If you go out on the merse today…

…You’re sure of a big surprise. You might come across some lesser spotted wardens, or something else…

…You’re sure of a big surprise. You might come across some lesser spotted wardens, or something else…

Over the last two days we have been getting up very bright and early to walk transects for BBS (Breeding Bird Survey) and did record plenty of the birds we were looking for – highlights being wheatear, kestrel, linnets and quite a few snipe. And lovely as they all are none of those are the sighting I am most exited bout, in fact it wasn’t a bird at all…

It was an otter!! On the merse, in a creek, half a meter away. Thankfully mammals are also recorded on BBS so it did not go completely without recognition on the survey. From making the BBS mammal recordings we were also impressed as to just how many hares there are on site; they seem to be everywhere!

And talking of abundances of mammals, should you take a quiet stroll down Saltcot Loaning you are almost guaranteed to come across a plentiful supply of bank voles… one rustling the leaves here, another munching away there, a few more squealing and rushing off. And should you look hard enough and wait long enough, you are quite likely to see a few too!

Leaving the subject of our mammals and heading back to birds, the spring migrants are returning. A number of chiffchaffs have been around for a few weeks, there are quite a few willow warblers around now, black caps are hanging out on the scrub round the edge of the folly pond, sand martins are flying in the sky, as are swallows…

The swan feeds may have finished but the webcam is still on the Whooper Pond during the day and still swapping to the badger feeding station after 16:30 to catch those badger antics. Click on the link below.

https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/caerlaveroc.

Tide Times:

Sat 16th 12:56 9.3m

Sun 17th 13:33 9.4m

Mon 18th 14:21 9.6m

Tue 19th 14:51 9.6m

Wed 20th 15:34 9.3m

Thu 24th 16:21 8.9m

Fri 22nd 17:17 8.3m

Sat 23rd 18:31 7.7m

Sun 24th 07:06 7.7m

Photo credit: Alex Hillier

• Share this article