Good morning. It has been an interesting couple of days here so here are some more recent sightings:
I will start off where I left off on Sunday. Volunteer Paul saw a singing mistle thrush perched up by the reserve entrance. Local birders Paul and Steve saw a good selection of birds. Paul saw a female pintail on the washland and a sand martin over Joist Fen viewpoint. Steve saw at least three sand martins and a swallow over the viewpoint later on. The poor swallow must have been wondering what it had come to as it was pretty windy!
I led the barn owl walk during the late afternoon and unfortunately, we didn't see any barn owls! However, we did see a common buzzard over the Washland viewpoint and three oystercatchers along the river. We also saw several marsh harriers hunting west of Joist Fen viewpoint.
It was a bit miserable for most of the day on Monday but Suzanne saw six siskins in Brandon Fen. On Tuesday, I went past the reserve on the train and I was very fortunate to spot a crane feeding alongside the railway line. One of the reserve trail cameras also picked up these extraordinary images of a bittern near Joist Fen viewpoint:
On Wednesday, there were nine roe deer feeding at the edge of the entrance track. Volunteer Pete managed to get a photo of some of them:
Image credits: Pete Dolton
I had a walk round the reserve and saw a great white egret on the washland. Four shelducks and a water pipit were also present. I walked along the riverbank and saw at least three common snipe.
As the day went on, a bittern was seen flying towards the visitor centre pond and two stonechats were perched up on the riverbank. A great white egret was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint and Suzanne saw a Cetti's warbler at the edge of East Wood.
I went up to the mound near the visitor centre after we closed the visitor centre and took this photo:
Image credits: David White
While I was up there, I saw a barn owl hunting over the washland and heard a fieldfare calling.
Yesterday, volunteer Roger H had a very close encounter with a common lizard, that took a liking to his shirt!:
Image credit: Roger Horton
Thank you very much to Pete and Roger for sharing their images with us.
A crane was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint along with three marsh harriers. A willow warbler was also reported singing outside the visitor centre which is a relatively early record of this species on the reserve.
As I drove in this morning, at least six roe deer were feeding at the edge of the entrance track. I walked around the reserve and saw a great white egret from the Washland viewpoint. I flushed two common snipe from the riverbank and two garganeys were feeding on the washland pool north of East Wood with a group of teal.
I am pretty sure that I could hear a nuthatch singing in West Wood as I walked along the riverbank and I could definitely hear a bittern booming halfheartedly near Mere Hide.
A muntjac deer was feeding on the track just west of Joist Fen viewpoint and as I walked back through the reserve, I disturbed a buck roe deer at the edge of Trial Wood.
There is plenty to see at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!