Spring is on its way despite the snow
This week has seen the arrival of a couple of willow warblers on the reserve and our chiffchaff count is now up to at least 4 birds singing. We have seen the start of the hirundine arrivals with sightings of swallows, house martins, and sand martins with a dozen swallows been seen briefly in the middle of the week. Of course our skylarks are now in good voice across the merse and the tree sparrows are starting to show signs of nesting. There are about 50 whooper swans hanging on at Thwaite just outside the reserve and about 90 pink-footed geese have been seen today. Although we only saw 240 barnacle geese on the reserve we think there are approximately 1000 in the area.
Photo credit: Alex Hillier
Around the reserve:
Mute Swans 6 (1 pair nesting, 1 pair showing interest)
Canada Geese 6
Barnacle Geese 240 on the reserve (but 1000 in surrounding area)
Pink-footed Geese 90
Shelduck 3
Mallard 29
Wigeon 6
Teal 46
Gadwall 4
Shoveler 16
Tufted Duck 15
Moorhen 5
Little Egret 7
Grey Heron 1
Lapwing 25
Golden Plover 200
Black-tailed Godwit 2
Redshank 60
Black-headed Gull 18
Rookery 62 nests
