Good morning. I will start a sequence of action shots of the great white egret catching a fish that were taken earlier on this week:
Ready to pounce:
Pouncing in a blur of white:
Success!:
Lunch on the wing:
Job done, looking rather proud of itself:
Image credits: Ken Allsebrook
Thank you very much to Ken for sharing these great images with us!
The great white egret has now been present for over a month and seems to favour either the washland north of the river, or New Fen North (the first area of reedbed.) It has been seen every day this week so if you are planning to come and look for it, please ask in the visitor centre for the latest information on its whereabouts.
There has been plenty of other things to see this week. At least two bitterns were seen on Sunday. This included one from Mere Hide and one that flew over New Fen North. I accompanied a family for a session of pond dipping and our movements were being carefully monitored by an extremely inquisitive female emperor dragonfly. We also saw an azure damselfly and a male common darter.
A couple of late swifts were lingering over the visitor centre on Monday and a kingfisher was seen from the visitor centre window. Dave also saw three kestrels over Brandon Fen.
On Wednesday, we had a meeting in the morning and while we were outside looking at the plant beds, I got distracted by a lovely brown argus butterfly that was fluttering around nearby. Just as we left, there was news of an Arctic tern over the washland, but more about that below!
When I popped up to the washland mid-morning yesterday to look for said Arctic tern, I couldn't find it. I saw three common terns and a hobby. However, volunteer Steve and his grandson lingered at the viewpoint. Sure enough, moreorless as soon as I got back to the office, Steve phoned saying "Arctic tern on the washland!" I eventually got a chance to go up there, ( I reminded myself how unfit I am by jogging up there!) I did see the "Arctic" fishing gracefully with the local common terns. Thank goodness for that!
Meanwhile, volunteer Roy went for a walk down to Joist Fen viewpoint and he saw at least four marsh harriers hunting in front of the viewpoint. He also saw kingfishers from both Mere Hide and New Fen viewpoint.
The weather forecast is looking quite nice for this weekend so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!
Lovely sequence of photos! What a beautiful, elegant bird.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.