Good morning! It was a great day for photography on Sunday so I will begin with some of the great pictures that were taken on the reserve:
A skulking but loud grasshopper warbler:
Image credits: Les Bunyan
An equally skulking (but even louder!) Cetti's warbler:
Image credit: Rob Nichols
...And a burly common buzzard soaring in the thermals:
Also on Sunday, a single crane was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint and four swallows were over the washland. A bank vole was also feeding underneath the visitor centre feeders.
On Monday, four common curlews flew over the visitor centre and there were at least six bitterns booming around the reserve. There were also at least 10 sand martins feeding over the washland.
On Tuesday, a single crane was again seen from Joist Fen viewpoint and our first reed warbler of the year was heard singing near Joist Fen viewpoint.
There was plenty going on throughout Wednesday and I had a fantastic view of a male barn owl hunting over Brandon Fen during my pre-work stroll. Two noisy oystercatchers flew over and a sedge warbler was performing its parachuting display flight.
Meanwhile, further down the reserve, Katherine and Suzanne went down to Botany Bay to collect some more plants for the fenland plant bed outside the visitor centre. A chiffchaff was singing along with a blackcap and a treecreeper. There was some excitement at lunchtime when two garganeys were found on the washland. They remained visible from the Washland viewpoint for the rest of the day.
I got in early yesterday morning to do by first Common Bird Census (CBC) of the year around Brandon Fen. On the way in, I had to stop as a roe deer wandered across the entrance track in front of me. I also saw a muntjac deer bounding along the riverbank away from me shortly after I started out. Highlights included a late fieldfare flying over the visitor centre and heard a marsh tit singing near the river bridge. I also found our first common whitethroat of the year behind the visitor centre.
There was another bittern survey yesterday and Suzanne saw six bearded tits near Joist Fen viewpoint. I saw a house martin over the pond dipping area while I was taking part in something really rather special (but I will let Ali tell you about that next week!) and our first hobby of the year was seen over the riverbank.
If you are planning to visit tomorrow, we have our Brecks Easter Bunny trail so we hope to see you there. Happy Easter and we hope to see you soon!