On one of the visits I met up with my friend Zoe Edwards who is a part of the Reserve team. Not only was this a nice birding day out but I was also able to learn more about what was happening on the Reserve, including the recent breeding bird monitoring and habitat creation work.Some particuarly exciting news is that the increase in size of the reed bed has successfully encouraged 2 bitterns to take up territory. This may hopefully be the start of regular breeding for this species on the reserve and maybe the other typical reed-bed species will follow.
Over the course of the two visits I saw a good tally of species including: Grasshopper warbler, (1 seen, 3 heard), Lesser whitethroats (2 seen, 2 heard), whimbrel (1), yellow wagtail (1), water rail (1 seen, 2 heard), reed bunting, (6 seen, 1 heard), reed warbler (2 seen, 3 heard), sedge warbler (7 +), redshank (4), Curlew (1) and good numbers of lapwing.
Toads were still calling from the ditches and several Brown hares and (non-native) Reeve's Muntjack showed well.
The meadow at Ruscombe wood is finally coming to life with 4 grass snakes seen including one that was particuarly sluggish in the morning. Butterflies included: small tortoiseshell, peacock, holly blue, speckled wood and cowslips and cuckooflower are in bloom. 2 common and pgymy shrew were also found under the corrugated iron sheets.
A brief and unofficial newt survey of the newly estblished pond in the grounds of the Piggott school yielded 7 smooth newts, which was encouraging for such a new pond.
No comments:
Post a Comment