May at North Cave Wetlands

What a wonderful reserve this is. A little more than a decade old and this mosaic of wetlands created from an old sand and gravel quarry is blossoming, every visit is different and offers new surprises. The weather today was of sunny spells, with a light drizzle as we were leaving, and, although cold, 8°C, it wasn't windy, so we it was quite pleasant to walk around the perimeter of the reserve. A cloud of Swifts, House Martins, Swallows and Sand Martins flying low feasting on mosquitoes and flies greeted us (Male St Marks Fly above). From the South Hide we watched a pair of Black Necked Grebes feeding, they spend more time diving than on the surface, but they were great to watch. Many Black-Headed gulls were sitting on tidy nests, as well as Coots and a majestic Mute Swan.
Overall, we saw a whopping 44 bird species on the reserve this morning.

Black-Necked Grebe

Red-Legged Partridge

a floppy eared Rabbit

Coot

Black-headed gulls on nests

Mute swan on nest on Reed Lake

Male Reed Bunting on Reed Lake

A pond at the SE corner of the reserve, mirroring the changing sky

Bird list

1. Avocet 
2. Black-headed Gull 
3. Black-necked Grebe 
4. Blackbird 
5. Blackcap 
6. Blue Tit 
7. Carrion Crow 
8. Chaffinch 
9. Coot 
10. Dunnock 
11. Feral Pigeon 
12. Gadwall 
13. Goldfinch 
14. Great Black-backed Gull 
15. Great Tit 
16. Greenfinch 
17. Greylag Goose 
18. House Martin 
19. House Sparrow 
20. Jackdaw 
21. Lapwing 
22. Little Grebe 
23. Long-tailed Tit 
24. Mallard 
25. Moorhen 
26. Mute Swan 
27. Oystercatcher 
28. Pied Wagtail
29. Red-legged Partridge 
30. Redshank 
31. Reed Bunting 
32. Robin 
33. Rook 
34. Sand Martin 
35. Sedge Warbler 
36. Shelduck 
37. Skylark 
38. Swallow 
39. Swift 
40. Tree Sparrow 
41. Tufted Duck 
42. Willow Warbler 
43. Woodpigeon 
44. Wren