Afternoon all! I hope that you are well.
The three creatures aren't linked together other than I'm going to tell you about them (just thought I would say that before I started worrying anyone).
The water voles have been showing really well from the same place as last year. As you head out of the visitor centre and go over the bridge, well on the boardwalk there is a little gap in the fence with a poster saying "Ratty lives here" (Ratty, in Wind in the Willows, was a watervole not a rat don't you know) - over the last week we have had amazing views of three water vole! You may need to be patient - keep an eye out on the vegetation, watch for it to move and you may get a glimpse of these adorable but rare mammals.
Lovely water vole picture by Keith Bedford
The kestrels that have been using the box on the pylon in the car park have 4 chicks! Keep an eye out for fluffy heads peaking out over the top of the box!
Aren't they cute!
The second brood of kingfishers hatched on Saturday! The adults have been showing well taking fish into the bank for the young. When they are feeding young is the best time to see them! Here you can see the kingfisher bank. I've labeled where the second brood are, and the hole that they used for their first.
The kingfishers at the Kingfisher Hide have hatched!
Woohoo!
Fab picture by Peter Hewitt
By Joan Childs, Rye Meads Site Manager
Rye Meads is not just about the birds. There are lots of different species from animals to insects to plants. Recently I've been investigating the hoverflies at the reserve.
There are more than 270 species of hoverflies in the UK and we have 78 of them at Rye Meads!
I’ve been working on hoverflies since the end of 2008 when I first got fascinated by them while sitting in an amazing wildflower meadow in France! Not only has it been interesting to find out what species we have on the reserve, but also it’s a great group to interest visitors. For example, many of them mimic bumblebees (one species even comes in a red-tailed and a white-tailed form to mimic two different species of bumblebee), honey bees (one species has false pollen baskets on its legs), wasps and hornets.
(Picture on right is a white-tailed bumblebee mimic hoverfly Criorhina ranunculi, Forge Valley)
This is a hoverfly hornet mimic - Volucella zonaria, picture taken at Bav RiverValley in Les Ascles Forest
You are probably already familiar with the tiger-striped orange and black marmalade hoverfly, our commonest species and one of the few to have an English name, and the black-with-yellow-spots Syrphus species, common in gardens, but as a group they are incredibly varied. There are all black ones, hairy ones and shiny ones, and some that are only a few millimetres long. A couple of Scottish species are so rare that the RSPB undertakes special habitat management for them. Many groups, like butterflies and dragonflies, have been well studied in the UK, but there is still lots to find out about hoverflies. We still don’t know exactly how many there are – we are still splitting and clumping them!
This picture shows the Marmalade hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus, taken on Arne
A few years ago, a species called Platycheirus scutatus was split into three different, but very similar species. I was lucky enough to find two Platycheirus aurolateralis, one of the recently split species, on the reserve this spring – the first time it had been found in Hertfordshire.
Another species, Cheilosia caerulescens, is quite new to Britain – it has come into the country on house leeks in garden centres. This winter, I went down to my local garden centre and bought six of the sickest looking house leeks I could find hoping they had the pupae of this species in the soil beneath the leaves. When I checked them this May, I was very happy to find a female laying eggs on the lower leaves . . . but did she hatch out of a pupae from the soil or come from elsewhere? Some species are very elusive and difficult to find as adults, but easier to find by looking for the larvae or pupae. The larvae have many different lifestyles – some live in stagnant water and breath through a long ‘straw’ at the surface, other larvae eat aphids and are therefore the gardener’s friend. Others live in rot holes in trees, the stems of plants, fungi, poo, or ant nests. They have incredibly varied lifestyles so there’s not a lot of room to get bored!
On the left here you can see the house leek hoverfly Cheilosia caerulescens
Afternoon all!
How are you this fine afternoon?
I was wondering if there was anything you wanted to know (other than what the kingfishers are doing!)? Do you want to know anything about the wildlife, or what/ how we do stuff here? How long something has been here?
What do you want to know for me to blog about?
:) Lou
Last weekend Des, who works for the RSPB based in London, came over to Rye Meads. He was leading a walk, and has written a little something for you!
Visit To Rye MeadsYou know one of the things I like best about Rye Meads is just how easy it is to get there on public transport. Of course there’s Rye House station just a couple of minutes away with its regular service into central London but also on offer are any number of walks along the Lee Navigation. On Saturday, to celebrate Love Nature Week, I led 17 Capital Walkers, one of 9 London Ramblers groups, from Cheshunt station. Starting at 11 am the 5 or so miles of easy walking along the riverbank gets you to Rye House in time for a relaxed lunch before a couple of hours meandering round the reserve.
First up we spied the 7 water buffalo and 4 Konik ponies in the distance, in the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust meadow. The Wildlife Trust have these animals in the meadow to naturally manage the area for breeding waders. Wet meadow is quite a rare habitat, so to have creatures grazing is a great way to manage it, rather than going out there with machinery (and possibly sinking!). Its quite rare to have a wet meadow that has never been used other than for grazing.
Then it was off to the Gadwall Hide to try and catch a glimpse of the kingfishers. The little beauties didn’t disappoint and we were treated to several flashes of electric blue as the birds flew around and about in front of us. For many in our group this was the first time they’d ever seen a kingfisher. We had a great day!
Here you can see the group in the Gadwall hide, looking at the kingfishers!
By Des Garrahan