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Reserve Update by warden Edward Bramham-Jones

Wednesday, 26th May 2010

It has been an exciting couple of weeks around the reserve, with the breeding season in full swing and the meadows starting to come alive.

On the Wader Scrape the Oystercatchers have hatched off 3 very sweet youngsters. These are beaten though in the 'cute baby competition' by the 7 Mute Swan Cygnets that can be seen very close to the hides. This area still provides fantastic views of Avocets, Little Ringed Plover, Common and Green Sandpiper. Marsh Harriers have been seen hunting here most days, and a food pass between a pair was seen on the 8th May. This is also a fantastic site to watch Hobbies hawking insects over the reedbeds.

The wonderful gentle purr of Turtle Doves can be heard at the edge of the scrape and around the farm. Grey Partridge are becoming more common across our wildflower meadows and margins, showing their importance to wildlife. Wildbird Food and Pollen and Nectar (legume mixes) were sown last week on the tour route, and within a couple of months will be incredibly important habitats for our farm wildlife.

Other recent work has included cutting half of the legume mixes so that there is later flowering areas for bumblebees and butterflies.

The warmer weather has finally pushed some flowers to start appearing. Five of the most common flowers out at the moment are:

Bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta Can be seen in the hazel woodlands along the railway line. These plants are found in the drier areas and form magnificent carpets of flowers.

Water Aven Geum rivale These have bell-shaped nodding flowers which require wet meadows. These can be found on the damp areas of the wildflower meadow.

Cuckoo Flower (Lady's Smock) Cardamine pratensis This beautiful flower produces 2 or 3 pink or white flowers. On the Wildflower Meadow and Fishing Hut it is covered in this elegant flower. It is a very important flower for Orange-Tip and Green-Veined White butterflies.

Red Campion Silene dioica A beneficial flower for many butterflies. This attractive plant has reddish pink flowers and is seen along woodland edges, damp areas and on unmanaged land. There is a lovely showing at the back of Dark Mere along the perimeter fence.

Marsh Marigold Caltha palustrisThis damp loving plant thrives on the wildflower meadow and on many of the smaller ponds around the reserve. It's yellow flowers add colour to shaded areas.

Thomas, Our Dragonfly expert has spotted Broad-bodied Chaser, Large Red Damselfly and Common Blue Damselfly so far this year, and the warmer weather predicted in the next week should improve sightings.

A major piece of Survey work that is undertaken on the reserve is a CES (Constant Effort Site) ringing site. So far this year we have had two early starts and have caught 63 birds. Some of these birds had been ringed at Pensthorpe by Gary Elton before, including a Sedge Warbler ringed as an adult male in 2007. This means that this bird is at least 5 years old and has done many thousands of miles from Pensthorpe to south of the Sahara Desert each year.