Good morning. Remembrance Day has begun wit the reserve being cloaked under a think blanket of frozen fog. This has continued the theme of challenging wildlife watching weather that we have had to endure here over the last couple of days.
Site Manager Dave went out on the reserve on Tuesday afternoon and saw a male stonechat near Mere Hide. As the day went on, a bittern was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint along with at least 14 marsh harriers. Wednesday was largely a day to forget as it rained for the majority of the day. The only highlight came when Suzanne spotted a goldcrest feeding in front of the visitor centre.
Although it was very cold yesterday morning, it was at least sunny for most of the day. At lunchtime, Suzanne walked around Brandon Fen and spotted a common buzzard perched up. There was some excitement during the afternoon when the reserve team heard cranes calling near Joist Fen viewpoint. Eventually, four were seen in flight so it was great to know that they popped in to say hello.
This is the first confirmed sightings of cranes on the reserve in just over a month as our resident birds have been out in the Fens with a flock of around 20 others recently. Hopefully, they will stick around for a while longer so that more people can see them!
This morning, two roe deer were grazing on the entrance track as I drove in. The staff gate was frozen shut when I arrived so I had to take the long way round to get to the centre, as I trudged through the undergrowth, I spotted hat I initially thought was something rather unpleasant in the wildflower garden in front of the visitor centre:
Image credit: David White
I was rather relieved to find that it was just some dark brown fungi! I walked along the riverbank and took this photo of the foggy riverbank:
As I walked along the bank, I spotted a female stonechat perched up in a hawthorn bush and heard a water pipit on the washland. I was pleasantly surprised to see a green woodpecker on the riverbank which eventually flew into East Wood, calling as it went. This species is surprisingly scarce on the reserve nowadays so this was a very welcome sighting.
I walked through the cattle corral and took this photo of the sun just peaking through the murk in East Wood:
Just before I reached the stile, a great white egret flew west along the river, calling as it went. When I got to New Fen viewpoint, I could hear some whooper swans calling further down the reserve.
A lesser redpoll flew over East Wood and a treecreeper was calling in the wood. I spotted this really rather impressive fungi growing near the visitor centre, which look like parasol mushrooms:
I also took a picture of the bird feeders behind the visitor centre, which now have a tray to collect some of the seeds that fall from the visitor centre:
If you are planning to visit today, you may be interested to hear that steam locomotive "Princess Elizabeth" will be passing the reserve at around 2pm this afternoon on its way to Norwich.
There is plenty to see at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!