Trimley Reserve

The Trimley Weekly Round up: May 3rd – May 9th. Number 6

By Anna Alam

 Our spirits are not dampened on the reserve despite the fourth week of heavy rain and high winds. We have been watching closely this week and hoping that all our birds with eggs and chicks are still safe and doing well.

Trimleys Greylag Geese and their broods of Goslings are fairing well and indeed the Goslings are getting bigger day by day. They can be seen on the summer flood on a daily basis.  Also at the back of the summer flood Lapwing chicks have emerged.  This week we saw a Fox enter this area and fortunately the Lapwings on ‘guard’ soon sent it on its way. It was interesting to see that other birds were also doing their bit in ‘dive-bombing’ this potential predator of young chicks.

The reserve also has a lovely nest and eggs belonging to the Great Crested Grebe.  We look forward to these hatching soon. The 3 lovely Swans are still sitting on their eggs in the harshest of weather conditions.

Sightings this week includes:  From the Summer Flood Hide: Friday 4th May, Mark spotted the Yellow Wagtail – Motacilla flava thunbergi, which has a dark Grey/Slate Grey head.  This was also present on Sunday 6^th May when some lucky visitors also saw it from the same hide. 

On early Friday evening there was another visit by the Male Marsh Harrier as it began to ambush a Coot who was enjoying a swim in some unusual late afternoon sunshine. The Lapwings saved the day and the Coot as they began to attack it from high up, they really did look like Tiger Moths in the air, giving us a great display. The Lapwings are now every bird’s best friends. 

The same evening and the same hide gave us 4 lovely Greenshank and a Whimbrel overhead. The Whimbrel was also heard during the week.  A Sparrowhawk also landed on the hide during all of these sightings giving us a great close up view. The Common Sandpiper was also busy feeding on the summer flood during this period.

Sunday 6^th May was the open day for the reserve. Despite the weather a good number of visitors took advantage of the mini bus driven by SWT’s Stuart from Searson’s Farm to the reserve. Within the first 4 hours over 70 species of bird had been listed on the board.  Special thanks goes to all the volunteers who ‘manned’ the hides and all those that made cakes for the event, Stuart who ferried visitors to and fro from the reserve and Maureen who stayed for the whole day to provide refreshments, as well as members of the Felixstowe SWT group.

Wednesday 9^th May was a momentous occasion as the new tern raft was launched onto the reservoir.  Peter Merchant’s design is already turning the heads of lesser black backed gulls, as they seem to be eyeing it up as a new ‘des res’. However, Mick is hoping it might turn the heads of a few terns instead! We wait and see.

Other sightings this week:

Lots of Swifts, Swallows and House and Sand Martins can be seen over the reservoir as well as the summer flood. One or two Hobbies and the Short eared owl also have been seen.

A Water Shrew was seen on Wednesday as well as a Water Vole and the Fallow Deer are seen periodically.