Good morning. Here is a summary of what has been seen from Sunday onwards:
Although we were busy with our Summer Family Fun Day on Sunday, Simon and I did see a common redstart that was feeding at the edge of the car park. Volunteers Roger, Roy and Liam were lucky enough to spot a wood sandpiper which landed briefly on the algae on the visitor centre pond.
As previously reported yesterday, Simon and Pete ringed a first winter male bluethroat on the reserve. Please read this blog post for more information about this first record for the reserve. They also saw the following, mainly on or around the washland:
Emma and Suzanne went for a walk around Brandon Fen and they saw a willow warbler at the edge of the car park.
I went for a walk before work yesterday and saw a redstart feeding in the bushes just west of the Washland viewpoint. A group of 11 greenshanks flew off of the washland, closely followed by 12 common snipe. A single swift was feeding overhead and a green sandpiper flew over Brandon Fen.
A kingfisher was feeding at the edge of the visitor centre pond shortly after we opened and there was some excitement when an osprey flew over the washland at around 10.10am. I lead a guided walk yesterday to look for mammals and reptiles. We saw a bank vole underneath the visitor centre feeders and we also saw at least six common lizards near the visitor centre.
At lunchtime, our Area Manager Chris spent some time up at the Washland viewpoint. He saw a water rail and a common sandpiper. As the afternoon went on, two ruffs were seen on the washland and a juvenile black tern flew through which is a good record for this time of year.
A common buzzard was circling over the visitor centre when I got here this morning. A goldcrest was showing very well in the alders near the visitor centre and I saw the following on or over the washland:
In the absence of any other photos from the last couple of days, here is the view over the visitor centre pond just before we opened up:
Image credit: David White
If you are planning to visit the reserve, please note that there are still cattle grazing on the riverbank Public Footpath between the Washland viewpoint and Joist Fen viewpoint.
We hope to see you soon!