Good morning. It has been another good week here at RSPB Lakenheath Fen so as I often do, I will start off with some images. The first image is not a photo though. Several weeks ago, local artist Trevor Richardson visited the reserve and was inspired to paint this lovely painting of three bearded tits. Please click on the link above to view it. Thank you very much to Trevor for sharing it with us.
Thanks must also go to local photographer Matt Walton who has sent over another lovely selection of photographs this week:
A lovely kingfisher:
An unusual view of a dragonfly, which, due to the angle, makes it quite difficult to identify:
To me, it looks most like a male scarce chaser but it could well be a male black tailed skimmer. If anybody has any thoughts, please comment below!
A male marsh harrier hunting:
A barn owl with prey:
Image credits: Matt Walton
There has been a rather eclectic mix of sightings this week so I will try to pick out the most notable ones. At least two cranes were seen from Joist Fen viewpoint on Sunday and a hobby was flying around over the visitor centre.
At least five common curlews flew over Mere Hide on Tuesday and several cuckoos were seen in flight. Two collared doves were on the visitor centre roof on Wednesday and a coal tit was calling and singing nearby. There were at least 18 black headed gulls fly catching over the washland and I spotted several clouded border moths resting on the vegetation in Brandon Fen.
I went for a little walk around Brandon Fen yesterday morning and had great views of two barn owls. One was hunting very close to the car park at one point and was showing really well. A male cuckoo flew over the grazing marsh and two song thrushes also flew overhead.
Meanwhile, further down the reserve, Katherine saw a turtle dove over the far end of the reserve and Dave heard a grasshopper warbler reeling near Joist Fen viewpoint.
We have a busy weekend ahead with our Big Wild Sleepout events. Although all of the events are now fully booked, we are hoping to see and hear plenty of wildlife as we have events taking place throughout tomorrow sandwiched between two nights of camping out. I will try my best to blog again on Sunday morning but I imagine I will be really rather tired by then!
The reserve will still be open throughout the weekend so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!