Wildlife sightings for 26th May 2015
7 Common Tern - main lake, reservoir lagoon shingle islands
2 Little Ringed plover - wader scrape
1 Kingfisher - flew across main lake
40 Swift - site count
1 Red Kite - circled over site before heading SW @ 10.50hrs
1 Buzzard
1 Pochard brood - 5 ducklings
1 Common Sandpiper – marsh
1 Wheatear – marsh
May bird highlights: Bittern, Wood Sandpiper, Little Egret, Ring-necked Duck, Garganey, Hobby, Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, Redshank, Jack Snipe, Common Snipe, Common Tern, Yellow-legged Gull, Cuckoo, Kingfisher, Yellow Wagtail, Wheatear, Whinchat, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat.
Most of the spring birds have arrived in the form of Chiffchaff, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat, Sand Martin, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Swift, Little Ringed Plover and Redshank, as well as other migrants stopping off or passing through like Black-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Mediterranean Gull, Swallow, Willow Warbler, Redstart and Wheatear. In addition to the muddy pools and ditch edges of the marsh, the wader scrape is now being flooded and drained over a weekly period to bring in a few interesting waders. Lapwings have their first chicks with several more pairs sitting on eggs on the marsh and scrape.
Reptiles: Survey results from 16th May: Slow Worm: 16 juvenile, 4 male, 8 female. Grass Snake: 2 male.
Butterflies and other insects: Green Hairstreak, Red Admiral, Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White, Large White, Small Copper, Peacock, Speckled Wood, Comma, Holly Blue, Orange-tip, Green-veined White, 7-Spot Ladybird, Bee-Fly, Miner Bee, White-tailed Bumblebee, Buff-tailed Bumblebee, Common Carder Bee, Silver Y Moth.
Flowering plants: Primrose, Red Dead-Nettle, Colts-foot, Marsh Marigold, Lesser Celandine, Bulbous Buttercup, Cowslip, Blackthorn, Wild Cherry, Wood Anemone, Sweet Violet, Bluebell, Cuckoo Flower.
