Latest sightings
Kingfisher activity
Kingfisher Hide Lots of activity from the Kingfishers. Two birds both with pale bases to the bill have been excavating this morning. The Lapwing are very active over the new pieces with over 20 birds displaying. A Little Grebe and several Gadwall were
18 March 2017
Last bits of Winter
Over the last few days we've seen the last few grasps of Winter start to loosen their grip on the reserve. It looks as though all the Pintail have now departed, as have the last six Bewick's Swans. Other winter flocks are also dropping as we're down t
17 March 2017
Avocet increase and yesterday's WeBS count
South Lake The wader scrape continues to be a busy place with 56 Avocet, 238 Black-tailed Godwit, 18 Lapwing (two male nest scraping) 13 Ruff, 9 Snipe, 6 Oystercatcher (three pairs), Spotted Redshank (afternoons), 3 Redshank, Little Stint and 40 Dunlin.
13 March 2017
Black is in
Firstly, our apologies. Our Reserve Team have been off site for a few days this week so we've been unable to get sightings news out in our usual way. The six Bewick's Swans are still here, the family of five plus our lost cygnet we've named Slightly,
10 March 2017
Last of the swans
Last Swans Six Bewick's Swans remain on the reserve today, the lone cygnet had loosely joined the family of five in the entrance fields. The cygnet was back on the Rushy Pen and sleeping at midday. Tack Piece 157+ E.White-fronted Geese fed in the hollows
6 March 2017
Today's sightings
Holden Tower Male Goshawk through at 1.15pm and then hunting the bottom New Piece. 6 Pied Wagtail, 2 Reed Bunting, 6 Skylark and 30 Meadow Pipit feeding around the pool. 25 Great Black-backed Gull over high tide + 80 Shelduck. 40 Dunlin and a Little Stint
5 March 2017
Lost Cygnet !
Rushy Only the lone Bewick`s Swan Cygnet on the pond this morning, Still a good number of Duck including 60 Pintail, 80 Tufted Duck and 36 Pochard. South lake High water levels after yesterdays rain, a dense flock of 203 Black Tailed Godwit were roosting
4 March 2017
Today's sightings
The Bewick's Swans are down to just 6 birds, a family of five and a seemingly lost cygnet. The family of five have spent most of the morning on the Tundra Pen in the collection, next to the Eider Pen. South Lake Hides Just one pair of Oystercatchers wer
3 March 2017
Today's sightings
Rushy Hide & Peng Observatory We're down to 23 Bewick's Swans this morning, with just 11 on the Rushy for the feed. The rest of the flock had already made their way out on to the Dumbles. Also present were a pair of Oystercatcher, a single Redshan
2 March 2017
Today's sightings
Holden Tower & Walkway The Spotted Redshank was on the Tack Piece this morning with 2 Redshank and a few Lapwing. The flock of 162 White-fronted Geese were grazing here too. Other birds included 7 Cranes, 17 Curlew, 8 Shoveler, 29 Pintail and arou
1 March 2017
Further Bewick's Swan and Lapwing departures
Dunlin now outnumber Lapwing on the reserve, the latter species has departed in numbers this week. Rushy Pen 51 Bewick's Swans present this morning with another family of 5 out in the fields. 140+ Pintail, 80 Pochard, 120 Tufted Duck and two Cranes pres
28 February 2017
Further Bewick's Swan departures
Rushy Pen With more birds leaving overnight we are down to 64 Bewick's Swans at the roost this morning. Last night 114 were present at 6.15pm (see pic below). The top lake held 100 Pochard and 150 Tufted Duck with 147 Pintail also present. Oystercat
27 February 2017
Departures
It was pretty clear that an number of species had left the reserve over the weekend, a couple of hundred Lapwing were all I could find with the only flocks being on the South Lake wader scrape (50), Rushy (20) and Bottom New Piece (20), on the plus side i
26 February 2017
First Bewick`s Swans Depart
Bewick's swan in flight (photo by Colin Butters) Rushy Just 65 Bewicks here this morning and another 25 on the Dumbles, so looking like we lost about 70 Swans last night. Still good numbers of Duck here with 120 Pinta
25 February 2017
Gale force
Storm Doris is certainly giving us some windy conditions this morning, but thankfully the rain cleared early on. Many bird are taking shelter but there is still a great selection around to see. South Lake Hides The flock of Avocet were huddled tightly t
23 February 2017