Stormy week
Despite several stormy days this last week there has been plenty to see on the reserve.
Despite several stormy days this last week there has been loads to see on the reserve. The skies have been teeming with barnacle geese, lapwing, curlew, redshank, golden plover and oyster catchers. The hedges buzzing with yellowhammers, bullfinches, sparrows, greenfinch, goldfinch and redwing.
A real treat for the reserve team this week was heading out onto the merse where a skylark chorus was filling the sky while they hovered busily across the saltmarsh, scoping out breeding sites for later in the year. A ringtail hen harrier was spotted yesterday quartering over the flood ground and was clearly visible from Campbell hide. Two otter sightings have excited our volunteers and visitors, one from teal pond hide and one from the whooper pond. It is also lovely to see the juvenile whooper swans starting to develop the yellow on their bills and their grey plumage turning to white.
Unable to visit us in person or missing your daily fix of swans, waders, and badgers’ antics, then click on the link below to check out our webcam which is set on the Whooper pond during the day, and then set to view the badger feeding area from 5pm onwards.
Photo credit: Alex Hillier
https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/caerlaveroc...
This week's high tide times are:
Sat 19/02- 14:02 - 9.4 m
Sun 20/02- 14:36- 9.3 m
Mon 21/02- 15:12- 9.2 m
Tues 22/02- 15:51- 8.9 m
Wed 23/02- 16:37- 8.5 m
Thur 24/02- 17:38- 8.0 m
Fri 25/02- 19:04- 7.6 m
As well as this week's highlights, you are likely to see the following on the reserve:
Birds | Mammals | Named Whooper Swans | ||
Mute Swan | Hare | Yellow ZHD - Renouf | ||
Greylag geese | Roe Deer | Yellow ZND - Rosie | ||
Canada Geese | Weasel | Yellow ZLD - McMurdoston | ||
Shelduck | Stoat | Orange XLX - Linda Graham | ||
Mallard | Fox | Yellow ZLS - Handel | ||
Gadwall | Otter | Yellow ZXP - Mary | ||
Shoveler | Badger | Red APR - Elsie Barbara | ||
Teal | Orange YFB - Eric Anthony | |||
Moorhen | Yellow ZHV - Wampool | |||
Cormorant | Yellow ZJS - Hendrik | |||
Little Egret | Orange YSJ - Sheldon Whooper | |||
Grey Heron | Orange YTF - Odette | |||
Buzzard | Orange XKU - Solway Siren | |||
Kestrel | Orange XLL - Chris | |||
Peregrine Falcon | Yellow ZLA - Beatrice | |||
Merlin | Yellow ZJI - Indigo Montoya | |||
Sparrowhawk | Yellow ZJX - Polly | |||
Golden Plover | Yellow ZVL - Nobby Nobkin | |||
Oystercatcher | Yellow ZNP - Lucky Linda | |||
Lapwing | Orange XLD - Donald Ivan | |||
Common Sandpiper | Yellow ZFV - Giffnock | |||
Redshank | Yellow ZLP - Keith John | |||
Black-tailed Godwit | Yellow ZNC - Rowena Two | |||
Curlew | Yellow ZSB - Sugar Baby | |||
Snipe | Yellow ZPY - Sigurdswan | |||
Black-headed Gull | Yellow ZJH - Aspen | |||
Common Gull | Yellow ZJN - Nado | |||
Herring Gull | Yellow ZVC - Ava-Grace | |||
Great Black Backed Gull | Orange XLJ - Bernard | |||
Wood Pigeon | Yellow ZJZ - Snoopy | |||
Collared Dove | Yellow ZLJ - TJ Whooper | |||
Great Spotted Woodpecker | Yellow ZNA - George | |||
Skylark | Yellow ZNU - Janis | |||
Yellowhammer | ||||
Redwing | ||||
Fieldfare | ||||
Meadow Pipit | ||||
Pied Wagtail | ||||
Dunnock | ||||
Robin | ||||
Song Thrush | ||||
Blackbird | ||||
Greenfinch | ||||
Goldfinch | ||||
Wren | ||||
Great Tit | ||||
Coal Tit | ||||
Blue Tit | ||||
Long-tailed Tit | ||||
Treecreeper | ||||
Jackdaw | ||||
Rook | ||||
Carrion Crow | ||||
Raven | ||||
Starling | ||||
House Sparrow | ||||
Tree Sparrow | ||||
Chaffinch | ||||
Linnet | ||||
Twite |