Good morning. We have had an interesting couple of days here. Perhaps the star of the show has been the female wasp spider that is currently feeding near the photography station. She has even been seen catching wasps by several people!
On Friday, three water rails were seen from Mere Hide and a family of kingfishers were in the same area. Meanwhile, down at Joist Fen viewpoint, three cranes flew over and two hobbys were hunting overhead.
A reserve visitor found this impressive hornet mimic hoverfly that was feeding on the buddleia in front of the visitor centre:
What a beast!
I went for a walk before work yesterday morning and I saw several kingfishers on my travels. I saw one flying along the river and another over New Fen North, the fist area of reedbed. A green sandpiper was feeding on the washland pool north of East Wood and a confused looking water shrew was pottering around near New Fen viewpoint.
As the morning went on, three different bitterns were seen in flight from Mere Hide and a family of kingfishers were seen near Joist Fen viewpoint. There were also some waders on the washland, including:
I went for a walk around Brandon Fen at lunchtime and took a couple of pictures that I hope you like:
Elderberries:
Garden spider:
Image credits: David White
Reserve volunteer was out and about on the reserve and he found several ichneumon wasps on his travels. Most of them were the species Amblyteles armatorious. Please follow this link to find images of this impressive species.
Two great white egrets were seen in flight from Joist Fen viewpoint towards the end of the day. This is the first record of this species on the reserve this autumn. Hopefully, they will stay for the winter as up to five of these impressive herons wintered here last winter.
Sadly, it has not been the best start to the day weather wise this morning. It is grey and breezy which is a bit of a shame. There were at least three black tailed godwits feeding in front of the Washland viewpoint and a quite a large flock of lapwings were also present. When I got back to the visitor centre, a kingfisher flew over which brightened the day slightly.
If you are planning to visit the reserve, please note that there are still cattle grazing on the riverbank Public Footpath between the Washland viewpoint and Joist Fen viewpoint. Please note that this path is also muddy in places after the recent wet weather.
We hope to see you on the reserve soon!