees (they were planted for Bryant & May match wood back in the 60's) and aren't the most biodiverse. With the risk they posed we have felled the remaining ones there so its a bit of a scene of destruction presently: 
When we have more time next season we will be clearing some of the debris whilst leaving strategic habitat piles and re-planting with a more sympathetic mix of wet woodland - alder, downy birch, alder buckthorn, sessile oak etc to create something more biodiverse and stable.
The only other notable job was one we started way back in November - the replacement of decking to North Marsh hide:
So as we've been prepping for re-opening over Easter what else have we seen?
- Green woodpecker - yaffling all winter - will it stay? Plenty of great spots as ever.
- Curlew - a peak count of 70 a nice consistency
- Black-tailed godwits - some nice plumaged birds currently moving through
- Ruff - up to 7 - again some in cracking plumage
- Green sandpiper - on Watton
- Bar-tailed godwit - 7 over site last week
- Osprey - last Thursday
- Sand Martins - c.20 birds buzzing the colony
- Cetti's, chiffchaffs, blackcaps - prevalent everywhere now - with a few willow warblers presumably wishing they hadn't botheres
- same applies to swallows, house martins and yellow wagtails over the reservoirs
- Heronry - we managed whilst closed to send a drone up last week and clocked 6 nests this year all with 4-5 eggs in
- Marsh harriers, buzzard, kestrels, sparrowhawks - all as usual
- Oystercatchers - on south marsh east
- Otters - as active as ever
- Kingfishers - buzzing around the lagoons this week
- And presumably that white tailed eagle on Leven Carrs inevitably trundled over.
So plenty to whet appetites; However;
Obviously covid restrictions still apply. So to re-iterate that means the track and trace table is back out, one way routes will remain until June at least (see Amy's last post for more details). And crucially until the next May gateway is reached we will be reverting to one family bubble per hide. This could be just one individual or a whole family - but there is to be no indoor mixing of different groups.
As such etiquette is; If the hide is empty you are welcome to stay until the next group arrives outside (doors are wedged open) whereupon you should vacate and either move on, or re-enter once they or any other waiting parties have moved through. If two groups arrive simultaneously then please agree a sensible viewing period and swap over sensibly.
What we don't want to hear of is individuals or groups belligerently hogging hides for extended periods. We all know that many of our visitors enjoy taking a flask and cushion and settling down for several hours photographing or watching wildlife. This will return - but for the next few weeks please be courteous and respectful to all users until we can relax restrictions in line with government guidance. There is a great deal to see without needing to solely use hides.
It's not an easy decision - however we think having hides open is the best compromise as without them people will make their own viewing spaces around hides disturbing wildlife or creating gatherings. Limited viewing facilities allow people to satisfy curiosity in a controlled manner. If this cannot work and people cannot be sensible we will be forced to close hides until later in the year which is in no one's interest.
Otherwise;
Memberships - new cards are available now - but as before anyone holding a 20-21 card will not need to renew as so much of the year was lost.
Toilets - open as normal
Reception hide - open to single bubbles when staffed. Our Education Guide Margaret Boyd will be helping Warden the site this season in addition to Amy and myself given we've lost several much valued friends and volunteers in recent months.
Izzard hide - members only - one bubble rule applies as the rest
Goats - yes we know they have celeb status! but they're currently grazing out of sight as they are good escape artists and we don't graze orchid habitats in growing season - so they will become more evident later in the year
Catering - Those of you whom managed to visit in the brief autumn window will have seen Twitcher's snack bar adjacent to the car park run by Netty as a new addition. Whilst not directly affiliated to the reserve there are some excellent light bites on offer served midday from Wednesday to Sundays in a similar manner to North Cave's Wild Bird:
So plenty to look forward to on all fronts - above all be courteous and patient to other users and we look forward to welcoming you back for a great season. I'll follow up another post showing some of the other works I've been undertaking in our Water Works for Wildlife program away from Tophill Low in recent months - but as we've only had a limited presence it just means its all for you to find...
