Last July I talked about the poor state of Slapton Ley, at least as far as many of the waterbirds were concerned. The water level had been up to the limit of the Torcross sluice for months because of the consistently high rainfall, and the large quantities of rain had caused the overspill of raw sewage from the water treatment plant into the Ley. These levels meant that the mute swans had difficulty reaching down far enough through the water to feed on the waterweed, and for the young cygnets on the Lower Ley it was impossible. All the cygnets that had hatched on the Lower Ley died of starvation within a few days of birth, on the Higher Ley just one survived. Nearly all the adult mute swans left for Beesands Ley, together with most of the Tufted Ducks. In September on Beesands Ley there were forty nine adult mute swans with nine thriving cygnets, quite a crush; on Slapton Ley there were just four adults and the one cygnet from the Higher Ley. In September the Tufted Duck numbers on Slapton Ley were also very low, and it wasn’t until December that they had started to reappear in any reasonable numbers. In January the number of adult mute swans had risen to twelve.

In December our most hoped-for winter visitors arrived, the goldeneye, only three of them but just so handsome, two males and a female and far below the thirty that used come not long ago. Also for the third winter running there seem to be no black necked grebe, I assume that the mild climate means that they don’t think it is worth their trouble to come this far south. It is a shame because Slapton was about the only place in Devon where they could be seen. Slavonian Grebe, however, have been seen on the sea. There has also been an exciting visit by a red necked grebe, loitering by the Dipping Platform: the self-same place that one was spotted just a few years ago. What used to be exciting rarities (and are no longer) are the various white egrets. Cattle egrets are now regularly seen in numbers at the Stokeley Pool, little egrets are more likely in Ireland Bay and the reed bed beyond, and great white egrets seem to prefer the reeds of the Higher Ley.

Even when my monthly bird count for the BTO is feeling disappointing, a single sighting can really raise my spirits, nothing more so than the appearance of an otter. Usually, an otter sighting is just a brief glimpse of a head, but occasionally it can be much more. Just a few months ago I was standing on the Carved Platform looking over an empty Ireland Bay, when an unusual movement caught my eye on the opposite shore. My telescope revealed it to be an otter, which proceeded to swim straight towards me and then up and down just in front of me, fishing, surfacing to eat a fish, then diving once more. I am not sure how long this went on for before it eventually dived for the final time. A memory which will last forever.

Last month, February, we had the hateful easterly winds and nearly all the waterbirds left both Slapton and Beesands Leys for calmer parts, perhaps the Avon. The goldeneye hung on, as did a single heron still sitting on its windblown nest. Last year just one of the three heron nests survived and resulted in fledged young. Five mute swans hung on at Slapton, but when the weather improves many more will return to occupy their long held territories. I wonder how they will they fare this year. Old photographs of the Ley show that water levels were once much lower, with reed beds extending out into the Ley itself. This was before the level at the sluice was raised to reduce the amount of exposed mud at Torcross, especially during the summer months. I suspect that, despite this adjustment to the sluice, historic variations in rainfall levels from day to day meant that water levels were often much lower than they are today.

Just a couple of years ago we had a drought, but last year and again this year so far, we have had frequent, very heavy rain, which maintains the water level at the top of the sluice. The “Dipping Platform’ along from the boathouse at Slapton bridge is often well under water. No one knows exactly what climate change will bring, but if it is these frequent very heavy showers, then the sight of cygnets on Slapton Ley escorted by their parents may be a thing of the past, unless the sluice at Torcross is adjusted to reduce the maximum level that the water can reach.