The start of April has seen an arrival of plenty of blackcaps.  They have joined chiffchaff singing all over the place.  In the last few days we have seen the first sedge wablers and willow warblers too.  The next few weeks should see quite a change as more and more birds arrive back on the lakes so keep checking back here for regular updates.

The sunny weather earlier this week also brought some butterflies.  Small tortoiseshell, peacock and brimstone have been seen.

Friday 21st April

The middle of April, saw the first nightingale back on site.  We now have up to 3 birds around the centre and the start of the red trail.  

Common Tern has turned up in the last few days and the odd cuckoo can be heard too. 

Our marsh harriers, have been showing well on the reserve these past few weeks around the viewing platform and from double decker hide.

Today birds were a bit more vocal around the reserve with sedge warbler, reed warbler and nightingale singing this morning. 

We also had a bit of surprise this week, when a group of around 20 bar-tailed godwits spent a hour on the slough before continuing on their migration.

Butterfly wise, this last week has seen a lot more making an appearance.  Orange tip, holly blue and speckled wood have be added to the list.

Yesterday, we had our first damselfly with large red damselfly spotted around the reserve.

More birds are still due to arrive back before the end of the month so lots to look forward to.