Good morning. It has certainly been a lot chillier than usual over the last couple of days, hasn’t it?! It wasn’t too bad on Wednesday and the work party in New Fen North, the first area of reedbed, were lucky enough to see four cranes flying over towards the visitor centre. Unfortunately, they didn’t get as far as the visitor centre so those of us that were in the office didn’t see them.
I went up to the Washland viewpoint at lunchtime and saw two great white egrets. A male sparrowhawk flew over Brandon Fen and a female stonechat was showing well in front of the viewpoint.
As the day went on, a bittern was seen from Mere Hide and a coal tit was on the visitor centre feeders.
The weather was pretty miserable for most of the day on Thursday and the only wildlife I saw was three roe deer than ran across the entrance track in front of me as I drove in!
It was a lovely day here yesterday but the wind was very cold. Visitor centre volunteer Roy had a stroke of luck at lunchtime when four cranes flew south east over the visitor centre.
At around the same team, I appeared at the far end of the reserve having walked in from Lakenheath. I was mainly here to take pictures to be honest, so here are a few of them:
Image credits: David White
I saw a muntjac deer down in Botany Bay and as I walked along the riverbank towards Joist Fen viewpoint, a great white egret flew east along the river.
I stopped at Joist Fen viewpoint for lunch and although it was very chilly, there was plenty to see. I saw two bitterns in flight and there were at least six marsh harriers hunting over the far end of the reserve.
As I walked back along the riverbank, I saw at least a dozen roe deer grazing north of the river along with a perched common buzzard. There was also a mixed flock of swans feeding opposite the far end of the reserve, but they were too far away to identify unfortunately.
Meanwhile, back at the visitor centre, three barn owls were hunting near the car park at dusk, which is a great count for here.
It was again very chilly this morning and five roe deer were feeding alongside the entrance track as I drove in. I went up to the Washland viewpoint and a redshank flew over the large pool. By scanning further down river, I spotted a great white egret in flight and at least six whooper swans feeding on the washland. Two marsh harriers were hunting nearby along with a barn owl.
We have just had a phenomenal stroke of luck: A short eared owl was spotted flying north over East Wood, in full view of the visitor centre window! It disappeared towards the Washland viewpoint, so hopefully it will stick around!
There is plenty to see at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!