Photo of a drake Pochard Cheers David

Photo of a Mediterranean Gull Cheers David

Photo of a Mediterranean Gull Cheers David

Photo of a Mediterranean Gull Cheers David

Photo of a drake Garganey Cheers David

Photo of a drake Garganey Cheers David

With the main flush of spring migration over, it was interesting to see how our static sound recorders kept picking up species which otherwise we wouldn’t have known about. Over the past few days, these have included Grey Plover and Green Woodpecker. The latter used to be a regular sighting at the eastern end of the Reserve, breeding on Lymm Golf Course till a lot of the large trees were removed, since when they have been a less than annual sighting. The three drake Garganey which were so conspicuous earlier in the week, seemed to be absent this morning, though they can be very skulking. At least two Cuckoos were still calling, though keeping mainly in cover. Sightings from No.4 bed included two Ringed Plovers and a Little Egret, while on No.3 bed the pair of Mediterranean Gulls are still on a nest, the long-suffering male Lapwing which haunts the Morgan Hide scrape has finally attracted a female, which was sitting on three eggs and the Black-headed Gull colony has suddenly increased to maybe 200 pairs. The pair of Marsh Harriers is still at a presumed nest site, though they did give cause for concern when they started frantically dive-bombing an unseen predator right by the nest. We were, though, eventually reassured to see the female settle back in, carrying a fresh sprig of vegetation. Photo of a drake Garganey Cheers David Bowman (with Dan Owen, Helen Wynn, Brian Baird and Ben Secker)

Photo of a Broad-bodied Chaser Cheers David

Photo of a Small Yellow Underwing. Cheers David

It’s been a good week for variety, with reports of Redstart, Quail, Whimbrel and Golden Plover. The latter three were all identified by call from our static sound recorders, which are proving to be invaluable. This morning started well, too, with three newly arrived drake Garganey, two on No.4 bed and one on No.3. At least four but probably five Cuckoos were also present and calling, spread across three beds, a heartening recovery over the past couple of years after a long period of decline. The No.3 bed pair of Mediterranean Gulls still look very settled on the nest and were joined by a pair of second-summer birds, which John Tymon watched mating alongside the nesting pair. Fears of our Black-headed Gull colony continuing its downward trend after the previous depredations of Bird Flu have been somewhat assuaged, with at least 120 pairs on nests in No.3 bed and a few pairs still on No.4 bed. Aerial feeders were well represented on No.4 bed, with 100 Swifts and low double figure counts of all three hirundines. Although most of the morning had been cool and overcast, it started to warm by late morning and singles of Broad-bodied Chaser, Azure Damselfly and Small Yellow Underwing moth were recorded, the latter a scarcity on the Reserve. Photo of a Black-necked Grebe Cheers David Bowman (with Dan Owen)

It was a warmish morning and between us we managed to cover all four beds, trudging around six miles in the process. There was little sign of movement, with a Dunlin on one of the No.3 bed nest rafts and a handful of Swifts, Swallows and Sand Martins the only things of note. On days like this the focus shifts to counting our breeding birds and doing surveys of butterflies and dragonflies. Our potentially first nesting pair of Mediterranean Gulls continues to shuttle back and forth between the nest on one of the rafts and the Morgan Hide scrape, where they gather fresh greenery for lining the nest. There also seems to have been a bit of a resurgence in our Black-headed Gull breeding colony, with maybe 100 pairs now present. Our first two broods of Coot also appeared, with five on No.2 bed and three on No.1 bed. The birding highlights, though came from the warblers, with two Grasshopper Warblers reeling on No.4 bed and 14 Garden Warblers in song across the whole Reserve. The morning’s surprise, though, came when we shifted our focus to dragonflies and sharp-eyed Dan spotted our earliest ever Red-eyed Damselfly on No.2 bed. The morning never really warmed up enough for a high count of dragonflies, though we did find three Large Red Damselflies and 13 Azure Damselflies on No.1 bed. Ditto for our butterflies, though Red Admirals have started to appear, with four noted. Photo of a Large Red Damselfly Cheers David Bowman (with Dan Owen, Helen Wynn and Brian Baird)