Upton Warren visit

I've hi-jacked the blog from the volunteers this afternoon to report on a visit to Upton Warren this morning.  

It was a dreary morning at The Moors for our visit but there were plenty of birds around; we even caught sight of two roe deer moving through the long reeds (pity I didn't have my camera ready).  Alan Shepherd recollected how he had seen harvest mice around The North Moors pool.  

The reserve is more saturated than I have ever seen it.  

This week the Upton Warren volunteers have been coppicing and removing scrub from the edges of the reedbed around the main Moors pool. Without their work the reedbed would diminish in size.  Bitterns should benefit from this too.  

 

Some of the trees next to the reedbed have also been coppiced or felled to encourage the growth of scrub in the right place.  Scrub has a tendency to grow in the wrong place, smothering open habitats such as reedbeds, marsh and meadow.  This felling work should allow light in to encourage it to grow where we want it to.   

Andy, Conservation Officer - Central Reserves

Ne'er the twain shall meet - we hope!

It may be quite chilly but there was plenty at the Moors at Upton Warren on Monday.

The Bittern was showing appropriately enough in front of the Bittern hide for a very short time and the foxes were resting on the frozen pool some 200m from where the image was captured.

Lets hope they never meet!

Stuart, Upton Warren

Bittern at the Moors

I popped in to the Moors on Saturday afternoon hoping to see the Bittern again and I wasn't disappointed!

When I scanned the Bittern's usual resting place on the North Moors the bird was sitting out in the open as per the photo.

After about 20 minutes the Bittern wandered off into the reed bed.

I hope you all have a good Christmas and a happy New Year.

Stuart, Upton Warren

Barnacle goose

This rare visitor to the Moors at Upton Warren was around last weekend.

Stuart, Upton Warren

Bittern at the Moors

Here's a couple of snaps of the bittern from the Moors at Upton Warren yesterday.

There's one as the bittern was flying to the north Moors where the other two photos were taken.

In one shot the bittern was trying to catch an insect that was bugging it - if you'll excuse the pun!

Stuart, Upton Warren

Pink-foot at Upton Warren

This rare (for Upton Warren) pink-footed goose was at the Moors again on Sunday. It has been visiting for the last few days with the Canada geese. Lovely to see it.

Stuart, Upton Warren

Bar-headed goose

Another successful day at the Moors yesterday. This bar-headed goose made a really pleasant change from the usual Canada geese we see everywhere!

Stuart, Upton Warren

Jack Snipe

I was really privileged on Saturday afternoon - this jack snipe was out and about at the Moors at Upton Warren for about 3 hours or so. I've only caught brief glances before now so to see one for this long was great.

Stuart, Upton Warren

Fish & chips?

I was out at the Moors at Upton Warren on Monday when Gordon caught sight of this heron. I managed to catch it on camera with a rather large perch. You should've seen the size of the chips!

Stuart, Upton Warren

A Bittern Early?

We've had a bittern at the Moors at Upton Warren for a few days now. It was last seen this morning darting into the reeds. It's the earliest we've seen bitterns at Upton Warren and a are a bit surprised to see it!

On a sadder note, I've heard that a dead otter has been seen one on of the slip roads to the M5 near Upton Warren. We don't know any more than this but are hoping it's not one of the three otters we've been seeing regularly at the reserve. If you know any more about the dead otter, or you catch sight of otters at Upton Warren please could you let us know?!

Many thanks
Arthur, Upton Warren