Good morning. I will begin with some fantastic kingfisher images that were taken from Mere Hide on Tuesday:
Image credits: Graham Joyce
Thank you very much to Graham for sharing these wonderful images with us.
There was a bittern survey yesterday morning and bitterns were seen from the Washland viewpoint and New Fen viewpoint. A great white egret was also seen in flight several times west of Joist Fen viewpoint.
I went for a walk first thing and I saw two marsh harriers over New Fen North, a first summer male and an adult female. There were plenty of insects on the wing as I walked along the riverbank. This included a meadow brown and a banded demoiselle.
As I walked down to New Fen viewpoint, I saw a couple of brown hawkers and a female common darter. As I walked back along the hard track past East Wood a song thrush and a chiffchaff were singing in East Wood.
As the morning went on, a barn owl was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint along with three hobbys. A juvenile nightingale was photographed near the visitor centre. A hornet mimic hoverfly was seen in front of the visitor centre and a selection of damselflies were photographed on the riverbank. This include common blue damselfly, azure damselfly and variable damselfly.
Volunteer Lawrence went for a walk around the reserve in the afternoon. Two hobbys were hunting over the Washland viewpoint and there was plenty of kingfisher activity in front of Mere Hide. A bittern was seen from New Fen viewpoint and a juvenile bearded tit was feeding on the grit tray in front of the viewpoint. A kingfisher was also hunting in front of the viewpoint.
At Joist Fen viewpoint, there were cranes calling in the distance and the great white egret was seen again in flight. A small flock of bearded tits were also feeding near the viewpoint.
We received some interesting late news this morning. Two purple hairstreak butterflies were seen on the reserve on Tuesday. Surprisingly, this isn’t the first record of this species on the reserve as one was photographed alongside Trial Wood exactly five years ago to the day. Fancy that!
This morning, a bittern was seen over the washland and a grasshopper warbler was reeling in Brandon Fen. A brown argus butterfly was also photographed in Brandon Fen.
As the day has gone on, a bittern was seen from Mere Hide along with a kingfisher. Four cranes were seen in flight from Joist Fen viewpoint and two hobbys were seen over the Washland viewpoint.
There is plenty to see at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!