Good afternoon. Here are some recent sightings from Friday afternoon onwards:
Volunteer Roy went and filled up the feeders down at the photography station and he saw a water rail skulking around. There was plenty to see along the riverbank and a lucky couple saw an otter. A kingfisher was also fishing in the same area.
I had a very successful walk around the reserve on Saturday morning. Things started well and I saw a muntjac deer along the entrance track and four roe deer were skulking around near the car park.
I was then treated to fantastic views of a barn owl hunting over the grazing marsh and I got another surprise as I walked along the riverbank: An otter was skulking around in the riverbank vegetation in front of me! This is my first sighting of one of these elusive mammals on the reserve for over a year, so I was really rather chuffed!
I also saw two Cetti’s warblers and eight whooper swans on my travels. A great white egret was showing well from the Washland viewpoint.
When I got back to the visitor centre, I took this picture of the frosty visitor centre pond:
I went up to the Washland viewpoint a lunchtime and saw a male stonechat. Two little grebes were also feeding in the river east of the viewpoint. When I got back to the visitor centre, we were treated to the comical sight of seven long tailed tits crammed onto the same bird feeder which made us all chuckle!
On Sunday, Warden Katherine saw three jays along the entrance track and 31 cormorants at the far end of the reserve. She also saw 27 marsh harriers hunting in front of Joist Fen viewpoint during the afternoon which is a good count for here.
On Monday, visitor centre volunteer John photographed this sparrowhawk perched up on the frozen visitor centre pond:
Image credit: John Wightman
It looks a little out of place, don’t you think?! Thank you very much to John for sharing it with us.
I took a couple of pictures of the moon setting over the reserve when I got here yesterday morning:
Image credits: David White
A barn owl was hunting over the grazing marsh in Brandon Fen and there were some so called “wild swans” showing in front of the Washland viewpoint. This included at least 21 whooper swans and two Bewick’s swans. Two shelducks were also present.
This morning, I had brief views of a barn owl hunting at the edge of the car park and a great white egret was perched up on the ice in front of the Washland viewpoint. Two roe deer were also skulking at the edge of the visitor centre pond.
If you are planning to visit the reserve, please note that the riverbank Public Footpath is now muddy in places. We recommend wearing either walking boots or wellies if you are intending to use this path at present.
We hope to see you soon!