Wildlife in full swing

 

Wildlife in full swing

Since we re opened in the middle of April we have had dry and cold weather followed by wet and cold weather, so the arrival of summer migrants has been delayed, a similar story across the UK.

By the beginning of May the first swifts (2^nd) and house martins had arrived and now when the weather is cold and wet the number of swifts and hirundines (swallows, sand martins and house martins) number in the hundreds and it is quite a sight as they feed on the emerging flies. The number of feeding birds has attracted several hobbies throughout the month and the resident pair of sparrowhawks frequent the reservoir wall, no doubt in anticipation of an easy meal; the male is regularly seen from reception hide.

The woodland across the reserve has burst into song during the month as more summer migrants have arrived. Early May allows a brief glimpse of the songsters before the trees come into full leaf and the birds are lost in the canopy. Nearly all the regular summer migrants have now arrived; chiff chaff, willow warbler, common whitethroat, sedge warbler, reed warbler, blackcap, garden warbler are all to be found along with the resident Cetti’s warblers. Garden warblers and reed warblers have been the latest to arrive but have given good views to visitors, particularly the garden warblers which have been singing out in the open near the path. Cuckoos have been heard on several occasions in south scrub but it does not appear that any have stayed in the area. The arrival of the summer migrants has added to the woodland chorus which up to April was made up of wren, robin, blackbird, song thrush, bullfinch, treecreeper, dunnock, greenfinch, chaffinch and goldfinch. A pair of great spotted woodpeckers are resident alongside the treecreepers in the reception wood and a pair of tawny owls is also nesting in that part of the woodland and we are anticipating the fledging of youngsters very soon. Both goldcrest and chaffinch have nested very near the car park and are often seen feeding around the wooden office building.

Water violet flowering in reception pond

Semifree morella

Vinegar cup fungus

The woodland floor is covered with more flowers coming into bloom. Wild garlic and dead nettle were the first to appear following the earlier violets and ground ivy but now there are a few bluebells (although the ones on the reserve are not native), pink campion, yellow archangel and woodland forget me not. The blackthorn blossom has died off and in the last week been replaced by hawthorn which is attracting a host of pollinators. Also, in the woodland there have been some fungi. A couple of species of slime fungi at the beginning of the month and more recently vinegar cup fungus and semifree morella. So, as well as searching the canopy to find the singing birds, make sure you look closely on the woodland floor. One of our volunteers happened upon a roe deer fawn when he was doing just that.

Young roe deer fawn

In terms of insects the butterflies, moths, dragonflies and damselflies are also late to appear and are still in low numbers. As regards butterflies, brimstone, speckled wood, small tortoiseshell, small green veined white and orange tip have all been seen. Our volunteers that set out the moth traps have had a very slow month with Least Black Arches, Yellow barred brindle and an English sulphur tubic being the highlights. Four spot chaser dragonfly and two species of damselfly, the common red and the large red are the only ones to have emerged in the last week.

On the water bodies there are still about 20 tufted duck on D reservoir and 4 great crested grebes which have been seen displaying. Elsewhere gadwall, mallard and teal have been breeding. A drake garganey appeared on south marsh on 4^th /5th May, then a second male made an appearance on 10^th May but these were last seen on 12^th May. Greylag geese have young on North and South marsh and two pairs of mute swans have bred, one on north lagoon, one on south marsh west. There are 64 nesting pairs of black headed gull and possibly two pairs of common tern nesting on south marsh. Yellow wagtails have dispersed onto nearby farmland to breed, numbers dropping to single figures in the past couple of weeks compared to over 40 at the beginning of May. Pied wagtails and the occasional grey wagtail can be spotted feeding on the flies on top of the reservoir walls.

Oystercatcher chick (photo Maurice Dowson)

Greylag family on south marsh

Male garganey (photo Maurice Dowson)

There have been several waders passing through, usually on south marsh with a greenshank, 2 dunlin, 4 ruff and 2 common sandpipers on the 5^th, common sandpiper on 11^th and a wood sandpiper on 21^st. A pair of oystercatchers have raised 2 young on south marsh and a pair of little ringed plovers continue to try to nest, let’s hope they are successful. Lapwings have been seen displaying over decoy fields and at Watton nature reserve.

There appears to be two pairs of marsh harrier breeding, one near North marsh, one near south lagoon and a pair of kingfishers in the southern part of the reserve. Both species attracting interest as they are such iconic species of a wetland habitat. Little egrets are seen now singularly passing through, but the grey heron colony is very busy in the north marsh area of the woodland. Osprey is another species that we would like to stay in the area, and one has been seen on several occasions, probably a non breeding bird and still a nice record for the reserve.

Common tern (photo Maurice Dowson)

And finally, the marsh frogs are in full voice and can be found in any of the lagoons and ponds, that distinctive “song” of croaks and quacks puzzling many a new visitor. They provide an excellent food source for many of our predators but it is the grass snake that has not been seen too many times just yet, no doubt it, like the rest of the wildlife and ourselves is hoping for warmer weather.