Recent Sightings 23rd April 2024
More summer visitors arrived on the Reserve this week, with a pair of Common terns (pictured) making their presence known by calling loudly to one another over Saline Lagoon. Fishing on the lake using their aerial acrobatics and skillful flying makes it easy to see why they are nicknamed ‘sea-swallow’.
The first Sedge warbler of the year was heard warbling away in the reeds at the Crannog. Arriving from its wintering grounds in Africa, this tiny passerine is hard to spot but easy to hear as it sings loudly in it’s very distinctive voice. Male Sedge warblers never sing the same song twice, adding segments and moving around the arrangement every time they sing in order to impress females with its complexity.
The Wadermarsh and Estuary are hosting lovely numbers of Black-tailed godwit, as they feed on the mudflats until the tide comes in and pushes them into the Wadermarsh to roost. The Brent Hide offers a perfect view of these charismatic waders and their beautiful, russet-orange breeding plumage.
Estuary - visible from the Brent Hide and the Limekiln Observatory
Light-bellied brent goose 10, Black-headed gull 81, Shelduck 4, Little egret 2, Black-tailed godwit 24, Lesser black-backed gull 2
Main lake - visible from Sensory garden and Visitor Centre
Little egret 1, Moorhen 2, Coot 2, Little grebe 2, Gadwall 4, Tufted duck 1, Mallard 3, Teal 2
Shingle Bank - visible from Sensory garden and Visitor Centre
Shoveler 1, Black-headed gull 28, Moorhen 1, Mallard 3
Wadermarsh - visible from Wadermarsh lookout and Brent Hide
Black-tailed godwit 11, Black-headed gull 6, Moorhen 1
Freshwater Lagoon - visible from Brent Hide and Crannóg
Mallard 8 with 10 ducklings, Black-headed gull 12, Coot 2, Gadwall 1, Moorhen 2, Wren, Sedge warbler, Swallow
Saline Lagoon - visible from Limekiln observatory
Gadwall 4, Jackdaw 2, Black-headed gull 4, Common tern 2
Peninsula Saltmarsh
Mallard 1, Wren
Brickworks
Song thrush 1, Jackdaw 2
Limestone Lake
Willow warbler 1, Moorhen 1, Wood pigeon
Woodland
Jackdaw, Woodpigeon, Wren, Chaffinch, Willow warbler, Blackbird, Coal tit, Goldcrest, Robin, Blackcap, Great tit, Blue tit, Raven
