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After what seems like such a long winter it has been great this last week to see a real arrival of summer migrants. At this time of year the most obvious are the warblers and the hirundines (swallows and martins) As soon at the wind moved into the south there were large numbers of swallows, house and...

With all the dodgy weather about recently, the forecast for this morning looked decent so Georgie and I took the opportunity to get our first survey done. Despite still being early in the season, it is time to start listening for bitterns. A pre-dawn visit ( we were up at 4am) is required but despite...

Since the confirmation of an active bittern nest over the Jubilee Weekend we have been fortunate to have the female feeding in the borrow pits by the main path. Attracted by the large amount of rudd that are present in the pools, she has been showing well at times. This photo, taken recently from the...

The weird weather around this spring has played havoc with the breeding season but finally things are starting to happen. The poor weather in April and May has set back the breeding season by several weeks so we are only just starting to see some interesting activity. After last years peak, avocets...

What with all the wind and rain, the survey season has got off to a frustratingly slow start this year. Fewer avocets have arrived at the reserve compared to last year and as a result we have a lower nest count, which currently stands at eight on the freshwater marsh. The first avocet nest has hatched...

Following the dodgy weather of the Easter break, back to work and conditions improve! Not a bad thing for us as we are now into the thick of the breeding season survey work. With calm conditions this morning we have been able to get out and check the reedbed for bitterns and bearded tits. Unfortunately...

As part of a national monitoring scheme run jointly by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the Hawl and Owl Trust, we have been counting the harriers that roost on the reserve over the last winter. The main aim of the scheme is to get an accurate assesment of the number of hen and marsh harriers...

It’s not very often you can say that these days especially when it comes to birds. Before you get too excited, it involves species that have already been recorded here. While carrying out our woodland bird survey last week, I was walking through Willow Wood (by the dead trees if you are looking...

After getting off to a dodgy start when the first nest was predated, the avocets are now running with leaps and bounds as the number of active nests on the freshmarsh reaches 30! Avocets will lay up to four eggs at 1 to 2 day intervals but will not start incubating until the complete clutch has been...