March 21st

Little Egret sitting in trees on Fingers mid-morning. Flew off towards the sewage farm - but returned later. An 'adult' with all its plumes.
The Cormorant, that spends much time sitting on the fallen willow on 'Lilypads' and has a colour ring on its right leg, is 5164789, ringed at St. Margaret's Island, nr. Tenby on 18th June 1995 as a nestling. It has been seen at the park every year since.

Otters!

Dropped by the park this morning while out on my bike and decided to check on the Little Grebe nesting activity I had seen over the weekend. Instead I was treated to the sight of 2 Otters playing and feeding right in front of Kramer hide. I sat and watched them for 10-15 minutes before they swam out of site to the right of the hide. Then something caught my eye over to the left of the hide, another Otter was working the reeds along the island before finally swimming across in front of the hide and following the other two. A lot of calling could then be heard to the right of the hide so I left the hide to try and get another view. Finally got a glimpse of one Otter before it disappeared down a hole in the vicinity of the holt.

What a brilliant start to the day!

This weekend at Priory (17th/18th Mar)

The highlights on Saturday were 2 Shelduck passing over and a Sand Martin over the navigation channel. Also a pair of Great-spotted Woodpeckers mating in the willows near the Sedgewick seat and 2 Treecreepers along the spit.

On Sunday 7 Gadwall flew a lap of the main lake before dropping into to the Finger lakes. Two Greylag Geese flew over at high speed in the strong winds. 5 Little Grebe were seen on the Finger lakes with one pair showing signs of nest building.

Little Grebe nest building

Little Grebe

Little Grebe

Male Gadwall