This afternoon a female Pochard was seen on the Slurry Lagoon with seven ducklings. There is also a Gadwall with eleven ducklings. There were three Red-tipped Clearwings, a Meadow Brown, a Four-spotted Chaser and a Black-tailed Skimmer RW.
The Orchid Walk went well and several more Bee Orchids were found. JC.
The Spotted Orchids are showing well now and are flowering all over the site. The dry spring may well have affected them as the flower spikes are a little smaller than usual. The Marsh Orchids are beginning to go over now but the Spotted/Marsh hybrids are looking very strong. Unfortunately the Bee Orchids have crashed this year and I have only managed to find about nine plants so far. The Pyramidal Orchids are also down on previous years. PS.
This morning the rain persuaded some passing waders to pause on the Slurry Lagoon. Four Dunlin and three Ringed Plover were feeding on the exposed mud. Nine species of warbler were seen or heard and several were feeding fledglings and there were fledgling Swallows by the railway bridge. PS. AE.
Several Marsh Orchids and some hybrid Marsh/Spotted Orchids are already out in several parts of the reserve. The other orchids are not so visible. PS.
A single Dunlin was feeding along the Slurry edge this evening while behind him two Yellow Wagtails were weaving in and out of the reeds. The Cetti’s was calling well and a Cuckoo managed to cling on to a branch of a tree in the Deep Pit and sing at the same time and again Swifts were zooming around coming very low over the Site. JMD.
This evening four Ringed Plover were feeding along the Slurry water’s edge while on the Causeway there were two Yellow Wagtails and Swifts were flying low around the Site acting more like Swallows. JMD.
The Little Ringed Plover was back, displaying over the dry end of the Slurry this afternoon. Later it was seen feeding at the wet end. The pair of Yellow Wagtails were on the Causeway again and a Grasshopper Warbler was singing at the back of the Gravel Pits. PS.
This morning the brief, but distinct, notes of a Nightingale were heard coming from a bushy willow in the north end of the Deep Pit. It sang very sporadically and did not show at all. There were also all ten species of warbler singing and lots of Swifts swooping and screaming overhead. On the river there were two Oystercatchers and a Grey Wagtail while two Yellow Wagtails were seen on the Causeway. There are already some Marsh Orchids in flower. PS.
A sudden downpour this afternoon produced three Little Ringed Plovers on the Slurry Lagoon. For a while they were feeding on the shoreline and then one started to fly over the lagoon calling in a display flight. Soon the other two joined it and all three were calling as they gained height and continued their journey. PS.
This morning a Greenshank briefly joined the Dunlin and Garganey on the Slurry Lagoon. A Peregrine caused panic amongst the feral pigeons and Carrion Crows, and two male Cuckoos were around the Gravel and Deep Pits. Good numbers of warblers were counted and one or two Yellow Wagtails flew across the site. PS.