Good morning. This morning is our first clear morning since the clocks went back over the weekend. First though, here are some pictures of some bearded tits showing in the fog on Monday:
Image credits: Martin Peake
Thank you very much to Martin for sharing these images with us. He also saw a bittern on his travels.
Site Manager Dave went down the reserve and saw two woodcocks at the far end of the reserve. I went up to the Washland viewpoint at lunchtime and a great white egret was showing well along with a flock of around 40 lapwings. A female marsh harrier was hunting nearby and as I walked back to the visitor centre, a male common darter was on the wing near the pond dipping platform.
Suzanne and Emma went for a walk around Brandon Fen shortly after I got back and they found at least six goldcrests feeding at the edge of the car park. A treecreeper was also feeding nearby.
As the day went on, the fog started to return and here is a picture of the visitor centre pond approximately an hour before sunset:
Image credit: David White
Although it was foggy yesterday morning, unlike Monday morning, I could at least see the large washland pool from the Washland viewpoint shortly after I arrived. I could just make out the silhouette of a great white egret and a water pipit flew over. I also heard a grey wagtail, although it was too high to see in the fog.
I walked down to New Fen viewpoint and when I got there, I flushed two common snipe from in front of the Washland viewpoint. A kingfisher flew across the pool in front of the viewpoint and some bearded tits were calling nearby. As the day went on, a bullfinch flew over the visitor centre and a bittern was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint.
It was a beautiful, frosty start to the day this morning and as I approached the Washland viewpoint, I could hear some mellow whooping coming from the large pool. Sure enough, when I got to the viewpoint, I counted 10 whooper swans which were lovely to see. A great white egret was also present along with five little egrets.
When I got to New Fen viewpoint, three common snipe flew up out of the reedbed. A Cetti's warbler was singing loudly nearby and I took this photo from the viewpoint:
Image credits: David White
The cattle corral on the northern side of East Wood is now open which provides an alternative link from the path down to New Fen viewpoint and the riverbank Public Footpath. This is due to the fact that the stile is now CLOSED for the winter. Please ask in the visitor centre for more details.
The weather doesn't look too bad today so why not come and a visit? We hope to see you soon.