More than one year after she escaped from Marwell Zoo, and almost ten months after her visit to Minsmere, Fiona the wandering greater flamingo returned to the Scrape for at least her fifth visit on Tuesday. After so long in the wild, without access to food supplements to enhance her colour, she's still looking remarkably pink. We know she she has spent most of the last three months dividing her time between Orford Ness NT and RSPB Havergate Island, so presumably there are plenty of pigment-rich invertebrates in the saline lagoons on these two sites.
Fiona was still present today. How long will she stay this time? Where will she go next?
The drake and redhead smew have been joined today by a second redhead (female-type bird) on Island Mere - though they often commute to pools behind West Hide or to South Scrape. Otters have been more elusive today - but three were seen for more than an hour yesterday.
There were six Bewick's swans on West Scrape today, with 11 in fields alongside the Westleton-Dunwich Road this morning. Four tundra bean geese were again on the Levels, alongside 18 white-fronts. An avocet on East Scrape and a guillemot on the sea were other highlights today.
Among the resident birds, it's great to hear robins, song thrushes and wrens in song, as well as blue and great tits and Cetti's warblers. Spring must be on it's way.
Talking of garden birds, please don't forget to take part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend.
Just a quick suggestion, would it be possible to have a notice/whats about board in the new mere hide? Its a useful tool for passing on information and sightings as in the other hides.
Thanks for your comment. We have had a couple of similar requests. We are still reviewing whether we will replace the white board in the hide. There is very little space for it in the hide. We aim to provide updates in the visitor centre so that visitors know where to head when they arrive, and often find that information written on the white boards does not then get reported to our visitors. We are also trying to provide volunteers in the busier hides at key times so that they can update visitors. We're always looking for new volunteers to help with this work.
Thanks again for your feedback
Ian