19th - 22nd April Easter Weekend

Male Bittern (c) Bark

By this weekend, last weeks steady trickle of migrants had become a flood. In the cool of the early morning sunshine the carpark was alive with birdsong on every day of the Easter break. The weather was unusually warm and settled which encouraged both birds to show and sing and visitors to come to the moor. I feel sure that no one coming down could have been disappointed with the birds and other wildlife to be seen.

Sedge Warbler and Blackcap (c) Bark

On Saturday morning we heard and saw eight of our regular nine Warbler species, the only one that we failed to find was Garden Warbler, but later on there were several reports of one along the bridleway.

Two views of Gropper above and in the open (c) NT below and normal (c) Bark

Grasshopper Warblers are often much more visible when they first arrive on the site and true to form there were two individuals reeling beside the path to the first screen, from the top of brambles and in the spindly willows that are still not in full leaf. In addition to these there two here was also at least one bird calling from the usual area in the Car park field. Lesser Whitethroats were more noticeable than Common Whitethroats and it may well be that they are still to arrive in numbers.

Lesser Whitethroat above (c) Bark           Common Whitethroat below (c) Pete Roby

On Friday a Ring Ouzel was found in Long Meadow. They really like the short grass and isolated bushes, and we have found them there in the past. Last year there were no reports of them on the moor but perhaps we didn’t look hard enough. There was a report of both a male and on then Sunday a female in the vicinity.

Ring Ouzel (c) NT

Early on Sunday morning T.S. and I found one feeding in the mist along the track through the Carpark Field it was alongside a Blackbird and the size difference was very marked.

Non dominant male flying in (c) Bark

Bitterns were very much in evidence this weekend and seldom have they been so visible on the reserve. There would seem to be two booming males present and one is certainly more dominant than the other. Although usually favouring the large reedbed and the smaller one at Noke, on Saturday the more dominant individual was booming from the rough sedge area on the western side of Greenaways. He was constantly on the move, stopping at times to point skywards, appearing and disappearing in the low cover. He succeeded in attracting the attention of the other male that flew over and eventually settled on the eastern side of the field.

Dominent male displaying and with female (c) Tezzer

It has been observed while booming and at other times the dominant bird has been even been seen displaying to a female, out in the open. It was really pleasing to be able to give visitors a chance to see this exceptionally secretive bird out in the open, many of whom were seeing one for the first time.

A couple of scarcer waders were seen in the last few days including a Spotted Redshank on Saturday and a Bar-tailed Godwit on Tuesday.  There was no report of Spotted Redshank last year, and when we do find them it is most often juvenile birds in the autumn. Little Ringed Plovers are being reported intermittently on Big Otmoor, but the distance and the amount of cover mean that might be there all the time, but on the wrong side of the tussocks!

Garganey are still making occasional appearances on the reedbed lagoons with a single male being reported regularly and on two occasions a pair being seen. There was a female Gadwall out on one of the greenways ditches with ten ducklings, although with our regular Marsh Harriers and Peregrines we wonder how many of them might make it to fledging.

Cuckoo (c) Tezzer

There were two Cuckoos present over the weekend calling simultaneously from different parts of the reserve. Once the females arrive and they start their courtship chases we will be able to see if we can match the good number that were present last year.

Short-eared Owls are still showing in the evenings on Greenaways (c) NT

Two Hobbies were seen on Saturday. They are a week or so earlier than normal. We always host double figures of these wonderful aerobatic falcons during the first couple of weeks of May before they disperse to breed. Their dragonfly and damselfly prey are just starting to take to the wing, on Sunday I saw a newly emerged Large Red Damselfly in the long grasses beside the path to the second screen.

The next few weeks will be busy and should tell us whether our Turtle Doves have made it back from their hazardous journey.

Always something to see (c) Bark