Good afternoon. It took a while, but I have now finally recovered from our two Big Wild Sleepout event! Also, thanks to regular visitor John Gamble, I have managed to identify the mystery beetle that I posted a picture off in my blog post on Sunday. It was a four-banded longhorn beetle, or Leptura quadrifasciata to give it it’s full name! Here are some pictures of it:
Image credit: David White
I will begin with some late news from Saturday morning. When Katherine was sorting out the moth traps, she saw five cranes in flight over the far end of the reserve. They have been very elusive recently so it’s good to know that they are still around.
On Monday morning, a green sandpiper flew over the visitor centre. Volunteers Pete and Simon were ringing in Brandon Fen and they saw some interesting birds. This included a bittern, a hobby and two bearded tits. They also saw three kingfishers, two adults and a juvenile.
As the day went on, a grey wagtail flew Over Brandon Fen and eight long tailed tits were feeding with a goldcrest in the same area. Suzanne was also lucky enough to see a turtle dove in flight over the staff car park.
It was quite a nice day yesterday and a marsh tit was feeding outside the visitor centre. Several four-banded longhorn beetles were seen near New Fen viewpoint and a small red eyed damselfly was resting on a lily pad in the pond bed near the visitor centre.
The reserve team have been out pulling ragwort this morning and while they were out working hard just behind Mere Hide, they saw some good birds. A green sandpiper flew over, closely followed by two yellow wagtails. A common buzzard was also circling overhead.
Volunteer Lawrence went out for a walk at lunchtime and he saw at least four little grebes from the Washland viewpoint. At least six common terns were fishing in the large pool and there were at least 60 mute swans present.
I got a rare opportunity to go and pull some ragwort myself this afternoon so here is a picture of me hard at work for posterity:
Image credit: Katherine Puttick
It was fairly quiet bird wise apart from a hobby that dashed overhead just before we headed back. It was good to get out and help the reserve team, as I don’t get much chance to do so (even know I’m sure I will ache tomorrow!) Perhaps that's why its also know as yellow peril!
There is plenty to see on the reserve at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!