Bird life at Ranworth

Simon Thomas, Broads Wildlife Centre, Ranworth

Swallow cam is providing much entertainment at present and not just for the centre staff. The position of the camera is so discrete that we cannot quite see inside the nest and therefore can’t conclusively say if there are eggs, chicks or indeed anything. It would appear in my opinion that we shall shortly be witnessing the emergence of a new brood if the constant feeding, returning and switching position on the nest by the parents is anything to go by.

Unfortunately the great crested grebes seem to have abandoned their nests after a period of particularly high water flooded them out. We have high hopes that they will rebuild in new sites, however at present there is not much sign of any activity in this regard. On a more positive note, there have been some young grebes sighted on Malthouse Broad with their black and white striped heads poking out from under the wings of the parents.

Sandwich Tern, photo by Graham Brownlow

So far a total of 57 common tern nests have been counted across the four rafts on the broad with the majority occurring on just one of them. Again no chicks can be seen as of yet but there are a number of eggs.

There have been several sightings of otter on both Ranworth and Malthouse Broad recently with multiple sightings on 1 June. One unveiled itself right beside the wildlife centre, a visit to the wildlife centre may well result in a glimpse of these elusive creatures.