13th of April: Guess the legs

This week on Blakeney Point, some of our song birds have been busily making their nests. As viewers of our Facebook page will know, a Pied Wagtail has been nesting on the side of our shed:

 

Whilst checking on the wagtail nest, a Meadow Pipit flushed from amongst the Marram on the dune opposite. A brief search revealed a nest containing five eggs. No doubt there will be several other Meadow Pipit nests hidden in the grass, so we ask visitors to be careful where they walk and stick to the boardwalk and well-worn paths.

Meadow Pipit (M. Perrow)

After finding a Herald moth on Tuesday, we decided to run a Robinson moth trap overnight to see what other moths were about. Amongst the five species were...

 a Purple Thorn, which rests with its wings open and half-raised

... and a Shoulder Stripe.

On the wing in the daytime, have been a few male Emperor moths. In addition to the moths, Paul stumbled upon a cacoon:

 

Today over a hundred Swallows flew west over the Point, along with five Sand Martins. Winter raptors are still gracing the dunes; Merlin, Peregrine and Hen Harrier have all been seen in the last few days.

Our fortnightly low tide seal count recorded 779 Grey and 62 Common.

And our most recent Sandwich Tern roost count totaled around 3,000 birds.

And just for fun, it's time for "guess the legs"! These were found on the beach. Do you know what species of bird they belong to?

The answer will be revealed in our next blog post.

-Ajay, Paul and Sarah

(Blakeney Point Rangers)