Good morning. I will start of where I left off on Friday. Two adult kingfishers were perched up at the edge of the visitor centre pond and a water rail was skulking about in the same area. The great white egret was seen from New Fen viewpoint along with two kingfishers. A common buzzard flew over and a bittern was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint. Dave popped down to Mere Hide during the afternoon and spotted a water rail preening at the edge of the pool.
I went for a walk around Brandon Fen yesterday morning and heard a marsh tit calling alongside the new trail. A male marsh harrier was hunting over the washland and a bearded tit was calling in front of the Washland viewpoint. As I followed the grassy path around the side of the visitor centre, a juvenile cuckoo flew across right in front of me.
As the morning went on, the great white egret was again seen from New Fen viewpoint along with a kingfisher. A whinchat was spotted alongside the riverside Public Footpath which is a good record for this time of year. Several bearded tits were showing from Mere Hide and two hobbys were keeping low over New Fen North, the first area of reedbed.
I went and had a quick look for the whinchat in the afternoon and although I didn't see it, I found the great white egret on the washland north of East Wood. It positively dwarfed the little egret that was feeding next to it! I also saw a lovely green veined white feeding on some purple loosestrife on the way up to the Public Footpath.
Volunteer Roy was out and about updating our reserve signs and he found several common lizards basking alongside East Wood. He also found lots of brassica bugs, which are very conspicuous at the moment if you know where to look.
Meanwhile, back at the visitor centre volunteer John witnessed a moment of high drama: A water vole attempted to swim across the visitor centre pond, only to be "put off" by a pike that made an almighty splash from beneath the depths. Needless to say, the water vole retreated back the way it came rather quickly!
The weather has not been ideal for photography for the last couple of days but here are a couple of pictures that have been taken on the reserve recently:
A posing peacock butterfly:
Image credit: David White
A female southern hawker:
Image credit: Ian Tulloch
There is currently plenty to see so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!