Latest Sightings
This week on the reserve we've had some lovely sightings, including a Bearded Tit along the nature trail and the Siberian Chiffchaff near the public footpath again. Common Chiffchaff have been heard singing loudly throughout the day as well as in the wonderful Dawn Chorus and the Brambling are still being seen from Janet-Kear Hide. On our early morning goose and swan counts we saw a Tawny Owl sitting low in a tree on the path to Kingfisher and three Roe Deer in front of Ron-Barker Hide. We have also begun the first of our Spring/Summer surveys, starting with Bittern and a Moth Trap survey - unfortunately we haven't heard a Bittern yet but we managed to get three different Moth species which included; Orthosia gothica, CommonQuaker, and Chestnut. One Badger has been seen on our camera trap, as well as the usual suspects such as Roe Deer, Fox, and Hares. On the Mere there are around 100 Black-tailed Godwits, some with breeding colours, 4 Mediterranean Gulls, and plenty of Avocet and Oystercatcher too! Further out on the reserve, past United Utilities are Stonechat and Lapwing - both calling and the latter are beginning to nest. We have rotated the cattle on to Outer Sunley's and Doeyles so they won't be disturbing the Lapwing trying to nest. In the grounds, on the Shelduck Lawn, 3 Great White Egrets have been seen roosting and a Grey Wagtail was seen by the Chilean Flamingos. Next week we will be carrying out the Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS), in which we count every wetland bird we have on the reserve. This will feature on our sightings and precise number can be found on the sightings white board outside the visitor's centre next to the Eider enclosure.
