A surprise of ruff
We've returned to a morning of glorious sunshine which is showing off the birds well in the golden light. The main highlight today was a sizeable flock of Ruff which landed amongst the Wigeon on the Top New Piece in front of the Van de Bovenkamp Hide - a total of 54 birds in one flock! The collective noun for Ruff is a Hill, but I much prefer a surprise - as it certainly was! And there are other birds across the reserve, so today's site count is over 60 birds. With so many Ruff around, I couldn't not share on of my favourite photos from last Autumn of a flock from the Rushy.
South Lake Hides
Waders on the scrape included 102 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Ruff, 4 Avocet and 7 Redshank with a small number of Lapwing. The deep lake continues to hold a good variety of species including Shelduck, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Teal, Shoveler and Gadwall. Look out for the Great Crested Grebe and Little Grebe too.
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Rushy Hide
Word has spread about our morning feeds and duck numbers are increasing. This morning saw 21 Pochard, 11 Pintail, 27 Shelduck, 168 Tufted Duck and 198 Teal present with a good number of Mallard too. Several Shoveler were also dotted around the upper pond.
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Zeiss Hide
A flock of 97 Dunlin had already arrived on the Top New Piece scrape, bringing with them a single Little Stint. A single Golden Plover was with the Lapwing and 2 Ruff were feeding along the shoreline being additional birds to the surprise that landed with the carpet of Wigeon in front of the Van de Bovenkamp Hide. The 54 Ruff then flew to the Bottom New Piece, viewed from the Kingfisher Hide to join 27 Curlew and around 80 Lapwing and 200+ Barnacle Geese. A Cetti's Warbler was calling from the reedbed.
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Martin Smith Hide
A Water Rail was seen this morning on the islands being chased by a Moorhen. There were also 5 Curlew on the Tack Piece scrape, viewed from here or the Robbie Garnett Hide. A total of 87 Teal were also present here.
