Some much better weather this week as produced a some more interesting insect sightings including a red eyed damselfly in front Ivy south hide on monday, and common blue butterflies on the wing in the meadows. Moths still remain thin on the ground but a handful of new species for the year include eyed hawk-moth, poplar hawkmoth and small phoenix. Unfortunatley running the moth trap has had to come to a stop as a great tit has been getting into the trap and eating all the moths leaving only the wings!
On the bird front 2 spotted flycatchers have been seen throughout the week by the sand martin hide, with luck they will stay and breed. 3 little ringed plovers have been frequenting the gravel areas to the east of the tern hide but evindence they maybe nesting remains inconclusive. A pair of Egyptian geese with 5 gooslings were seen on ibsley water yesterday and today there was a pair of shelduck with 8 ducklings. Orignally there appears to have been 9 ducklings but unfortunaley they appeared to have crossed Ellingham drove and one now very flat duckling didn’t make it. 2 Mediterranean gulls flew high over Ibsley water on Thursday and a male and female pochard were there today. Common Terns on the Ivy lake rafts are now at 18-20 pairs with around 14 pairs of black-headed gulls competing for space with them. Big numbers of swifts and martins feeding over ibsley water in the rain today with estimates of around 400 swifts and 150 house martins.
