Good morning! Apologies for the lack of updates recently, there have been technical issues with the blog pages.
As usual, I will start by sharing a few photos that were taken recently on the reserve:
A male reed bunting:
A roe deer:
A pair of great crested grebes:
A pair of whooper swans:
Sunset over the visitor centre:
Image credits: David Mackey
Thank you very much to David for sharing these great images with us.
I have lots to report so I will start by looking back to last Friday (27 March). A female pintail was on the washland with two shelducks. There was a pleasant surprise later on in the day when a group of 27 black tailed godwits appeared on the washland. They were eventually joined by another 11 birds. We thought a count of 38 was good, until Sunday came along (but more about that later!)
On Saturday, a drake garganey was on the washland along with two water pipits. On Sunday, a flock of at least 120 black tailed godwits flew over the reserve. They were soon followed by 170 birds, but the latter flock may have included some of the first group. Our first sand martin of the year was seen over the washland along with a green sandpiper.
I had a walk before work on Monday morning and a barn owl was hunting over the washland. At least four roe deer were grazing in Brandon Fen and a song thrush was belting out its song nearby.
As they day went on, a great white egret was present on the washland north of East Wood. I nipped up to the washland viewpoint at lunchtime and eventually found a drake garganey. As I was walking back to the visitor centre with a visitor, two cranes flew over our head towards the far end of the reserve. They were seen shortly after over Joist Fen viewpoint and apparently kept on going before disappearing beyond the reserve boundary.
It was really rather breezy yesterday morning but a redshank was on the washland north of East Wood and a barn owl was hunting over New Fen North. We had our first pond dipping session of the day a couple of hours later and could hear some common toads croaking at edge of the pond, which was fantastic to hear.
I walked down to Joist Fen viewpoint with a colleague after lunch and saw a cracking male marsh harrier hunting. We also spotted a crane in Humphrey’s Paddock, the grazing marsh near the viewpoint. As we walked back along the riverbank, a visitor found a cracking water pipit in breeding plumage.
I went for a brief walk this morning and a barn owl was hunting over Brandon Fen. There were two shelducks on the washland and a female marsh harrier flew over. We hope to see you soon and happy Easter to you all!