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| Fallen tree caused by Storm Aileen |
Storm Aileen has been causing chaos across the UK this morning with gusts reaching speeds of 74mph in some places. It was a bit dangerous to even walk to the bus stop just over the road from my flat, let alone to Strumpshaw today. I had to ask my mum, on her birthday, to drive me to the reserve for my shift. I was pretty glad I avoided going by train in the end, though, as there was a fallen tree at Brundall, causing a lengthy delay to those trains on the Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft lines. However, the car journey to Strumpshaw wasn't completely risk free either as this fallen tree along the country road leading to the reserve shows.
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| Common Lizard |
I had enough time for a short walk along the Sandy Wall path to check for any storm damage to report. Thankfully, there was nothing more than a few small fallen branches, just mere sticks in comparison to a full sized tree trunk. The majority of the wildlife were sensible enough to shelter from these powerful gusts, but in the more sheltered spots along the path, there were still a few dragonflies and other insects braving the storm. Several lizards were also doing their best to absorb what heat was available from the windswept sunshine this morning.
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| Drone Fly |
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| Common Darter |
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| Highland Cow |
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| Blue Tit |
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| Great Tit |
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| Kingfisher |
Because of the strong winds, I knew it wasn't going to be a busy day for visitors as well as wildlife. So for most of the time at Reception Hide, I was just watching the reed beds do Mexican waves as the storm continued to batter everything in sight. It wasn't a very exciting shift, but I was still able to see a kingfisher make a couple of very brief visits, a kestrel flying past, a couple of marsh harriers, house martins, a heron, teal, shovelers, gadwalls, coot, moorhens and Cobber the black swan.
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| Coot |
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| Cormorant |
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| Moorhen |
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| Cobber the Black Swan |
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| Woodpigeon |
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