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"Seconds out, round two..." should be the cry as the ruff at Burton Mere Wetlands are duking it out! Don't worry though as their version of the duking it out is actually more of an showy dance. These fascinating birds become rather odd-looking at this time of year as their breeding hormones...

Hello All, A few photos of recent trips to Elmley below. Wellmesh pool which has been allowed to dry because of Blue Green Algae. The Flying Dutchman Ruff Whinchat Cygnets And Mum taking time out Wood Sandpipers Little Stint alone and with a LRP....

Hello All, We had a good march around the reserve on Saturday. First is a record shot of a colour-ringed Spoonbill as mentioned in Gordon's blog Grey Heron Sky Lark Meadow Pipit Green Sandpiper Ruff Reed Warbler Peregrine And finally...

Another 2 weeks has passed & still no joy in getting onto the RSPB website at Elmley - a real conundrum. I have been sent another possible fix that I will try when I return to Kingshill Farm, but I'm currently at Northward Hill, hence the chance for a further up-date about what's hip &...

Hello All, Below are some photos from Elmley last week. Two immature Spoonbill dropped in very briefly Common Sandpiper Green Sandpiper Ruff Avocet Chick Hobby with unfortunate victim. Kestrel Greylag Family And finally...

A quick update on the action at Blacktoft today (Saturday 16th July). Marsh harriers - those young marsh harriers were fooling around all day down at Singleton. Also first chick spotted in bush at the back of First (hopefully see more of these tomorrow!). Sandpipers - Marsh sandpiper present for...

I thought that we'd got rid of it, but once again certain bits of the reserve are experiencing a "bloom" of blue-green algae. It's not actually an alga at all, as it's "proper" name is cyanobacteria. These are photosynthesising bacteria, that can affect water quality when...

First of all, apologies for the lack of blog up-dates in the past week or so - for some reason I've been unable to access the RSPB website from here and so haven't been able to add anything. Not that there hasn't been anything happening! As people may have seen from the Forum comments...

WARNING: THIS BLOG CONTAINS IMAGES THAT SOME VIEWERS MAY FIND DISTRESSING I made a comment on the forum about the diversity of some birds of prey diets. Not so the peregrine. It's almost exclusively feeds on other birds, usually caught on the wing. According to Birds of the Western Palearctic...

Having been away over the bank holiday at Spurn Bird Obs (am I the only person in the world not to have seen "that" dress?) and only now seeming to get 10 minutes to myself since my return, I thought it was about time that we had a bit of a catch up. The drought continues: there was 0.3mm...

NOT a quote from a Monty Python sketch, but another bizarre occurence for the Elmley warden. I'd experienced a bit of car trouble today and having got back to the reserve was slightly concerned by the smell of "overheating car" when I got out. Lifting the bonnet, I noticed 2 things: firstly...

Plenty of stuff around for the good numbers of visitors that visited Elmley over the weekend. Where to start? The 3 spoonbills remained faithful to the Flood most of the time, although they can sometimes be difficult to see when they choose to feed in the deeper channels. Still at least 3 garganey...