First Two Weeks of June

 

Little Egrets (c) Bark

The first two weeks of the month have been dominated by high pressure, which has led to a run of generally fine, dry, sunny weather with some hot and sometimes humid days.

Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler all with food (c) Bark

On the reserve the business of raising young is proceeding apace. All sorts of birds can be seen gathering food for hungry chicks, the benign weather conditions have encouraged and boosted insect numbers.

Damselflies (c) Dan Miller and Skimmer (c) Bark

Dragonflies and Damselflies are now on the wing and abundant and for the seed-eaters grasses and early flowers, such as dandelions are now setting seed. We watched a young Bullfinch filling its bill with dandelion seeds along the edge of the bridleway.

Young Bullfinch eating dandelion Seeds. (c) Bark

By staying in one spot and watching carefully it is possible to pick up the comings and goings of warblers and to work out where their nests are concealed.

Reed Warbler (c) JR

As the water has drawn down on the scrapes and ditches, Egrets of all three commoner species have been attracted to the site. There are at least fifteen, and possibly more, Little Egrets on the reserve and the MOD land.

Little Egrets (c) Bark

Three Great White Egrets have been seen on Big Otmoor and a single bird from the second screen in the shallows on the right-hand side of the lagoon.

Three Great White Egrets (c) Jeremy Dexter

Single Cattle Egrets are also being seen, but less frequently. As they are often in the company of livestock and the grasses are now over a metre tall, they can be elusive.

Cattle Egret at Enslow wondering whether to visit Otmoor (c) Bark

The long staying Glossy Ibis has changed its preferences and is currently spending time at the second screen often perching up in the scrubby goat willows on the right-hand side of the lagoon.

Great Crested Grebe Chicks getting bigger and adult at the first screen

Over the last few weeks, the Great Crested Grebe chicks at the second screen have changed from being fluffy, stripy little humbugs riding around on their parents back to much sleeker miniature versions of the adults. They are still dependent on their parents for food but are beginning to actively dive and hunt around the edges of the lagoon.

Stunningly elegant (c) Bark

Female ducks are now appearing with multiple ducklings in tow. A Shoveller with seven “shovellettes” was at the first screen.

Shoveller with "trowels" (c) Bark

I watched a very protective Pochard, also with seven tiny ducklings, shepherding them along one of the big ditches. They are already diving for food but have not fully gained control of their buoyancy, they could dive but instead of coming back smoothly to the surface popped up like corks.  

Pochard and ducklings (c) Bark

An Osprey, either a late arrival or an unsuccessful breeder on the way back, made several visits to the moor. It was seen attempting to fish at the northern lagoon without obvious signs of success.

Osprey over (c) Sam Hill

A Barn Owl has been hunting along the River Ray and has been out early in the mornings and early evenings.

Barn Owl from second screen Above (c) JR below (c) Bark

Cuckoos are still chasing and courting across the reserve but will not be around for very much longer once we have passed the solstice.

Cuckoos    above (c) Tricia Miller and below (c) Bark

There are now fluffy chicks on the tern raft which looks very crowded, but there will be

Tern Raft (c) Bark

security in numbers. The adults are very determined and fearless in the defence of their airspace. They challenge everything, including corvids, gulls and Kites and it is noticeable that the Marsh Harriers give the raft a very wide berth. The Terns are hunting over the whole of the moor and along the river Ray to provision the chicks. I watched an adult try to feed a fish that was just a bit too big to a tiny chick and eventually gave up and ate it itself.

Oystercatcher and chick (c) Pete Roby

and a week later (c) Pete Roby

Oystercatchers have bred successfully on Big Otmoor. They now have three well grown youngsters, that are looking more and more like their parents as time goes on. There are Lapwing chicks and Redshank chicks to be spotted amongst the tussocks out in the middle of the field.

Grass Snakes are being seen frequently (c) Pete Roby

There have been further additions to the Year-list even though we are late in the migration season a Spoonbill went through the reserve, possibly stopping on the MOD land and a Little Stint was seen on a more remote part of the reserve that is not accessible to the public.

Spoonbill (c) Tezzer

This has brought the year total to one hundred and fifty-seven , which is remarkable given we are not yet quite halfway through the year. The only likely addition in the next few weeks, apart from some unexpected mega rarity, is Quail. A bird that reveals itself almost exclusively by its voice, as it scuttles about in the long grass calling: “wet my lips… wet my lips”! Listen out for it.

"Chipping" snipe on the ground (c) Darrell Wood and Flying Snipe (c) Bark