Good morning. I will start of by posting a picture of a ruddy darter that I took on the reserve a couple of weeks ago that I haven’t had a chance to post yet:
Here are some recent sightings from Tuesday onwards:
Volunteer Paul went and had a look from the Washland viewpoint and saw the following:
Warden Katherine went and put the moth traps out in the afternoon and she saw several of species of butterfly on the wing. This included a small copper near the Fen Pools and a gatekeeper at the edge of East Wood.
We were all rather busy with a school visit on Wednesday but a kingfisher was showing well at the edge of the visitor centre pond for most of the day. Administrator Suzanne also heard a grasshopper warbler reeling around Brandon Fen.
Presumably the same grasshopper warbler was reeling in Brandon Fen early yesterday morning. I went and had a look over the Washland before work and I saw:
A kingfisher was again showing well at the edge of the visitor centre pond for most of the day. Meanwhile, further down the reserve, several bitterns were showing well from Mere Hide and small numbers of bearded tits were showing well alongside the boardwalk on the approach to the hide.
A roe deer in its smart summer coat ran across the entrance track in front of me as I drove in the morning. I went for a walk along the riverbank and saw at eight common terns feeding over the washland. Two common snipe also flew up, calling as they went.
At least nine little egrets were feeding on the washland pool north of East Wood. When I got to the stile at the edge of New Fen North, a bittern flew up in front of me which was lovely to see.
I also took a couple of photos while I was out which I hope you like:
Gatekeeper:
Teasel:
Yarrow:
Spider sp.:
Image credits: David White
If you are planning to visit the reserve, please note that there are still cattle grazing on the riverbank Public Footpath between the Washland viewpoint and Joist Fen viewpoint.
Also, if you haven’t already heard, we are very proud to be hosting Chris Packham’s UK 2018 Bioblitz on Sunday 22 July. Please follow this link to find out more about the day.
We hope to see you soon!