To Goosander and Lapwing

 I hr 11.30am to Goosander and Lapwing Hides.  Removed some litter, not too bad, and dragged a fallen birch trunk off the path by the bench on the western path.

Little grebe on Ibsley Silt Pond. Singing reed bunting as well as multiple reed warblers, garden warblers and 1 willow warbler - at the junction to Goosander Hide.

Nicky

 27/04/24  9.00 - 13.00 Blashford North.  Bramble runners trimmed where necessary to keep paths clear. Cuckoo very vocal near the reed beds first part of the morning. Still a pair of golden eye in front of Lapwing hide. Sand Martins busy at the sand martin wall, both feeding and nest building. Lapwing seen in the NW quadrant of the Scrape. A plastic bag still seen to the west of the Hanson screen. Common Scoter seen from Tern hide. Some white foam seen in some of the small bays on the western shore of Ibsley.

Reserves update

Hi All,

Thanks for keeping this blog up to date. I thought you might find it useful if we send occasional updates of what we are up to on the reserve so you know what/ who to look out for when wardening.

One of the Ibsley Water tern rafts broke loose a fortnight ago during strong winds. Combined with the high water levels, waves crashed into the sand martin wall and washed out the bottom two rows of tunnels. It is unlikely the sand martins will have lost any eggs since they usually lay towards the end of May/ early June, and thankfully they have been seen back in the wall since, albeit mostly in the top two rows of tubes. Pete and I have been out and recovered the runaway tern raft, carried out repair works and re-deployed it. This means all 4 rafts are now out on Iblsey Water along with the 2 on Ellingham pound (which seems to be very popular with BHG this year). This leaves the 5 on Ivy Lake to do which we will hopefully start deploying next week after we finish stripping and rebuilding them (we are in the process of replacing the old rotten timbers). 

Various surveys are underway including weekly butterfly transects on both the north and south sides of the reserve until end Sept. Reptile surveys are now carried out monthly between March and Oct (again on both sides of the reserve) and our four breeding bird surveyors are covering their various areas until mid-June (please let us know if you come across any nests so we can make sure these are recorded). Brenda and Kevin have finished ringing in the education field for this season and are gearing up to start CES on the north side of the reserve soon.

The fencing around the education centre car park has finally been replaced with some smart looking post and rail, making this area look tidy again! The centre track isn't going to be repaired properly until June  as the contractor isn't available, however he will be breaking up the worst of the potholes with his tractor again on Monday 29th April.

A drone has been seen spotted flying low over Ibsley Water on several occasions this week. Flying drones is prohibited on the reserve as they cause disturbance to birds (everything was flushed off the south shore yesterday), so please feed back any information you may have to help us prevent this activity. 

Thanks again for all your help!

Jack

NK

24/04/2024 11.30 to 12.35 Circuit of Ellingham Lake and Pound. Broken fence posts at 'says.tomato.drew' otherwise all okay. Singing Blackcap and 2 singing Garden Warblers.

 20/04/24 9.00 - 13.00  Blashford North.  All seems OK. Sand Martins busy nest building.

 15 April 11am 1.25 hour circuit of Spinnaker Lake via Rockford path. Not much litter, temp deer fence on the lean on one side.

Birds on islands:

Large island

Canada goose 5, mallard 1 male

Small island

B H gull 2, Canada goose 2, mallard 1, right next to island banks- gadwall 2, tufted 2

Also saw grey heron, moorhen and gadwall

Nicky

To Lapwing Hide

 8th April 1 hr circuit 11.30 to 12.30 to Lapwing Hide. Very little litter.  Willow warbler near junction of path to Goosander Hide.  Goldcrests attacking a car at road gate!

Correction to my previous post: there is a sign about dogs as you drive in to Tern Hide car park.

Nicky

Litter patrol

 1st April visited Tern Hide all ok, snipe on view. 1 hr round to Rockford Path screen and back to Tern car park, very little litter.  Was trying to find a dog walker I had glimpsed so I noticed there are no signs re dogs if you approach Tern Hide by road.  I have found a dog in the hide once.  Fence in Ed Ctr car park is rotten in places. Busy day, met 103 people to speak to!

Nicky