Beautiful bluebells and wonderful wildlife ponds
At this time of year, things are changing daily on the reserve.
On 3 May, the first bluebells started to flower in the dappled shade of Spring Gill Wood. At the moment, the gill is definitely the place to be if you enjoy flowering flora, as wood sorrel and primrose are in full bloom.
Today, it looks like three more pairs of avocet have started to settle on Tern Island alongside the original, with a fifth pair scraping a nest earlier this week. It is looking hopeful then that we’ll have a bumper year - with a record five pairs of avocet nesting on site!
The second batch of frog and toad spawn is starting to hatch down at the wildlife ponds and the best spot to watch this from is the boardwalk overlooking the amphibian pond.
Spring migrants are arriving in force - reed warbler and sedge warbler both singing in the filter reedbed, as well as common whitethroat, willow warbler, chiffchaff, blackcap, swallow, house martin and sand martin regularly heard and seen across site.
We have also seen an influx of lesser redpoll, siskin and crossbill on site, as they move north to their breeding grounds.
By John Gowland, reserve manager.
