This weekend at the park

Two early starts this weekend, in the hope of catching up with the Otters again however that wasn't to be. On Sunday a Muntjac came down to the water to drink, in front of Kramer hide and there was some entertaining action from the Coots as territorial disputes were settled. The male and female Sparrowhawks were regular visitors to the nest on both days.




Blackcaps have started to arrive in the park with several singing arround the finger lakes. Chiffchaff numbers seem to have stabilised around the 10 mark at the moment. With the colder weather some wildfowl seems to have returned with upto 12 Shoveler, 7 Tufted and 4 Gadwall in the park. Several Kingfisher sightings were the highlight of Sunday which was very windy and quite overcast and cold early on.

Wed 28 March update

The fog has persisted until midday for the last three days. On Monday & Tuesday there was a pair of Wigeon on 'Lilypads', giving close views. Also a pair of Gadwall. DK had a male Blackcap singing on Tuesday, the first since the ivy berries were finished. A R-C Pochard was also on the main lake. Tufted numbers jumped back up to 8 on Wednesday. Also 2 Sand Martins over mid-morning. Visitors have remarked on the lovely "sum plum" of the three Little Grebes that remain.
First grass cut took place on Tuesday.

Sunday 25th March 2007

Yet another early start this morning for some Otter spotting. Did hear some Otters on the island to the left of kramer hide but they didn't come out for their photo's to be taken. Also had a couple of nice Kingfisher fly pasts.

Had a very nice guided walk this morning, highlights were a pair of Teal on Fingers. The Sparrowhawks were visiting the nest regularly with new nesting material and the male took timeout to chase a small bird but he missed out on his breakfast. Had a Treecreeper by the navigation channel behind Kramer hide and a Mistle Thrush singing across Kings Mead. There were a couple of Muntjac in the Rough.

When we got around to the main lake hide there were a couple of huge juvenile gulls over the lake. Having looked at my book and going by their size I'm pretty certain they were first winter Great Black-backs. Plenty of other stuff including loads of singing Chiffchaffs, a couple of which were very obliging for viewing and photo's.