Good morning. I won't be here for most of the day tomorrow so this week, you get Friday's update earlier!
It definitely feels like autumn outside and reserve sightings have reflected that. There were at least three hobbys over the washland and Brandon Fen on Monday. Katherine did her first Wetland Birds Survey (WeBS count) of the autumn on Monday morning. Volunteer Mark also spend some time up at the Washland viewpoint in the evening and saw:
He also saw a barn owl and two kingfishers.
Local photographer Matt Walton was also around and took these lovely images:
A long tailed tit:
A water rail:
Image credits: Matt Walton
A bittern was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint on Tuesday and there were also several bearded tits showing nearby.
There was plenty to see yesterday and Suzanne saw two hobbys over Brandon Fen. Nigel T headed down to Botany Bay, at the far end of the reserve. He saw a hobby over Joist Fen viewpoint and three common buzzards over West Wood. He also saw at least five bearded tits towards the far end of the reserve.
It turned out to be a great day for bearded tits all over the reserve. Matt Walton spent some time in Mere Hide and got this cracking picture of a male:
Image credit: Matt Walton
Thank you very much to Matt for sharing these pictures with us.
I returned to work after another hectic couple of days away (I won't bore you with the details!) and went for a walk around Brandon Fen. The hybrid-black poplars on the reserve have been suffering from poplar rust since August but now they have started shedding their leaves. It was therefore a very "crunchy" walk along the ramp up to the riverbank. Although it made me very noisy to any rare birds that might be hiding nearby, it did make me feel very autumnal!
A little egret was present on the large pool in front of the Washland viewpoint and several common snipe flew overhead. I also flushed a couple of meadow pipits as I walked along the riverbank. Meanwhile, further down the reserve, a bittern was seen in flight from New Fen viewpoint.
The weather forecast for the next couple of days is looking quite good so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!