Corncrake and the autumn spectacle
Breaking news for monday with the sighting of a Corncrake on the Reedbed Walk! A great find for visitor Chris Richens who managed to get these great shots before it disappeared into the undergrowth. No further sign by 5pm.
The autumn spectacle is well under way with a substantial influx of Pink-footed Geese with at least 15000 birds present on the reserve. The current forecast looks like it may delay further large influxes for a week although we could be wrong!
Check out the current movements of satellite tagged geese by clicking on this link http://telemetry.wikispaces.com/home
With the sky full of geese it can sometimes be difficult to pick out other birds moving around however the keen eyed spotters managed it pick out Hobby, Peregrine, 3 Marsh Harrier, 4 Kestrel, 3 Sparrowhawk and 6+ Buzzard.
Wader counts include 700+ Lapwing, 100+ Snipe, 48 Ruff and 25 Black-tailed Godwit.
Apart from Pink-footed Geese wildfowl numbers are slowly increasing with 800+ Teal, 30+ Shoveler, c10 Pintail, c20 Wigeon, c50 Gadwall, 6 Tufted Duck. Three Barnacle Geese were present with Pink-footed Geese on Sunday.
Other sightings included 2 Yellow Wagtail near the Sewage Works, Grey and Pied Wags there too. A fly over Tree Pipit on the Outer Reed Bed Walk was noteworthy.
A few Kingfisher scattered around the site seen from the Ron Barker, United Utilities and Janet Kear Hides as well as on the Reed Bed Walk.
If you see any thing interesting like Chris Richens did, please call in at the in focus shop and we can get the news out.
