Good morning. A lot has been seen on the reserve over the last couple of days so here are some recent sightings:
Site Manager Dave and volunteer Catherine were driving though the reserve on Friday lunchtime and they saw three cranes in flight. Hopefully, this means that they will be back on-site for good in the near future!
Meanwhile, closer to the visitor centre, three redshanks were feeding in front of the Washland viewpoint and a smart male lesser redpoll was on the visitor centre feeders. A water rail was also skulking around at the edge of the visitor centre pond.
Volunteer Norman went down to Joist Fen viewpoint in the afternoon and saw the adult male hen harrier. He also saw 12 marsh harriers and two great white egrets.
Two roe deer were feeding on the entrance track as I drove in yesterday morning and 18 whooper swans were showing well in front of the Washland viewpoint. A flock of 80 lapwings were standing on the ice nearby and two water pipits flew up just East of the viewpoint. I walked around Brandon Fen and took some photos, I hope you like them:
Image credits: David White
As the morning went on, volunteer Norman saw an immature male hen harrier from Joist Fen viewpoint along with three different bitterns. He also saw a great white egret feeding north of the river and a male goosander that flew west along the river.
At lunchtime, volunteer John found an adult great black backed gull in front of the Washland viewpoint which is a good record for here.
In the afternoon, at least 12 bearded tits were feeding near Joist Fen viewpoint and six bramblings were feeding at the edge of the car park. Two treecreepers were also feeding in West Wood.
There were plenty of people down at Joist Fen viewpoint to watch everything go to roost and between them they saw:
My last sighting of the day came when a woodcock flew over the visitor centre pond as I was locking up.
There is a co-ordinated crane count today so I was down at Joist Fen viewpoint at first light. Although I didn't see any cranes, I saw three different bitterns. I had an extremely close encounter with one of them: I was huddled in the viewpoint shelter and it landed at the edge of the pool right in front of me! It stalked around for 10 seconds or so before it saw my and flew off. It certainly brightened up a dull and damp morning.
I also saw a Cetti's warbler in front of the viewpoint and heard a kingfisher calling. As I walked back through the reserve, four whooper swans flew south west over East Wood and two roe deer shot out of the same wood in front of me. Shortly after we opened up the visitor centre, a water rail scuttled across the visitor centre pond which was nice to see.
The good news is that the weather is due to improve this afternoon, just in time for our Talon Spotting guided walk. If you are planning to visit the reserve this week, please note that the Environment Agency will be continuing to cut the vegetation alongside the riverbank Public Footpath. Please read this blog post for more information.
We hope to see you soon!