Hope for redshank to return
LAST WEDNESDAY I collected tubes from our latest water shrew survey from around the reedbeds and drainage ditches of the reserve. To detect water shrew activity we put out short sections plastic pipe with one end capped and bait them with fly pupae from the fishing shop. The shrews dine and leave droppings, alerting us that they are still frequenting those areas of the reserve. While wading through the lost reedbed, which is off limits to the public, I flushed over 60 snipe - a few every time I found another water shrew tube!
Wednesday was our sunny break in a dreary week of rain. Walking round the reserve at the end of the day I had some stunning views of several species in glorious late afternoon sunshine. First was a close encounter with one of the local red kites which circled low over the reedbed showing its plumage well. Next was a back lit reed bunting perched at the top of the reed stems I spotted from the Reedbed hide. At the Scrape hide a male kingfisher just to the left of the hide positively glowed while a second kingfisher flashed along the back of the area. The last of the sunshine lit five snipe feeding frantically on the near edge of the wet grassland from the Ramsar hide.
On Saturday morning Guide in the Hide Russ spotted a redshank from the Ramsar hide in the rain. I was thrilled to hear this as redshank are looking for nesting areas now. There were several pair of breeding redshank at WWT Arundel in the late ‘70s but disappeared by the early 80’s. We created the wet grassland areas between the Lapwing and Ramsar hides to attract waders like redshank, snipe and lapwing. Breeding lapwings numbers increased from 5 to 9 pairs last year and we have had record numbers of snipe visit this winter. The return of breeding redshank to the reserve would be full marks for the habitat revitalization project.
Around the reserve: Chiffchaffs returning from Southern Europe and Africa, an oystercatcher has at the Sand Martin hide where a pair bred last year, little egrets frequenting the Ramsar hide.
