Good morning. It is definitely beginning to feel very autumnal here, especially in the mornings. However, on Friday afternoon Site Manager Dave and I showed a colleague from the Norfolk Wildlife Trust around the reserve. It was really rather warm! There were plenty of migrant hawkers and a red admiral butterfly on the wing.
We went down to Joist Fen viewpoint and shortly after we got there, a kingfisher flew across the pool. A marsh harrier was hunting near the bog oak and a bittern flew across, which was great to see.
I went for a walk around Brandon Fen armed with my camera and took some autumnal shots of the reserve:
Image credits: David White
A female marsh harrier was hunting in front of the viewpoint and three stonechats were showing well in the same area. Two common snipe flew over and a kingfisher was hunting along the river.
Volunteer Roy headed up to the Washland viewpoint and he was lucky enough to see an otter fishing in the river. The great white egret appeared in front of the viewpoint shortly after and two bearded tits were also showing well in the reeds.
As the day went on, a bittern and a kingfisher were seen from Joist Fen viewpoint. A common snipe was also showing well at the edge of the pool.
I was a bit short on time this morning so I headed up to the Washland viewpoint before work. The great white egret was showing well and two stonechats were perched up nearby. A couple of skylarks flew over and 18 wigeons were showing well. A song thrush was singing in the distance which was nice to hear. There were also two kingfishers fishing along the river.
As the morning has gone on, three goldcrests were seen at the edge of the car park. An early birder also saw our first ringtail hen harrier of the autumn in front of Joist Fen viewpoint. He also saw a flying bittern and a barn owl was perched up nearby.
We are all currently very busy planning for our annual Race for Wildlife which will take place next Sunday. There are still plenty of spaces available and courses of two kilometres, five kilometres and 10 kilometres will be marked out around the reserve. You can either run or walk around the course, so why not come and take part to help to raise money for the reserve? Just in case you need further persuasion, the 10 kilometre route includes parts of the reserve that aren’t usually open to the public, so this is your chance to explore different parts of the reserve.
Please click on the link above for more information.
We hope to see you soon!