Recent Sightings 25th - 30th April
Highlights - Grasshopper Warbler, Pochard ducklings, Cuckoo, Dunlin, Otter, Oxe-eye Daisy and Dragonflies.
Millennium Wetlands
Our favourite highlight from this week has to be the brood of pochard ducklings on deep water lake! Nine species of warbler are out on the reserve, including the more uncommon grasshopper warbler. Some of the easier to spot are the chiffchaff and blackcap around the northern loop, but if you head down to the reed bed you can hear a cacophony of reed and sedge warblers too. Otters are still visiting deep water lake regularly and there are now over forty black-headed gull nests on the stone islands. We've had sightings of a few shrew species and grass snakes this week, and hairy dragonflies and broad bodied chasers have emerged. Its lovely to see the ox-eye daisy coming up - it should be in flower soon. Finally, a pair of cuckoos have been very active, the best place to see them is around the junction at the lily pond.
Saline and Freshwater Lagoon
We've had a lot of curlew at high tide this week with some whimbrel and dunlin in amongst them. It would be wrong not to mention the sheer number of number of shelduck on site, you can spot them in their pairs with the male having a larger and redder bill. There are lots of greylag gosling and mallard duckling broods on the freshawater lagoon and also some in the grounds that you can easily spot.
