Good morning all. This will be my last recent sightings blog post for a while now so without any further ado, I will begin!
Saturday afternoon proved to me a very eventful afternoon. A male sparrowhawk dashed low over the visitor centre and I had a pleasant surprise when I popped up to the Washland viewpoint at lunchtime: A family of six Bewick’s swans flew west over my head before landing briefly on the washland north of East Wood. Meanwhile, further down the reserve, three cranes were seen in flight from Joist Fen viewpoint.
As the day went on, a group of around 15 bearded tits were showing well between Mere Hide and Joist Fen viewpoint. There was then some more excitement when presumably the same short eared owl from earlier on in the day was reported hunting over the washland mid-afternoon. I went up to the Washland viewpoint and couldn’t see it. However, as I turned to scan over Brandon Fen, I spotted it! It was hunting at very close quarters for a while, which was a real treat. There was also a shelduck on the washland and two stonechats were showing well nearby.
I went for a walk around Brandon Fen before work on Sunday morning. A barn owl was hunting at very close quarters near the car park and three water pipits were feeding on the washland just east of the Washland viewpoint.
As the day went on, at least 10 bearded tits were showing well near Joist Fen viewpoint and two barn owls were showing well in front of the washland viewpoint. A harrier was also seen which was initially thought to be a ringtail hen harrier. However, it has now been retrospectively identified as a ringtail pallid harrier, which is a first for the reserve. Its identity was only confirmed this morning, hence why no news came out about it beforehand. It has not been seen since, but it may well still be in the area so fingers crossed it will appear again.
There was still time for one more surprise on Sunday though, when one of our locals photographed a common seal on the washland at dusk between East Wood and West Wood. This is also a first confirmed record for the reserve, and a quite unexpected one at that!
There were five roe deer on the entrance track as I drove in yesterday morning and a kingfisher was seen from the Washland viewpoint at lunchtime. The short eared owl appeared again over the washland mid-afternoon and spent time hunting over both the washland and Brandon Fen.
Meanwhile, further down the reserve, Katherine and Emma did a harrier roost count at Joist Fen viewpoint. They counted at least 27 marsh harriers roosting west of the viewpoint which is a great count for here.
It was really rather chilly for my walk this morning but a barn owl was hunting in front of the visitor centre when I arrived which was great to see. At least 12 whooper swans were feeding on the washland north of East Wood along with a great white egret.
I also took this sequence of photographs of one of the most spectacular sunrises that I have ever seen here. I hope you like them:
Image credits: David White
Shortly after I got back to the visitor centre, the short eared owl was hunting over Brandon Fen along with a barn owl.
I will return at some point in mid-February so until then, I hope you have a great couple of weeks and we hope to see you on the reserve again soon!
Thanks Clare. It was certainly a spectacular sunrise!
Some wonderful sightings there, David - one of our visitors mentioned your pallid harrier today, brilliant! Beautiful photos of the sunrise.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.