Monday definitely turned out to be a day to expect the unexpected. Things started in earnest when somebody came in reporting a glossy ibis was reported flying west over the visitor centre. We all got very excited about this as this was a first record for the reserve (if you are not sure what one looks like, please click on the link above, its definitely worth it!) Sadly, none of us saw it but I sent regular Monday volunteer John up to the Washland viewpoint to look for it. He returned shortly after, saying that there was a black tern up there. Again, this was another unusual sighting for this time of year so I headed up there for a look............
I quickly found the bird but there was just something about it that didn't look right. Although it seemed to be feeding like a black tern, it was much paler. I rushed back to the office to get the bird book out and a debate soon began about the true identity of this bird. However, things were not made easy by several other interesting birds that kept distracting us. Firstly, a male barn owl was hunting at close quarters nearby and secondly, a first winter little gull shot by right in front of the viewpoint. Yet another pleasant surprise!
Anyhow, the consensus on the tern was that it was a black tern after all. I still put the word out on the local bird watching forum about this "funny tern" (Sorry about that!) Several people offered up suggestions of its possible identity including the possibility that it might be a very late Arctic tern. I'll admit, this hadn't even crossed our mind when we were pouring through the book. However, two colleagues from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) dashed over on their lunch breaks and confirmed that it was indeed a first winter Arctic tern. What a kerfuffle!
I went and had a look on the washland the following morning and to my surprise, both the Arctic tern and little gull were still present and showing well. Unfortunately though, we missed out on the glossy ibis again as it was photographed flying north over the reserve at lunch time! Katherine saw it over New Fen viewpoint on Wednesday though so it may well still be around!
In other news, I saw two roe deer in Brandon Fen on Tuesday morning and a muntjac deer was lurking around at the edge of the visitor centre pond later on in the day. A kingfisher kept pelting across the pond and plenty of redwings were flying over the visitor centre throughout the day.
I've just got space to share a picture of the mist hanging over the visitor centre pond just after first light this morning. Enjoy!:
Image credit: David White