Doleham
21st November 2008, Friday
When the reserve was set up about 5 years ago, we put together a list of those species already using the site plus those we thought would be enticed in as the habitat developed. One by one, these have arrived, the latest to be Bearded Tit.
Up till now they have rather ungratefully ignored the very nice reeds, but yesterday a pair appeared from the reedy ditch alongside the railway track, just as we were chatting to some workmen clearing scrub, and spent a couple of minutes checking out the corner of the reserve. Bearded Tits ramble widely during the autumn, fluttering feebly up high and often coming down in alien habitats, but in this case the value of the railway line as a wildlife corridor was once more underlined.
Apart from that, wildfowl numbers were unexceptional, with 60 Teal, 30 Mallard and just 1 Shoveler flushed into the sky by an ad male Marsh Harrier. A flock of about 30 Meadow Pipits was on the fields downstream of Doleham Halt, with a few more on the flooded fields, where there were also at least 2 Water Pipits and a Grey Wagtail.
