Recent Wildlife Sightings 30th March - 5th April

Highlights: Little Gull, Little Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, Orange-Tip Butterfly

It was a week of tiny birds on Saline Lagoon, starting with the arrival of a Little Gull last weekend. At around 2/3 the size of a Black-Headed Gull, this species certainly lives up to its name. Despite only passing through this country on its spring migration to Scandinavia, this bird liked our lagoon so much that it decided to stick around for almost a week (so far at least!). It even told a friend about our reserve, with a second Little Gull arriving on Thursday to the delight of photographers waiting to snap one swooping about over the water.

Even smaller than the Little Gull, a Little Ringed Plover has also visited Saline Lagoon regularly this week since Monday. Blending in very well with the muddy island it was feeding on, this dainty wading bird will be well hidden from predators when it (hopefully) breeds here this summer. One pair bred successfully last year, likely owing to the fact that they are very good parents and will courageously defend their young, despite their diminutive stature.

On the same island as the Little Ringed Plover, a Common Sandpiper made an appearance on Thursday, bobbing up and down (a.k.a. 'teetering') in an amusing see-saw motion. Another wading bird, the Common Sandpiper is a bit more active than the Little Ringed Plover, showing its energy by darting around the shallow water in search of small insects to feed on. The sharp angular shoulder patch between the contrasting white underparts and brown upperparts is a key identification feature that distinguishes it from other Sandpiper species.

A colourful array of butterflies were seen on the reserve this week. The first male Orange-Tip was spotted clinging to a reed near Swan's Nest Maze. Other new butterfly appearances this week include a Speckled Wood on Northern Loop and a male Brimstone near Wiggly Wood, the latter of which is quite easy to identify from a flash of their bright yellow-green wings. In the reptile world, more Common Lizard were sighted basking in the brief sunshine we had this week.

More signs of new life emerging were about, with a clutch of Gadwall chicks hatching this week in Europe Pen. Near Heron's Wing Hide, you might spot the elastic ball-shaped nest of a Long-Tailed Tit, built out of lichen and cobwebs to allow it to expand as their chicks hatch and grow.

The Long-Tailed Duck spent even more time in Europe Pen, to the delight of photographers wanting to capture this scarce wintering bird close up before it heads off to breed in the arctic circle this summer. Another bird that won't be around for much longer, the Pallid Harrier, made several more appearances, seen hunting over the Saltmarsh from British Steel Hide and above Deep Water Lake. Considerably faster than the Pallid Harrier, visitors had views of a Peregrine attempting to catch one of the approximately 800 Black-Tailed Godwit on Dafen Scrapes. Also on the Saltmarsh was the White-Fronted Goose, first spotted last Friday, which has barely moved from its favourite feeding spot this week.

Featured photo credit: Jay Thomas