Good morning! I might as well start where I left off on Sunday. Once again, there was a fantastic sunset (sorry, my pictures weren't good enough this time round!) and there was plenty to see. At Joist Fen viewpoint, three hen harriers were seen at dusk. This included two males and a "ringtail." A bittern also flew right in front of the lucky participants of the "Festive Foray" guided walk.
Tuesday turned out to be a red letter day for Suzanne, our Administrator. Not only did she see a water rail skulking around under the bird feeders, she also found her very first "first" for the reserve. She was admiring a mixed, roaming flock of long tailed tits, blue tits and great tits when she found a nuthatch feeding with the rest of the gang. Here is a lovely photo of one doing what it does best (which is being upside down of course!):
Image credit: Steve Round (rspb-images.com)
Surprisingly, the only previous sighting of this species on the reserve came way back in June 1996 which is less than a year after the creation of the reserve began. In fact, the bird was only heard calling in the poplar woods and was not seen. Therefore, Suzanne was the first person to actually see a nuthatch on the reserve. Congratulations!
It was extremely foggy when I drove in on Wednesday morning but I caught glimpses of a little owl and two roe deer as I drove along the entrance track. As the day went on, there was plenty to see from the visitor centre with a female great spotted woodpecker "out front" and two water rails underneath the bird feeders behind the centre.
It was a beautiful morning yesterday morning and it was fantastic watching the sun rising in the mist:
Image credit: David White
I also saw plenty of great wildlife. As I walked along the riverbank to Joist Fen viewpoint, I flushed a water pipit and a little grebe was feeding in the river. At Joist Fen viewpoint, I counted five marsh harriers hunting in the mist and the juvenile peregrine was perched up in Humphrey's Paddock looking most disgruntled. I went and had a look at the progress on the boardwalk for Mere Hide and had fantastic views of a flock of bearded tits feeding alongside the path.
To be honest though, the main reason why I was out on the reserve was to get a photo of the steam engine "Union of South Africa" passing the reserve on its way from Norwich to York. Here it is looking rather atmospheric in the dull light:
As I was locking up after darkness fell last night, I could hear some Bewick's swans calling on the washland. Although I wasn't here particularly early this morning, I still had a look up on the washland and I was pleased to find two Bewick's swans feeding with a mute swan. When I got back to the visitor centre, the two water rails were feeding underneath the feeders and a muntjac deer was skulking at the edge of the visitor centre pond. We hope to see you soon.