We moved onto the woods, and after a brief look onto D res from the next hide we went to north marsh and Robert called 'otter!'. A few of us got a good look at the trail of bubbles as it swam through a narrow canal towards the river bank, but that's it. A pity as it would have been my daughter's first otter.
We had two children in the group today, and it was very noticeable, as they insisted was lunch time at about 11 o'clock. We moved back onto the new hide, warmed up by the stove and had a hot drink and an early lunch while watching the Glaucous gull at our leisure.
The afternoon was spent walking to the southern end of the reserve. We started by using the new path though the woods. Some investigation under trunks revealed a group of young Leopard Slugs (Limax maximus) Things were mostly quiet in south marsh, but Watton was positively teeming with birds, with a large flock of Cormorants, Greylags moving in, Lapwing, a Black-tailed Godwit (2nd site tick for me) and 41 Curlew amongst various wildfowl.
A few minor quibbles from visiting the reserve with kids: they have trouble looking through most of the hide windows while sitting down, so some blocks of wood to serve as booster seats will keep them happy (and quiet/er!). Also, kids (and some adults) would love if there was hot chocolate as a hot drink option in the new hide. But these are minor quibbles, Being able to warm up with a hot drink and enjoying the great views to D res is fantastic
The work of volunteers around the reserve is quite noticeable. As a group we ticked 52 bird species and had a great day out. Looking forward to spring!
Glaucous Gull. Same view than the top shot, but this one with my camera.
Glaucous Gull
North Marsh.
Female Siskin.
Leopard Slugs.
Cormorants over O res.
Greylags coming into Watton.
Bird assortment on Watton.
Black-tailed Godwit.
Some of the 40 plus Curlew on Watton.
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