Summer at Tophill

A mixed bag of weather has defined the summer months of July and August at the reserve, with scorching hot days followed quickly by plunging temperatures and cool northerly winds interspersed with heavy rain showers. Some would say a typical British summer. On the reserve we have had the familiar resident species breed and migrants start to pass through on their way south to their wintering grounds.

Small tortoiseshell by Margaret Boyd

Resident blackbird by Margaret Boyd

Successes on the breeding front in the woodland have been great tit, blue and coal tits all feeding young. Robin youngsters, in their less obvious speckled plumage, have been seen from the main path up to reception, along with a very endearing family of wrens. A young tree creeper was confirmation of breeding, similarly a young great spotted woodpecker, both around reception woods and the feeders. Less obvious have been the warblers and their youngsters but earlier signs of nesting building and frantic activity back and forward with food to nesting areas would show that willow warbler, chiff chaff, blackcap and common whitethroat have all bred across the reserve. Our bird ringing team carrying out their regular sessions in south scrub have also caught juvenile birds, the most worthy of note was a family of 6 coal tit youngsters and a juvenile marsh tit. The marsh tit was good to see as there have been few sightings in the woodland this year. Blackbird, song thrush, chaffinch, greenfinch and goldfinch all seem to be in good numbers, hopefully reflecting a successful breeding season. It appears the tawny owls in reception wood had just the one chick this year, the barn owls at the north end were unsuccessful with their first brood, it’s hoped that they will have a second brood.

Common tern by Maurice Dowson

The two pairs of marsh harriers that were nesting, one either end of the reserve have both raised young that have fledged. The pair that bred at north marsh had three chicks that were filmed on the nearby tree soon after being airborne, the pair at the south end have possibly raised two young, although sightings of both together have not been noted. Similarly, two pairs of buzzards look like they have bred, one at each end of the reserve: O woods and D woods. The latter pair and their youngster can be seen regularly feeding at Hempholme, especially now that the grass has been cut and the meadow is more visible. There has been a young juvenile sparrowhawk flying around the car park and reception woods in the last couple of weeks, making a lot of screeching noises to attract visitor’s attention. Hobbies have been seen throughout the summer, so we hope that they have been breeding birds too.

The two broods of kingfishers that have successfully fledged have certainly been wowing the visitors, many of which come specifically to see these iconic water birds. They have not left disappointed as across the reserve birds can be seen, often more than one at a time. One visitor saw the family of five in north lagoon which must have been within hours of the birds fledging. So, whether it’s been a member who has been watching the birds feed at an early hour or an excitable family attending one of our family workshops, the kingfishers have drawn in visitors.

Kingfisher caught by Graham Scott

Our family workshops ran for two weeks, on five days, leading to 50 local families coming along to experience the wildlife we have at the reserve through the different activities that make up the workshops. Mostly families come from the local area and are new to the reserve so it has been great to welcome new visitors and engage with them, hopefully they will return.

Pond dipping is popular with families

There have been successes and failures with the populations of water birds. We know that both the pair of mute swans on north lagoon and the pair of little ringed plovers on south marsh were predated, probably by mink. Oystercatchers, greylag and Canada geese fared better, south marsh is now very noisy with geese, following on from the black headed gull colony; adults and chicks have now moved to feed on the surrounding farmland, coming back to roost on the reservoirs. Two pairs of common tern still have young on south marsh this week. Tufted duck, mallard and gadwall all have juveniles, making identification quite tricky alongside the adult birds which are now in eclipse plumage as they moult their flight feathers. A pair of water rail chicks have been out feeding on north marsh, giving good views and it appears another pair of water rail have bred on the south marshes. Moorhen and coot have bred, so too little grebe; currently two chicks can be seen from south marsh. Twenty nest holes in the sand martin bank appeared to have been used at south marsh west.

Common sandpiper by Maurice Dowson

As wading birds finish breeding further north, they start their migration, stopping off on passage. The first to be noted were 40 lapwings on 6^th July, followed by black tailed godwit and green sandpiper on the 8^th.  2 greenshank on the 10^th, 1 common sandpiper on 12^th, a single ruff on the 16^th along with a flock of around 300 lapwing, all on south marsh. Snipe and black tailed godwit were seen on 24^th July and on 26^th 2 spoonbill flew in to roost but only stayed overnight, to be replaced by a great white egret on 27^th which stayed till 31^st July. A juvenile little ringed plover was seen on 3^rd August on south marsh and 6 on Watton on 7^th. Throughout this time there were regular sightings of green and common sandpiper and greenshank on Watton. A cuckoo was another species seen passing through at Hempholme on 12^th August and a black necked grebe on D reservoir on 14^th -16th. 6 black tailed godwits and 2 ringed plovers were spotted on 16^th, along with 3 little ringed plovers. A juvenile garganey was on south marsh on 17^th and has been seen subsequently on a number of occasions. A ruff and 7 curlew were on south marsh on 27^th and a juvenile knot was walking around on the “O” reservoir road quite oblivious to visitors on 27^th. Dunlin have been seen, the top number of 14 at one time and 5 little stint on 29^th in addition to 2 little gulls on the 22^nd August on south marsh.

In the last few weeks coot numbers have been building on D reservoir and latterly tufted duck, pochard and goldeneye along with great crested grebe numbers have also increased. Hirundines have been feeding over D reservoir in the last week as temperatures have dropped.

There have been regular sightings of otter, mostly on north marsh in the early hours but also during the day and on north lagoon. Roe deer are constantly present, a pair regularly been seen in reception woods and along the path in front of reception hide. We have a study looking at stoats and these have been caught on camera around reception woods. Grass snakes have not been regularly seen but one of the volunteers uncovered a large individual (approximately 1.5m) when moving some wooden posts in the grassland around O reservoir.

Roe deer by Maurice Dowson

On the days which have been warmer and less windy there have been several species of butterfly across the reserve. Species that have been spotted over the summer, adding to those seen in the spring have been ringlet, gatekeeper, small copper, brown angus, marbled white and silver washed fritillary. Dragonfly species in flight during August have been southern and migrant hawker, ruddy darters, emperor dragonflies and emerald damselfly

Marbled white by Margaret Boyd

As we move into September and cooler weather then the changeover of birds continues as birds start to move between breeding and wintering sites. If you visit the reserve and do not get a chance to pass on your records then please leave a note in the sightings books at reception hide so that we can add your valuable sightings to our database. Your help with this matter is greatly appreciated.