Good morning. Winter made an appearance at the beginning of the week with subzero temperatures plunging the reserve into a bit of an ice rink. It has warmed up considerably now so here are some more recent sightings:
I led a barn owl walk on Sunday afternoon and to be honest, it wasn't the best barn owl walk I have ever led unfortunately. This was probably due to the recent mild weather and the chilly north easterly breeze the was blowing on Sunday afternoon.
Our only view of a barn owl came quite late on in the day when we were assembled at the Washland viewpoint. One of the participants of the walk spotted a bird perched up in a distant barn and once I got my telescope onto it, I confirmed that it was a indeed one of our ghostly friends. Everybody got to see it through my telescope before it dropped onto the ground, never to be seen again. Hopefully, we will have better luck on our next barn owl walk, which will take place on Sunday 19 March. Please follow this link for more information.
I returned to work after two days off on Wednesday to find the large Washland pool frozen up so from the Washland viewpoint, I was treated to the sight of a family of three whooper swans and around 50 lapwings standing on the ice looking rather confused. I took these photos of the frosty conditions, I hope you like them:
Brandon Fen "Brecks heath":
View towards Wilton Bridge:
Frozen pools on the washland:
Visitor centre pond:
I saw five bearded tits in Brandon Fen and a female stonechat perched up on the riverbank. When I got back to the visitor centre, I spotted a stoat that was hunting on the visitor centre lawn which was great to see.
As the morning went on, a water rail was furtively attempting to ice skate on the visitor centre pond and a coal tit was making regular visits to the feeders behind the centre.
Emma and I went up to the Washland viewpoint at lunchtime to look for non existent large gulls but at least we saw a barn owl hunting. Suzanne walked around Brandon Fen after we got back and saw a green woodpecker.
There was an impressive sunset over the visitor centre pond so I couldn't resist taking one more photo, just to compare with the one above:
Image credits: David White
It was a but raw for my walk around the reserve yesterday morning but a yellowhammer flew over the Washland viewpoint which is definitely a sign of cold weather. The reserve team were treated to fantastic views of a bittern in its "you can't see me" pose near Joist Fen viewpoint as they headed down to the far end of the reserve and a Chinese water deer was seen near the visitor centre later on in the day.
I got in early enough this morning to see a little owl feeding on the entrance track. I saw a flock of 20 whooper swans from the Washland viewpoint and a great white egret flew east over the viewpoint shortly after first light. I walked along the riverbank and disturbed two roe deer. A small flock of bramblings were also feeding in East Wood.
If you are planning to visit the reserve this coming week, you may be interested to hear that local wildlife artist and reserve volunteer Rob Dyke will be holding an exhibition in the visitor centre from the afternoon of Wednesday 7 December to Wednesday 21 December. Please read this blog post for more information.
We hope to see you soon!