Warbler, martins and young ones
Summer migrants are returning, with the songs of sedge and reed warblers filling the reedbeds. Cetti’s warblers are around as well and several black caps and a lesser whitethroat seen over the past few days.
The sand martins have return returned and are nest building – soon we will close the hide windows for the breeding season to lesser the disturbance to the sand martin nesting banks. This great sand martin shot above was taken by regular visitor Cam Parfitt.
Lapwing have been nesting for the past few weeks and are trying their hardest to keep crows, gulls and herons away from nest sites. As the vegetation is growing incredibly quickly, monitoring these nests becomes increasingly difficult!
The kingfishers have gone very quiet, but they always do when they are incubating eggs.. We have seen a male kingfisher taking fish into the favourite nest hole 5 - we will just have to wait and see.
Greylag goslings and mallard ducklings are appearing in good numbers across the site along with moorhens in the Trumpeter pen and the front ponds and coot chicks near the Coastal Creek aviary.
P.S. There were 4 coot chicks in the pic on our Facebook post on Thurs 18 April.
Wed 17 April
Ramsar hide: 9 tufted ducks, 4 gadwall, 2 oystercatchers, 5 lapwing, 1 male lesser whitethroat, 1 shoveler, 2 teal
Lapwing hide: 4 gadwall, 1 shoveler, 1 grey heron
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 4 snipe.
Scrape hide: 1 lapwing, 1 shelduck, 2 pochards, 3 shoveler ducks, 1 tufted duck, 1 male reed warbler, 1 male black cap, 1 female blackbird, 1 male reed bunting, 2 greenfinches (pair), 1 Cetti’s warbler,2 sedge warblers, 1 chiffchaff, 4 teal, 11 mallards, 10 gadwall, 8 greylag geese, 5 Canada geese, 1 blue tit.
Sand martin hide: 4 pochards, 3 tufted ducks, c40 sand martins
Wetland Discovery, 2 swallows, 3 tufted ducks, 1 male black cap.
Tues 16 April
Ramsar and Sand martin hides: 1 garganey male, 2 Egyptian geese, 31 Canada geese, 8 greylag geese, 9 gadwall, 1 cackling goose, 21 tufted ducks, 10 mallard ducks, 1 pochard, 2 moorhens, 7 lapwing, 2 cattle egrets, 1 Cetto’s warbler, 1 wren, 38 black-headed gulls, 3 shoveler ducks, 2 oystercatchers, 25 sand martins, 8 teal, 8 snipe.
Scrape hide: 1 lapwing.
Wetland Discovery: 2 pochards
Mon 15 April
Wet Grassland: 5 mallards, 3 tufted ducks, 1 grey heron, 6 greylag geese, 1 coot, 1 moorhen, 1 chaffinch, 1 long-tailed tit
Ramsar hide: 5 lapwing, 1 oystercatcher, 3 pochards, 2 Canada geese, 1 Egyptian geese, 1 garganey
Scrape hide: 6 pochard, 1 shelduck, 1 lapwing, 1 sedge warbler
Reedbed: 1 mandarin duck
Trumpeter exhibit in Wood Loop: 2 mandarins
Arun Riverlife lagoon; 1 lapwing, 1 pochard
