Good morning. Unfortunately, August ended in a bit of a whimper with lots of grey skies and rain. There are still quite a lot of recent sightings so without further ado, here they are:
The Cambridge Conservation Forum had their first outing to a reserve on Thursday evening. They went to look at an old crane nest and while they were there, two green sandpipers flew over.
I walked up to Joist Fen viewpoint on Friday morning and on the way, I caught a glimpse of a water vole feeding in the pool just below the Washland viewpoint.
On the way along the riverbank, a kingfisher flew along the riverbank and a male marsh harrier was hunting over New Fen North. There were several summer migrants in the bushes, including several willow warblers and blackcaps.
I got up to Joist Fen viewpoint and I was admiring the strimming that had been done in front of Joist Fen viewpoint:
As the days went on, one of our locals did the same walk as me and found plenty of interesting wildlife. He found at least eight small red eyed damselflies feeding over the washland pool north of East Wood. He also saw at least three Essex skippers and a grass snake.
There were at least three hobbys feeding over the riverbank and at least three individual bitterns from Joist Fen viewpoint. He also saw two bearded tits from the same viewpoint.
It was a nice day on Saturday and four common buzzards were circling over New Fen viewpoint enjoying the sunshine. A bittern was seen from the same viewpoint and two common terns were seen over the washland.
A red kite was seen over New Fen viewpoint on Sunday and an Arctic tern was seen on the washland. A male marsh harrier was seen from the Washland viewpoint along with a hobby and a common buzzard.
It was a pretty miserable day yesterday as it rained moreorless all day. I braved the weather nonetheless and walked around Brandon Fen after lunch. Although it was fairly quiet I saw a jay and there was a mixed flock of hirundines feeding over the washland. This included at least 40 house martins and at least 30 sand martins.
It was raining once again for my walk this morning. However, I saw a green woodpecker in Brandon Fen and a tree pipit flew over, calling as it went. There was also a kestrel hunting over the car park.
I took a few photos between the showers, I hope you like them:
The land form of amphibious bistort:
Common comfrey:
A small fairy ring on the lawn in front of the visitor centre:
A giant puffball:
Image credits: David White
There is plenty to see at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!