Good morning. There has been plenty of evidence of migration over the last couple of days. Simon and Pete were bird ringing in Brandon Fen on Tuesday morning and I have attached their report to this blog post. As you will see if you open the attachment, they ringed good numbers of bramblings and siskins along with some redwings.
Also of interest, Simon received and interesting ringing recovery when he got home that day: An adult male brambling that was ringed on the reserve on 19 February 2014 was trapped in Troms, Norway on 17 September 2015. This is a distance of 2075 kilometres. We are all scratching our heads as to where it had been for all of that time!
Wednesday turned out to be a bit of a damp squib but yesterday wasn’t too bad. I walked around Brandon Fen before work and had a great view of two stonechats feeding along the riverbank. At least five bramblings flew over along with a mistle thrush.
I had what turned out to be a very productive stop at the Washland viewpoint. The great white egret was showing well in front of the viewpoint and whilst trying to identify a mystery egret to the right of the viewpoint (which turned out to be a little egret by the way!) an otter poked its head up out of the river and swam around in full view for a while. What a treat!
I had my camera with me and managed to get these pictures of some of the fungi that can currently be found around the reserve:
Ink caps (I think!):
Giant puffball:
Fungi sp.:
Image credits: David White
As the day went on, a group of eight cranes flew west over New Fen viewpoint before returning east over the Washland viewpoint. A short eared owl was also seen over the washland, which is a very welcome addition to the reserve year list. Let’s hope it sticks around!
I popped up to the Washland viewpoint after lunch in hope of seeing the short eared owl but unfortunately, it was nowhere to be seen. However, a water pipit flew up in front of the viewpoint and a migrant hawker was on the wing nearby.
Emma and I went down to New Fen viewpoint after work and saw a male stonechat in front of the viewpoint. We also saw at least one sparrowhawk and two little egrets flew west along the river.
It was really rather chilly this morning during my morning walk but it was worth braving the cold for. The great white egret was showing well in front of the Washland viewpoint and at least two water pipits were calling nearby.
There is plenty to see at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!