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Blacktoft Sands |
Recent sightingsMonday, 8 February 2010An ice free weekend with lots of duck and bird of prey action. On the duck front, teal in particular have been very vocal at the moment. Also around are: goldeneye, wigeon, shoveler, tufted duck, pochard and gadwall. Ducks are favouring xerox and ousefleet. Wader wise - snipe, dunlin and curlew have been seen on the reserve. A lone Whooper swan spent a short while on ousefleet on Sunday before joining two mute swans on nearby fields. Ten marsh harriers went into roost on Saturday during our roost watch event and emerged shortly after 9am on the Sunday. Merlin waited until after the event before making an appearance on Saturday - both male and female merlin have been seen throughout these last few days. Two barns owls were out hunting on the reserve from mid-afternoon and lastly the male hen harrier made an appearance twice during Sunday.
Saturday, 6 February 2010Well we have now lost the ice and it has become mild. This means the ducks are back. Look out for teal, wigeon, shoveler, shelduck, tufted duck, pochard, gadwall and coot - favouring xerox and ousefleet. The teal in particular are very vocal at the moment making Blacktoft not such a quiet place. News from todays roost watch - at least 10 Marsh harriers came into roost settling down after 4pm but flying around off and on throughout the rest of the day. Also two barn owls have been hunting around the reserve and a female merlin finally made an appearance after the roost watch event finished at 5pm. Lastly, a little egret was seen flying into the willows next to reception perhaps to spend the night.
Wednesday, 3 February 2010A week of two halves. The end of last week when we had open areas of water - there were lots of ducks and waders using the site. In particular, teal have been very vocal as they try to get the attention of a female and 100 dulin were found up at Ousefleet hide. Then since Sunday the lagoons have been frozen over and birds of prey have been the main interest. Two main hen harriers have been using the site off and on during this last week, a short-eared owl was seen on Sunday and pergrines, marsh harriers, merlins have been seen towards dusk (5pm). The barn owls have been absolutely amazing these last few days with up to 5 individual birds hunting around the reserve with a few hunting directly in front of the hides. Hopefully with milder weather coming in for the weekend we will have the best of both worlds - ducks and birds of prey.
Friday, 22 January 2010With the milder weather the ice has finally gone! This means birds are once again starting to use the reserve lagoons and that there is a good show of wildfowl and a few waders. At the raptor roost there are plenty of marsh harriers, a couple of merlin and barn owl but unfortunately only the odd day time sightings of hen harrier. Recent highlights have been grey plover, spotted redshank, woodcock and a couple of water pipitswhile there may be a chance of seeing bearded tits around Townend lagoon and also bittern.
Sunday, 17 January 2010RESERVE HAS RE-OPENED After the rain yesterday the paths and car park are now free of ice meaning that we can now open the reserve again. However our lagoons remain frozen meaning there are few birds around at the moment. The main attraction is the bird of prey roost towards the end of the day (after 2pm) - yesterday there were a few marsh harriers, barn owls, kestrel and a merlin to be seen.
Friday, 8 January 2010RESERVE REMAINS CLOSED THIS WEEKEND With wintery conditions still around, the reserve stays closed for this weekend. Lets hope things warm up soon to help melt the ice and snow allowing our birds to have an easier time of it. Friday, 1 January 2010RESERVE STILL CLOSED After another inspection this morning, the paths are still badly covered with ice so the reserve will remain closed. With the forecast for the next week being harsh frosts and low temperatures by day it seems unlikely that the reserve will open soon. If conditions do improve we will post a notice here. Thursday, 31 December 2009RESERVE REMAINS CLOSED DUE TO ICY CONDITIONS ALONG OUR TRAILS. We will re-open as soon as conditions become better so keep checking this page for further updates before visiting blacktoft. If conditions are suitable the reserve may open on the 1st January. Monday, 28 December 2009PLEASE NOTE THAT THE RESERVE IS CURRENTLY CLOSED DUE TO THE PATHS BEING ICED OVER AND UNSAFE TO WALK. We will be reviewing the conditions daily so please check back on the sightings website to see if the reserve has re-opened. Monday, 21 December 2009Well - winter has arrived these last 4 days. This has meant that all our lagoons have been frozen so very few ducks and waders to look at. However there have been a few snipe around and when you catch the light on its plumage, the golden colours are amazing. Also water rails can also be seen coming out of cover to find food - yesterday one ran down the ditch directly in front of singleton hide. Small birds were the theme of the weekend along the hedges - lots of fieldfares (again showing fantastic in the sun light), great spotted woodpecker on the feeders, small flock of goldfinches, lots of blackbirds, reed buntings and a few bullfinches all very actively hunting for food to survive these cold days. Perhaps the bird of prey roost would be the reason for a visit, this weekend we had 4 marsh harriers, 2 barn owls, sparrowhawk, kestrel and 2 merlins sitting on their favoured bushes - best watching the roost from 2 to 4pm. Have a good Christmas and hope to see you during 2010. The Blacktoft Sands Team
Sunday, 13 December 2009Lots of fieldfares and blackbirds around at the moment - particularly in the car park and along the hedges. A nice selection of ducks on the lagoons with wigeon, shoveler and loads of teal on Xerox and Ousefleet in particular. We also had a brief sighting of the bittern this afternoon, proving that it is still there. Towards the end of the day from 2pm - barn owls, merlin and our regular marsh harriers are seen going to roost in the reedbed. Best of all today was the female hen harrier that spent the whole afternoon hunting on the reserve. Next weekend is our bird of prey roost watch which is now fully booked. This means that Singleton hide will be used for this event in the afternoon of both Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th. Alternative hides for excellent views of birds of prey coming into roost are our First and Townend hides.
Sunday, 6 December 2009An interesting few days for us with a red-necked grebe offering excellent view directly in front of the hide at Xerox. The fantastic light quality this weekend has meant that the birds of prey in particular have shown up really well - with at least six marsh harriers, a pair of merlin, sparrowhawk and a peregrine around the reserve at the moment. Also there was a male hen harrier on Friday and a bittern was seen both Friday and Saturday so are both likely to be around at the moment. Lastly, lets not forget about the snipe, with well over 100 using the reserve at the moment - this count made on only one of our lagoons (Xerox).
Monday, 30 November 2009A nice weekend of activity on the reserve with the highlight being the female hen harrier that was seen throughout both days. Marsh harriers were also extremely active with 7 going in to roost - most of these spent a long time flying around above the reeds before going into roost. Two barn owls, merlin and 7 water pipits were also seen yesterday. A nice selection of ducks are also using our lagoons at the moment including shelduck, shoveler, teal and wigeon. Also large numbers of fieldfares are in the bushes around the reserve with 300 in and around the car park yesterday.
Sunday, 22 November 2009Escape to Blacktoft Sands for water pipits, barn owls and marsh harriers at this time of year. Starting with the water pipits - these are still showing well on singleton lagoon. During the day look out for the different varieties of ducks using our lagoons and there are still a few waders around including large numbers of snipe and four spotted redshank. As you enter the reserve it is worthwhile checking the bushes in the car park - this morning there were extremely busy with fieldfares, redwings, long-tailed tits etc. Towards the end of the day up to 3 barn owls have been seen on the reserve and yesterday 8 Marsh harriers came into roost.
Wednesday, 11 November 2009Well a nice collection of birds using the reserve at the moment with the highlight beening the male hen harrier that went through on Tuesday and the water pipits which have been seen well particularly on singleton. There are lots of small birds using the reserve at the moment such as pied wagtails, reed bunting, goldfinches and the odd brambling flying over. Plus the nice selection of ducks seen on some of our lagoons from the shoveler to the wigeon. Lastly birds of prey continue to show well with many marsh harriers still being present and sightings of merlin some days.
Thursday, 29 October 2009With the beautiful weather the reserve is full of Autumn colours of golds, greens and reds and also a great range of birds as the summer slowely turns to winter. The last few days has seen plenty of overhead migration with fieldfare, redwing, siskin, redpoll, skylark and wood pigeon passing over in large numbers. There has also been lots of pink footed geese with one skein including six barnacle geese which may have been from the greenland population. Interestingly we now have 3 cettis warblers wintering although they can be very difficult to see! There was also a ring tail hen harrier on Tuesday and up to 3 water pipits most days. However, most days also see a nice selection of birds around the lagoons with up to 10 marsh harriers, regular peregrine, black tailed godwits, snipe, wigeon, stonechat, spotted redshank, water rail, kingfisher to name just a few. Bearded tits however have now settled into their winter routine now so are becoming increasingly difficult to see.
Monday, 26 October 2009Golden plover, Black-tailed godwits, spotted redshank and marsh harriers are the story of the weekend. Starting with the Golden plover - numbers in the area have been building up during the last couple of weeks with a flock of some 300 offering excellent views in fields next to the reserve yesterday. They have also been seen regularly flying in front of the hides and overhead. This last week there have also been around 130 Black-tailed godwits using the lagoons along with 16 spotted redshank and good numbers of redshank, dunlin, snipe and lapwing. Towards the end of the day watch out for birds of prey coming into roost. This last week there have been up to 11 marsh harriers, sparrowhawks and a barn owl coming into spend the night in the reeds at Blacktoft.
Monday, 19 October 2009A nice selection of waders around this morning with 129 black-tailed godwits, 58 Ruff, 40 Dunlin and lots of redshank. Our marsh harriers were also up providing excellent views this morning with a spectacular marked male showing extremely well. With lots of ducks and lots of small birds around these just add to a pleasant autumn experience at blacktoft sands. Also keep an eye out for small flocks of starlings currently feeding on the berries throughout the reserve, redwings and fieldfares flying over the reserve and the cetti's warbler towards Ousefleet.
Thursday, 15 October 2009A few changes this week with Cettis warbler calling towards Ousefleet hide and a few thrushes now flying over the reserve as they arrive in the UK. At this time of year it is always worth looking at what is flying over the reserve these include geese, redpolls, siskins, brambling, redwing and song thrushes. We also had a hen harrier flying over the reserve all day on Wednesday. Snipe numbers have also increased this week with some 48 been counted recently. Ducks around at the moment include shoveler, wigeon, teal and the little grebe has returned.
Sunday, 11 October 2009Well the weekends highlight was the Bittern that flew past the reception on Saturday. Bearded tits continued to be seen in the mornings flying in groups well above the reeds. Our barn owls are still peering at us from the box on Marshland. Wigeon joins the teal and shoveler on Xerox. Our kingfisher has been seen well on both days. The spotted redshank and Black-tailed godwits are still the main waders. Flying over the reserve this weekend were golden plover, loads of geese and a few little egrets.
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Backlit reeds at Lee Valley - Andy Hay (rspb-images.com, Ref: 2000_1999_009)
Emperor dragonfly in flight - Graham Catley
Bird illustrations by Mike Langman (RSPB)