Perks of the job

After a day in the office I was out on Doxey Marshes this evening to complete some work on the water level management of the reserve.  Its that time of the year when sluice gates need adjusting and readings taken from gauge boards.  One of the perks of this is that I get to have a good look around most of the nature reserve too.

Common blue butterflies were on the wing along the motorway embankment track, stopping to nectar on trefoil in between chasing each other around.  A brimstone also whistled past and a couple of small whites were flitting from plant to plant.  A pair of common tern were fishing on Boundary Flash and along the shoreline, in the reedbed, there were several singing reed warblers.

Further down the reserve at another sluice gate I came across a female gadwall and single duckling, that's breeding confirmed for another species (and cue appalling photo below!).  The beauty of this area is that there is no public access, so this is again another perk of the job - access all areas.  Alongside the pool were a pair each of sedge warbler, reed warbler and reed bunting in a small patch of reedbed, a water rail along the shoreline of the pool and a grasshopper warbler reeling away from the other side of the river.

By the time I'd left the reserve I'd clocked at least 3 reeling males, and only covered less than half the nature reserve so who knows, there could be more out there.

I suppose the only downside to the job is getting caught out in the rain, but then again that's why I wear waterproofs!