Good morning. We have been treated to some wintry weather over the last couple of days so here are some more sightings:
A kestrel was hovering over the visitor centre pond on Friday morning and a kingfisher was fishing at the edge of the pond. A merlin was seen several times over the course of the day near Joist Fen viewpoint which is a good record for here.
At the end of the day, a Chinese water deer appeared at the edge of the pond and proceeded to have a nice nap out of the wind. It's alright for some!
I popped up to the Washland viewpoint first thing yesterday morning and I counted at least 125 whooper swans. A great white egret was also present and a kingfisher was feeding from the riverbank.
I took a photo of the visitor centre pond in the cold conditions shortly after we opened and here it is:
Local bird ringer Simon saw two water pipits on the washland shortly after we opened. Volunteer Roy also saw two water rails from New Fen viewpoint.
I went for a quick dash up to the Washland viewpoint this morning in the snow and counted at least 200 whooper swans on the ice. A great white egret was feeding at the river edge and three herring gulls were on the ice in front of the Washland viewpoint.
As the snow got harder, I took a couple of photos from the visitor centre:
Image credits: David White
While I have been writing this blog post, we have had a bit of excitement. A stoat has just caught a brown rat and has dragged it across the frozen visitor centre pond. Gruesome!
Please note that the: "A clattering, a parliament and a murder" corvid roost guided walk has been CANCELLED due to the slippery reserve paths and poor visibility forecasted later on today. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused.
Please also note that there are still cattle grazing on the riverbank Public Footpath between the Washland viewpoint and Joist Fen viewpoint. This path is currently very muddy and is also likely to be very slippery in the current weather conditions.
We hope to see you soon!