Good morning! I shall start where I left off with some sightings from Friday. The main theme of the bird sightings for the day was definitely birds of prey. One of our locals photographed a "ringtail" hen harrier over the washland at lunchtime. Closer scrutiny of the photo showed that it was a juvenile as it was very streaky. The juvenile peregrine was seen over West Wood later on and one male hen harrier sneaked into roost near Joist Fen viewpoint just before darkness fell.
Surprisingly, there were also still several insects on the wing including a red admiral near East Wood and a small tortoiseshell outside the visitor centre. The biggest surprise of the day though came just before it was time to go home. Ken, one of our locals, sent us some amazing pictures of an otter that he had taken a Joist Fen viewpoint earlier on in the day:
Image credits: Ken Clegg
Not only were we all very surprised to see these fabulous pictures, we were also rather jealous! Most importantly though, we were extremely thankful that Ken sent these over. Thank you Ken!
The weather was pretty changeable yesterday but there was plenty to see. A redshank was on the washland for most of the day and at least four little egrets were present nearby. There was plenty going on at Joist Fen viewpoint during the afternoon. We had great views of a kingfisher that kept whizzing around the pool and perching up on the perch at the back of the pool. A bittern made a brief and very low flight behind the viewpoint and a barn owl flew right past the viewpoint at one point.
As the afternoon went on, birds of prey started to gather in front of the viewpoint. At least nine marsh harriers were circling around and a sparrowhawk flapped steadily over the viewpoint. The male hen harrier eventually appeared and flew north over the river. It was quite dark grey so I would say that it was a young(ish) male. Just before it got dark I caught another glimpse of it or another bird (this one seemed a lot paler.) I walked back in the near darkness and my last sighting of the day was a woodcock that flew into West Wood.
I have just got enough space to say that the Public Footpath along the riverbank is now very muddy. If you are planning to walk along it, we strongly recommend that you wear wellies! For alternative routes down towards Joist Fen viewpoint, please give the office a ring on 01842 863400 or ask in the visitor centre. We hope to see you soon.