Good morning. Well, February has started off with a lovely day so here are some recent sightings from Tuesday onwards:
I was working elsewhere for most of the day on Tuesday but I did pop in briefly early in the morning. As I drove in, there were six roe deer on the entrance track which was a nice start to the day.
Later on in the morning, local bird ringer Simon saw eight shelducks on the washland and heard a reed bunting singing in the morning sunshine. He also saw a male green woodpecker and three meadow pipits in Brandon Fen.
Meanwhile, further down the reserve, Site Manager Dave saw four cranes in flight from Joist Fen viewpoint. There were also three buzzards circling over the visitor centre during the afternoon.
Yesterday, Suzanne saw a stoat chasing a brown rat underneath the visitor centre feeders as she opened up the visitor centre. A sparrowhawk also flew over the visitor centre pond.
A single roe deer was grazing at the edge of the car park as I drove in this morning. The moon also looked pretty spectacular over the washland so here are some photographs of it:
Image credits: David White
There were two whooper swans and four shelducks from the Washland viewpoint. A great white egret was feeding near the viewpoint and a water pipit flew up in front of the viewpoint.
As I walked back to the visitor centre, a group of six Bewick's swans flew west overhead, calling as they went. This is the first record of this species on the reserve for quite some time so it was lovely to see them.
As the morning has gone on, a skylark was singing south of the railway line and two buzzards were circling over East Wood. The reserve team have been working down at Joist Fen viewpoint and have seen seven cranes on the hard track west of Joist Fen viewpoint. It is good to know that they are still around.
If you are planning to visit, please note that the riverbank Public Footpath between the Washland viewpoint and Joist Fen viewpoint is still extremely muddy. You will need wellies to negotiate it at present. The rest of the paths are fine.
We hope to see you soon!