Summer begins……..
Thankfully after a cold and dry April, and a cold and wet
May, June has brought some warmer and drier weather. Many of the bird sightings
and in particular the butterfly sightings are noticeably later this year, but I
think it true to say that summer is here.
By the beginning of the month breeding across the site was
in full swing, the sand martins filling over 20 of the nest holes in the sand
martin bank at South Marsh west and black headed gulls sitting on over 60 nests
on South Marsh. The sand martin colony and the emerging dragonflies have
attracted several hobbys which have remained throughout June, hopefully
breeding nearby.
A pair of oystercatchers have managed to raise two chicks
successfully, amazing to see that long beak seemingly stretch overnight. The
little ringed plover pair have three chicks at the moment, fingers crossed for
their survival. At the beginning of April, before we re-opened we were able to
use Yorkshire Water’s drone team to view the reserve from above. The footage
confirmed six grey heron nests and a possible two marsh harrier nests. Each
heron nest had four eggs at the time and in the last few weeks, youngsters have
been very vocal and can be seen poking their necks out over the edge of the nest
and testing their wing muscles. The marsh harriers have yet to be seen with any
young away from the nesting areas but can regularly be seen hunting over both
the north and southern end of the reserve. Greylag geese have been successful
with raising broods, unlike the mute swans on north lagoon which were seen with
six young one day and a couple of days later had none, presumably predated.
Little grebes have been on north lagoon since the beginning of the month after
quite a long absence, but no signs of breeding have been noted.
Cuckoo has been heard calling and there have been a number of sightings all through June so we hope that there may have been some breeding birds staying around the area. Common tern (4) have also been present but breeding has not been confirmed.
The summer migrant passerines; chiff chaff, willow warbler,
blackcap, garden warbler, sedge warbler, reed warbler and common whitethroat
have all shown signs of breeding, in full song throughout June. Add to those
the resident Cetti’s warbler, with at least a count of 14 singing males at one
point across the reserve.
On wet, damp days the number of swifts feeding over the
reservoirs has reached thousands, along with swallows, house martins and sand
martins. All attracted to feed on emerging flies, pushed down with low cloud
and drizzle, it makes quite a spectacle.
Of course, our iconic kingfisher is attracting plenty of
attention from visitors, many heading straight for the best places. With young
fledging around the middle of the month, the chances of catching either a
glimpse of the unmistakeable bright blue flash or a prolonged view of an
individual perched and then fishing from a prominent post have increased. The
60 pupils from Filey school, with the help of our volunteer Graham, all managed
to see one from North Lagoon hide, their experience retold in the many thank
you letters from year 5 that we received.
Birds that are on the move and seen on the odd occasion are
osprey, little egret, redshank, black tailed godwit, common and green sandpiper.
The visiting waders should start to increase in terms of numbers and variety
from mid- July onwards, especially as we slowly drop the water level on the
marshes.
Unfortunately, the barn owl pair, which nested in the box that
was not on camera, have failed, let’s hope they try for a second brood. They
can often be seen flying along the riverbank. Much harder to spot are the tawny
owls in reception wood, although if you get that feeling that you are being
watched, then definitely look up! They did nest in one of the boxes, but no one
has posted lots of baby tawny owl photos, so we are unsure whether they have
successfully bred.
Common buzzard, sparrowhawk, kestrel and the odd red kite on
the approach road have all been regular sighting. The sparrowhawks have
realised that our service vehicles driving up D reservoir straight disturb the
small birds that feed along that stretch, so have learnt to follow the vehicle
for a quick meal! Otherwise they perch on the reservoir wall in sight of the
bird feeders. Feeders which have been attracting great spotted woodpeckers and
bullfinches, nice additions to the goldfinches, chaffinches and tits.
When the birds are difficult to track down in the woodland
unless you can rely on picking out their songs and calls, there have been good
numbers of dragonflies and damselflies, the reception pond a good place to spot
and photograph them. Four spot chasers and common blue damselflies were the
earliest to emerge, since then hairy dragonfly, red eyed damselfly and banded
demoiselle. The banded demoiselle have increased in number and range across the
site since they were first noted around five years ago.
Butterflies have been in low numbers except for orange tip
and brimstone, although sightings of dingy skipper, speckled wood, painted
lady, common blue, red admiral and ringlet have now all been noted. Hopefully
July and some increasingly warmer weather will lead to better numbers. Moths
are recorded regularly, Rhodophaea formosa made it the 743rd species
to be recorded on the reserve.
Flowers however have been in profusion since mid- May, the
woodland floor and then the grassland around the reservoirs and in north and
south scrub carpeted with colour. In amongst the throng, ragged robin has been
one to note and the emerging orchids. The first bee orchid was spotted along
with marsh and common spotted on 8th June. Once one appears then
many more follow, a count of nearly 40 bee orchids and thousands of common
spotted now at the end of June.
Marsh frogs continue to entertain visitors with their
strange “song” as they breed in the water courses. Their expanding air sacs
making many a good photograph subject. More interestingly a group of at least
20 toadlets were seen leaving north lagoon onto the road and also through
reception woods. Although not the thousands that used to be seen, good to see a
successful breeding season. Roe deer, rabbit and hare can all be seen on sight
and several visitors have been lucky enough to spot fawns hiding in the
vegetation. Otters are more evasive but north marsh seems to be the nest area.
Since mid- June a number of grass snakes
have been seen swimming in the marshes or out on the grass heaps sunning
themselves, the refugia along the nature trail a popular place to see them.
The BBC Look North crew spent a number of days filming at
the reserve in late May so they started off the month by showcasing the reserve
on their own Springwatch style clip, on the back of which we saw a number of
visitors come to the reserve for the first, but hopefully not the last time.
