The following sightings were taken from the reserve at Castle Espie during a rising tide. The bird of the week this week is the Blue Tit. This is one of the commonest birds in the UK. Their natural habitat is broadleaf woodland, but they are at home in parks and gardens, frequently visiting bird baths and feeders. Blue Tits are instantly recognisable with their blue caps and wings, yellow underparts and green backs. Juveniles are less brightly coloured, with greyish backs and more yellow on their head. Blue Tits typically nest in tree cavities, but they will also use hedgerows, suitable holes in man-made structures and garden nestboxes. If you would like to put up a nestbox in your garden, ideally it should be 2-4 meters off the ground to help deter mammalian predators, and be facing North East, which protects the chicks from overheating in direct sunlight and shields them from any Westerly rain. Females will lay 7-13 eggs per brood, each weighing 1g, a tenth of her body weight. Blue Tits will form roving flocks in the winter, which are groups of birds formed of different species, for example Great Tits and Long-tailed Tits as well as Blue Tits, and they will forage for food together.
Estuary - visible from the Brent Hide and the Limekiln Observatory
Black-headed Gull 36, Lesser Black-backed Gull 1, Curlew 21, Greenshank 2, Oystercatcher 13, Common Gull 2
Main lake - visible from Sensory Garden and Visitor Centre
Little Grebe 2, Mallard 237, Gadwall 4, Common Gull 1, Tufted Duck 1, Lesser Black-backed Gull 1, Swallow, Robin, Woodpigeon, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Blackbird, Jackdaw
Shingle Bank - visible from Sensory Garden and Visitor Centre
Mallard 19, Moorhen 4
Wadermarsh - visible from Wadermarsh lookout and Brent Hide
Mallard 9, Black-headed Gull 4, Greylag Goose 9
Freshwater Lagoon - visible from Brent Hide and Crannóg
Mallard 10, Gadwall 3, Moorhen 1, Swallow
Saline Lagoon - visible from Limekiln observatory
Common Tern 9 (plus 6 chicks), Little Grebe 4, Grey Heron (flying over)
Brickworks
Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Swallow, Greylag Goose 33 (flying over)
Limestone Lake
Woodpigeon, Blackbird, Jackdaw
Peninsula Saltmarsh
No birds seen
Peninsula Field
No birds seen
Woodland
Swallow, Long-tailed Tit, Goldcrest, Dunnock, Wren, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Woodpigeon, Robin, Raven, Sparrowhawk 2
Sensory Garden
Robin, Woodpigeon, Swallow, Goldcrest, Chaffinch
