One of the first birds seen was a little egret, feeding along a ditch near the motorway. It was shortly followed by a whinchat flitting between perches in the neighbouring field. The air above the flashes were filled with swallows busily feeding up before migrating south. They were joined by a few house martin and sand martin, but it seems like a long time since I've seen a swift!
Now whinchat is a great bird to find, but I have to give 'star species' to a plant, a plant I've wanted to see since I first heard of it. Sadly its not rare, I just need to pay more attention. The species is gypsywort, a member of the dead nettle family with a cluster of small pink flowers around the stem. Several plants were growing a stretch of ditch at the end of Warrens Lane. On checking the county database, it turns out this is actually the first record for the nature reserve.
Also present along the ditch was water mint, probably my favourite wetland plant.
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