Phew! I hope you're all doing ok in this rather oppressive heat. Apologies for the lack of updates this week, there have been a number of training courses taking place that have kept us away from the reserve. Luckily our volunteers, visitors and the staff who have been in, have been updating the sightings sheet.
On Monday we received this photo of a lovely Essex skipper, from Ann and Terry Smith who visited the reserve on 06 July.
Essex skipper by Ann and Terry Smith
Some of the skipper butterflies can be tricky to tell apart, particularly the small and Essex skippers. The difference to look for is the tips of the antenna - not an easy thing to check admittedly. Small skippers have orange tips on their antenna while Essex have black tips. The absence of a chequered pattern on the bottom of that upperwing also rules out a large skipper. Thanks for the photo Ann and Terry!
In bird news, a great white egret has been spotted over the reserve this week. It was seen twice on Wednesday by visitors, firstly flying west along the river north of New Fen North reedbed and then flying east over the washland. Volunteer Rob D also saw it yesterday during a bittern survey, flying over Joist Fen south towards Botany Bay. Below is a photo of a great white egret taken last year - it shows how they differ from the little egret landing next to it.
Great white egret and little egret by Les Bunyan
More black-tailed godwits have also been seen just this morning. Three were spotted by volunteer Roger B coming off the washland and heading south over the reserve. Our count of mute swans on the washland increased to 103 on Tuesday, it looks a bit like a gathering army up there! Kingfishers continue to show well, particularly from New Fen North viewpoint. Roger B saw two during the bittern watch yesterday and an early visitor this morning has also seen one. Although I wasn't on the bittern survey myself I'm told that there was still activity seen across the reserve in New Fen North, Joist Fen North and New Fen South reedbeds. Dave (who was doing some prep work for his Beginners Wildlife Photography Workshop taking place on Sunday, places still available - see website for more details!) spent some time in Mere Hide and got some footage of the fish activity in the pool. He commented they were perfect bittern sized rudd! I hope to show you that footage in next weeks blog.
Hot of the press, literally as I type, Katherine has returned from checking the moth trap down the reserve with the news that a Harris's hawk is present on the reserve. Roger B also thought he saw it on Tuesday so it's been here a few days. This is an American bird of prey so it's more than likely an escapee from somewhere, otherwise very lost! It doesn't appear to have any 'jesses' on it though - these are the thin leather straps placed round the legs that falconers use to control birds when on the glove or perch. So it's a bit of a mystery as to where this bird has come from. They look a bit like a juvenile marsh harrier but without the ginger head and with a very obvious white rump - the photo below was taken in 2011 on the reserve.
Harris's hawk by David Carr
With this hot weather continuing the reserve is a fantastic place to see numerous species of butterflies and dragonflies. The odd thunderstorm is forecast over the next few days but don't let that put you off paying us a visit, there is such a variety of wildlife to see. Hopefully though it'll mean slightly cooler temperatures for next week - we've got ragwort pulling and trail maintenance to do which is rather sweaty work at the best of times!