Good morning. We have had some lovely weather over the last couple of days which has been great news. I will start where I left off on Thursday with some recent sightings:
The willow tit eventually showed itself on the peanut feeder in front of the visitor centre and local photographer Ian Goodall got these great photos of it:
Image credits: Ian Goodall
Thank you very much to Ian for sharing these images with us.
As some of you may have seen on Thursday evening, I did an interview for ITV Anglia News about the 2016 Big Garden Birdwatch results. While I was out and about with the film crew, a water vole was feeding just west of the Washland viewpoint and a common toad was croaking near the pond dipping platform.
A common buzzard was soaring over the Washland viewpoint and two garganeys were also showing well from the viewpoint. As the day went on, 33 shovelers were showing well from the viewpoint and a barn owl was hunting over Brandon Fen. There were also several butterflies on the wing, including brimstones and small tortoiseshells.
As the day went on, two cranes and a great white egret were seen from Joist Fen viewpoint. A bittern flew over the visitor centre pond and an orange underwing moth was reported near the car park. Just as we were locking up, a red kite flew over the visitor centre. Unfortunately for me, I was at the wrong side of the centre so I didn’t see it. Oh well!
I came down for a walk yesterday evening and two little grebes were feeding on the river just near Wilton Bridge. A single crane flew north over Joist Fen viewpoint before landing south of the railway line. Around 10 minutes later, presumably the same bird flew west along the railway line before disappearing behind Trial Wood.
I went down to New Fen viewpoint this morning and saw a single crane flying into the reedbed. A male marsh harrier flew over and a chiffchaff was singing in East Wood. When I got back to the visitor centre, the willow tit had just been seen on the visitor centre feeders and three garganeys had been seen from the Washland viewpoint. A group of seven roe deer were also grazing alongside the entrance track.
If you are planning to visit the reserve tomorrow, please note that we have a family fun day 10am-4pm. Therefore, if you are planning to come and see the willow tit, we suggest you get here early as there will be plenty going on around the visitor centre from around 9am onwards. We hope to see you on the reserve soon.