Good afternoon. As is it my last day in the office before the weekend, here are some more recent sightings from the last couple of days:
Local birder Jonny spent some time out on the reserve on Monday and saw the following:
He also saw some bearded tits near the Washland viewpoint and there were also at least 15 swifts feeding overhead.
I went for a walk at lunchtime and spotted a common redstart feeding at the edge of the car park. There were also several smart comma butterflies on the wing.
I went for a walk in the sunshine yesterday morning and took a couple of pictures. I hope you like them:
Robin's pin cushion (which is a gall caused by the larvae of a species of gall wasp):
Amphibious bistort:
The grazing marsh in Brandon Fen:
I saw a green sandpiper on the washland and there were at least six swifts feeding overhead. As the day went on, a kingfisher was fishing at the edge of the visitor centre pond.
A yellow wagtail flew over the visitor centre just after I got here this morning. A common snipe flew east along the river and there was also a kingfisher feeding at the edge of East Wood.
As I walked along the riverbank, I took this photo of the washland in the morning sunshine:
A small flock of bearded tits were feeding near the dragonfly platform in New Fen North, I also photographed this interesting looking species of spider:
Image credits: David White
As yet, I haven't managed to conclusively identify it. Although it looks like a marbled orb weaver, its markings don't look quite righto to me. If anybody knows what it is, please do comment on this blog post!
I led a family friendly section about dragonflies on the reserve this morning. Although it wasn't the best morning for dragonflies, we saw several brown hawkers and ruddy darters. We also saw an azure damselfly at the edge of East Wood.
If you are planing to visit the reserve, here are a few notices:
Firstly, weather permitting, there will be a bird ringing demonstration as part of our Summer Family Fun Day on Sunday. If you are caught, please feel free to come and take a look at what birds have been caught.
Secondly, there are still currently cattle grazing on the riverbank Public Footpath between the Washland viewpoint and Joist Fen viewpoint.
We hope to see you soon!