Good afternoon. Now that our Race for Wildlife is now over for another year, here are some more recent sightings for you from Friday morning onwards:
I will begin though by posting some photos that were taken on the reserve on 6 October:
Male bearded tit:
Sunrise over New Fen viewpoint:
Image credits: Matt Walton
Thank you very much for Matt for sharing these great images with us.
There were plenty of wagtails around on Friday morning and all three British species were seen from the visitor centre. A pair of pied wagtails were feeding on the visitor centre lawn, a grey wagtail was feeding at the edge of the visitor centre pond and a yellow wagtail flew over the centre. A group of around 15 redwings were roaming around the car park area and a kingfisher was feeding at the edge of the visitor centre pond.
In the afternoon, two great white egrets were feeding on the pool near the road. This pool is visible if you walk along the riverbank east from the Washland viewpoint.
I had a walk around the reserve before work on Saturday morning and took these photographs. I hope you like them:
Image credits: David White
I inadvertently flushed a green sandpiper at the edge of the visitor centre pond and a mistle thrush made an appearance in the same area. A kingfisher was also showing well from the visitor centre window for most of the morning.
Local birder Chris spent some time up at the Washland viewpoint and he saw:
In the afternoon, a bittern was showing well from New Fen viewpoint and a drinker moth caterpillar was also sunning itself nearby.
Sunday was "race day" so we were all rather busy. However, when I went to check the 5k signs on the riverbank, I saw a great white egret and two kingfishers on the pool north of East Wood. Several lesser redpolls were flying around and my first brambling of the year flew south over East Wood, calling as it went.
As the day went on, two house martins were over the reserve entrance and a bittern was showing well from Mere Hide. Several willow emerald damselflies were also on the wing in thew sunshine near the Washland viewpoint
The highlight of the day on Monday when a red kite flew overhead. A goldcrest was feeding in front of the visitor centre at lunchtime yesterday.
Although the light was really poor this morning, I did go up to the Washland viewpoint to see what I could see. I saw two ruffs and a water pipit in the gloom.
We hope to see you soon.