3 Year Ticks gained today!
Year Tick 75 - Avocet. Good numbers of them now, about 55. That number could be a little higher. Mainly on Reedbed Scrape.
Year Tick 76 - Whooper Swan. Distant views of the group grazing just outside the reserve on the farmed field.
Year Tick 77 - Little Owl. Perched on fence post close to the farm buildings on the wet grassland.
Outside the Year Ticks....
MERLIN. Pair seen on fence posts surveying their potential dinner options.
HEN HARRIER. 1 over Saltmarsh.
TREE SPARROW - group of 15 on bird feeders at about 15:00.
Outside that, the usual waders and wildfowl. Loads of Black-headed Gulls screaming and beginning to build nests.
Unfortunately, I witnessed a young boy, aged between about 7 and 9 picking up stones from the gravelly path along the Reedbed Scrape to the visitor centre, and then throwing them with considerable force into the scrape's water. I had to ask him to stop as I was concerned his activities may have led to severe injury or death to any birds using that area.