Good afternoon. I have a rather long list of sightings in front of me from Friday onwards so here we go from Friday onwards:
I had a really close view of a barn owl hunting along the river before work on Friday morning. I finally managed to catchup with the male garganey that has been present for the last couple of weeks. It was feeding on the washland pool north of East Wood before it flew into New Fen North (the first area of reedbed.)
Just before I got to New Fen viewpoint, a bittern flew up and flew across the reedbed in front of me. A smart male marsh harrier was also skydancing overhead which was lovely to see.
When I got back to the visitor centre, a smart male brambling was on the visitor centre feeders. Two noisy oystercatchers flew over and three common buzzards were soaring overhead.
There was some excitement in the afternoon when a winter plumaged spotted redshank was found in New Fen North. This species is rather scarce here so it was a good addition to the reserve year list.
Local birder Steve came down in the evening and saw the following:
New Fen North
Washland
He also saw around 20 fieldfares north of the river which is quite late in the year for this species.
There was a willow warbler singing behind the visitor centre when I arrived yesterday morning. I went up to the Washland viewpoint with my telescope. As another visitor and I were watching a smart male marsh harrier flying across the river, two cranes dropped in just east of the viewpoint which was a nice surprise. I had a good view of them through my telescope and saw enough to confirm that they weren’t either of our resident pairs. When I got back to the visitor centre, a lesser whitethroat was singing nearby which is a good record for here.
I had a walk around the Brandon Fen family trail with the Widlife Explorers children’s club and we heard a bittern booming near the reserve entrance. We saw a single crane circling over the photography station and we heard a cuckoo calling in East Wood. It is always great to hear your first of the year! When we got back to the visitor centre, there were two smart male bramblings on the visitor centre feeders.
The spotted redshank from the previous day was relocated in New Fen North at lunchtime so I nipped down to see it. I saw a peacock butterfly near the visitor centre and took a couple of pictures that I hope you like:
In the afternoon, a brimstone butterfly was fluttering around over the visitor centre lawn and a red kite drifted over Joist Fen viewpoint. The male garganey was located in New Fen North and a wheatear spent some time feeding near Joist Fen viewpoint.
Our first hobby of the year was seen over the far end of the reserve along with a peregrine. Two bitterns were chasing eachother over New Fen North and a greenshank flew over, calling as it went. A late “ringtail” hen harrier headed north overhead and our first comma and green veined white butterflies of the year were seen alongside East Wood.
There was a willow warbler singing in the staff car park when I arrived this morning. I walked around Brandon Fen and saw presumably the same cuckoo that was present yesterday in Brandon Fen. A female marsh harrier was hunting over the grazing marsh and some lovely cowslips were in flower along the entrance track.
I also took a couple of pictures while I was out and about:
The den building area in Brandon Fen:
Some willow catkins alongside the track:
Image credits: David White
There were two smart summer plumaged little gulls in front of the Washland viewpoint at lunchtime along with a common tern. Five bar tailed godwits flew east overhead and a hobby was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint. The spotted redshank was still present in New Fen North and our first grass snake of the year was also seen near New Fen viewpoint.
I am pleased to say that the riverbank Public Footpath between the Washland viewpoint and Joist Fen viewpoint is now drying out so it is passable without wellies.
We hope to see you soon!