Photo of a pair of Gadwall Cheers David

Record shot of a Wood Sandpiper! Cheers David

Record shot of a Greenshank Cheers David

It’s been an excellent week, with the dry, un-seasonally hot weather lowering water levels and exposing more muddy margins for waders on No.4 bed Friday saw a male Hen Harrier reported flying over No.1 bed, while counts of Black-necked Grebes across Beds 3 and 4 indicated that at least 20 pairs were settled, many of which were visibly on nests. Tuesday then produced a nice flurry of waders on No.4 bed, with a Turnstone flying through and five Wood Sandpipers, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, two Ringed Plovers and two Little Ringed Plovers feeding out on the mud. With the emergence of so many dragonflies Hobby is now a daily sighting, hawking for dragonflies over No.4 bed as they rise on the warming air. Record shot of a Wood Sandpiper Cheers David Bowman (with Dan Owen, Helen Wynn, Brian Baird and Ciara Bass)

Photo of a Black-necked Grebe Cheers David

Photo of a Swift

Cheers David

Yesterday brought some excitement to the Reserve, as David Spencer found a rare avian visitor on No.4 bed. He heard the distinctive fluting song of a Golden Oriole coming from the flooded woodland at the southern end of the wetland. Although the males, which this was, are Blackbird-sized and bright canary yellow, they are incredibly skulking and hard to see. They are summer migrants, wintering in Africa and breeding across temperate and southern continental Europe. After hours of diligent searching he eventually managed to see it and let other people know. We then spent a pleasant evening in the sunshine watching it, in some distant tall Willows, feeding on large caterpillars. Despite a frosty, dawn arrival this morning we were unable to relocate it, which is typical, as they rarely stay long before re-orienting themselves and heading back south. This was only the third record for the Reserve and a welcome addition to the year’s list. Other sightings over the two days included Wood Sandpiper, 2 Whinchats, Barn Owl, Little Egret and Yellow-legged Gull. Photo of Shelduck in courtship chase. Cheers David Bowman (with Dan Owen, David Spencer et al)

The Spotted Flycatcher which was reported from No.3 bed yesterday brought the Reserve bird list to 143 species so far this year, which is an excellent total for the beginning of May. This morning saw a change in the weather, with the fresh, cool wind swinging to the north-west and overcast skies for most of the morning. These are ideal conditions for causing aerial feeders to pause their migration and congregate over good feeding sites and such was the case today, with counts across Beds 3 and 4 of 300 Swifts, 175 House Martins, 85 Sand Martins and 75 Swallows. A trickle of waders added to the interest on No.4 bed, with 1 Wood Sandpiper, 2 Black-tailed Godwits, 1 Common Sandpiper, 4 Little Ringed Plovers, 1 Oystercatcher and 1 Snipe, along with 2 adult Mediterranean Gulls and 2 Egyptian Geese. Our Black-necked Grebes continue to move in mysterious ways, with numbers on No.4 bed dropping to around 21 and at least 10 moving over onto No.3 bed. As ever, we’ll get a better handle on our breeding population when the broods start to appear, which shouldn’t be too long now. Photo of a Lapwing Cheers David Bowman (with Dan Owen, Helen Wynn and Brian Baird)