Recent Sightings (23rd- 26th Sep)
British Steel Hide
The undoubted highlight of the past few days has to be a Scottish ringed juvenile Osprey (25th) that graced the specially made platform and then proceeded to fly directly over the British Steel hide with its recently caught prey, much to the delight of those in the hide at the time! The juvenile Red-necked Phalarope is still pecking away on the NRA scrapes and seems rather content with the company of ducks. Waders on the saline lagoons have included up to 5 Bar-tailed Godwits, a Whimbrel, 3 Golden Plover, 2 Ruff and a Spotted Redshank. Counts of 1133 Black-tailed Godwits, 220 Knot, 176 Redshank, 53 Greenshank, 33 Dunlin, 320 Curlew and 17 Lapwing have been recorded within the last few days from the hide. Wildfowl are still to be found in good numbers from the hide. 172 Greylag Geese, 2 Canada Geese, 165 Mallard, 26 Teal, 93 Wigeon, 8 Tufted Ducks, 11 Gadwall, 4 Great Crested Grebes (estuary) and 4 Dark-bellied Brent Geese (estuary).
Mixed flocks of Long-tailed, Blue, Great and Coal Tits have been feeding around the trees near the British Steel hide fairly regularly. In amongst these flocks have been Treecreepers, Chiffchaffs, Goldcrests and Blackcaps. Grey Wagtails can be heard flying over the grounds fairly regularly as they often feed around the edges of the collection pools in the mornings.
There has been plenty of Peregrine and Buzzard activity during the past few days as well as a good few sightings of Sparrowhawks, including a young bird trying their luck with a Jay, right in front of the hide.
Millennium Wetlands
Wildfowl counts from Deep Water Lake include 7 Teal, 5 Wigeon, 29 Gadwall, 8 Tufted Ducks, 15 Shoveler, 8 Coot, 2 Moorhens, 9 Mute Swans, 5 Little Grebes. A maximum of 28 Lapwing are still continuing to use the stony island in front of the Peter Scott hide. Skylarks and Meadow Pipits seem to have become more regular in the past week or so. There seems to be a good amount of Long-tailed Tits around the reserve with overall counts of over 60 individuals. There seems to be very good numbers of the more common birds around at the minute. Birds such as Song Thrushes, Jays, Blackbirds and various Finch and Tit species seem to be very numerous.
Other Wildlife
There are lots of signs of our mammals to be found around the reserve, but seeing the actual animals can be very tricky. Recently we have found signs of both Water Voles and Otters around the reserve, so hopefully they will show themselves to some lucky wildlife watchers this winter, when they are slightly easier to spot! There are still a few Butterflies around the reserve including Speckled Woods, Small Coppers and Red Admirals.
