Good morning. It has been a bit chilly here for the last couple of days so I will begin this morning's post with some images that were taken on the reserve on Tuesday, when it was a great deal warmer than it is at the moment!:
Bittern:
Mute swans:
Male reed bunting:
Image credits: Christine Nelson
Thank you very much to Christine for sharing here images with us.
I will start off where I left off with some sightings from Thursday afternoon onwards. I went up to the Washland viewpoint at lunchtime and saw a redshank. Three shelducks were also present and a curlew was calling south of the railway line.
There was plenty to see on Friday morning and the pair of garganey were feeding in the pool north of East Wood first thing. Two great crested grebes were on the river and a water pipit was feeding near the Washland viewpoint.
When I got to New Fen viewpoint, at least eight common snipe were feeding at the edge of the pool in front of the viewpoint. A kingfisher was also calling nearby.
As the day went on, three cranes were seen on the riverbank west of Joist Fen viewpoint and a great white egret was seen from the Washland viewpoint. Our first sand martins of the year were seen from the same viewpoint at lunchtime and an oystercatcher flew over, calling as it went.
Yesterday morning, I went out for a walk before work and my first port of call was to photograph one of the new bridges that has been installed to improve fish connectivity around the site:
There were good numbers of chiffchaffs singing and when I got up onto the riverbank, the two garganeys were again feeding on the washland pool north of East Wood.
I walked along the interior path through New Fen North and I saw a peregrine flying west along the river. Two marsh harriers were hunting overhead and a little grebe was calling in the reedbed.
At least 11 fieldfares flew north overhead and I took this photograph of the poplar catkins that were "showing well" at the edge of Trial Wood:
Image credits: David White
As the day went on, a kingfisher was feeding at the edge of the visitor centre pond and an oystercatcher flew over the visitor centre.
Meanwhile, further down the reserve, three cranes and a bittern were seen from Joist Fen viewpoint. A red kite and a common snipe were also seen from New Fen viewpoint.
There was some excitement in the afternoon when two avocets were reported from the Washland viewpoint. I rushed up there as we only average about one record per year of this species here. Sadly, by the time I got up there, they had gone. However, I did see two garganeys and a redshank so it was definitely not a waste of time! A barn owl was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint and a water rail was seen from Mere Hide.
My first task of this morning was to pick up the bins from the reserve entrance. As I walked down the entrance track, four roe deer ran across the entrance track.
I went up to the Washland viewpoint and saw a water pipit. Two garganeys were showing at the far edge of the pool and presumably the same two were feeding on the pool north of East Wood around 20 minutes later.
I stopped at New Fen viewpoint for a while and counted at least six common snipe feeding at the edge of the pool. Two kingfishers were chasing each other around the pool and two bullfinches flew over the visitor centre, calling as they went.
There has been plenty to see from Joist Fen viewpoint this morning. This has included a single crane and a bittern. A great whit egret has also been seen feeding north of the river.
There is plenty to see at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!