Good morning. Mid-May is a very colourful time of year which is reflected by these great images that have been taken on the reserve in the last week:
Black tern:
Image credits: Ian Goodall
Chicken of the woods:
Emperor moth:
Image credit: Janet Barwell
Female hairy dragonfly:
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Image credit: John Barrett
Thank you very much to Ian, Tim, Janet and John for sharing their great images with us.
Unfortunately, the black terns departed stage left at lunchtime on Thursday. A lesser whitethroat was heard singing in Brandon Fen and two otters were seen from New Fen viewpoint.
I had a quick look for black terns on Friday morning but all I could see was a single common tern. A pair of garganeys were on the river and a spotted flycatcher was calling behind New Fen viewpoint. There was also some lovely water violet in flower along the southern edge of New Fen North.
Shortly after I got back to the visitor centre, two Arctic skuas were reported over the washland. I went and had a look for them and although I didn’t see them, a turtle dove flew over the Washland viewpoint. There was also a hobby hunting over East Wood.
I led a dawn chorus walk with the Wildlife Explorer’s club on Saturday morning and although it was rather chilly, a barn owl was hunting over the washland and two cuckoos were showing well in Brandon Fen. A turtle dove flew over the visitor centre and three roe deer were grazing near the car park.
Once it warmed up, there were plenty of dragonflies on the wing. As well as good numbers of four spotted chasers, there were several first records for the year. These were azure damselfly, variable damselfly and red eyed damselfly.
There was plenty to see on Sunday and there were at least 27 hobbys feeding over Joist Fen viewpoint. There was also the extraordinary sight of six bitterns display flying over the west end of the reserve.
There were a couple of interesting flyovers at Joist Fen viewpoint including a red kite and a turtle dove. A single crane was also seen in flight.
I returned to the office this morning after four days of gallivanting around the country. I walked down to the western edge of Trial Wood and heard three cuckoos in the wood. A male marsh harrier was hunting over New Fen North and a jay flew east along the river.
Please note that there are now cattle grazing on the riverbank Public Footpath. There are also Dartmoor ponies grazing in New Fen North which are visible from the riverbank Public Footpath.
There is plenty to see at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!