7th August: Mid-summer Update

After a bit of time away, I'm back on the Avalon Marshes for a short while. I've spent most of the past month working elsewhere, but also found time for a visit to the fantastic Skomer Island in Pembrokeshire, you can see some pictures on my other blog.

I was greeted with some truly excellent news on my return. The birds here have had an outstanding breeding season. 2 recently fledged Great White Egret juveniles have been seen at Shapwick Heath NNR, and earlier this week, 2 Little Bittern juveniles were seen at Ham Wall RSPB, and there are A LOT of juvenile Marsh Harriers about, with a final count hopefully available soon!

In the last few days on the marshes i've seen plenty of young Reed Warblers, Coots, Little and Great Crested Grebes, Grey Herons etc. etc. so it seems as though our commoner species have done well too, which is a great relief after a few poor years recently thanks to wet weather.

As for migrants, the 2nd viewing platform at Ham Wall is the place to be, with Green Sandpipers, Greenshank, Ruff and Dunlin all present on-and-off, though sometimes difficult to pick out behind vegetation. Wader numbers should slowly rise over the the coming weeks, hopefully the rain will hold off to leave some mud for them to feed on.

Insects seem to be doing well too, numbers of damselflies and Four-spotted Chasers are down from when I left, but this is to be expected as their flight-season closes, but they have been replaced with many Brown and Southern Hawkers. Butterflies are back in force too after last years dismal showing. Small Tortoiseshells are swarming over seemingly every thistle, buddliea and comfrey flower I see, and yesterday on Ham Wall I saw my first Silver-washed Fritillary and Clouded Yellow of the year.

One of many juvenile Marsh Harriers

Silver-washed Fritillary

Brown Hawker

Unfortunately after this week, i'm going to be away again for some time, mostly for rather boring work, but also what promises to be a fantastic 5 weeks in the Middle East (which i'll reveal more about at the time). I'll be back on the Avalon Marshes towards the end of Autumn though, and am very much looking forward to leading walks and tours over the winter. The marshes in winter are absolutely brim-full of waders, wildfowl and raptors, not to mention the Starlings, check back here for all the latest news!