Good morning. Although the majority of the reserve has been frozen up all week, there has still been plenty to see.
On Thursday, a water rail was skulking around at the edge of the visitor centre pond and two bitterns were chasing eachother around on the washland. It was work party day and the team were treated to the sight of around 60 whooper swans flying over. More about them later though!
Suzanne went for a walk around Brandon Fen at lunchtime. She saw a stonechat from the Washland viewpoint and a Cetti’s warbler in Brandon Fen.
A flock of “wild swans” were also present on the washland, so I went and had a look at them. In total, there were 24 Bewick’s swans and three whooper swans. Two of the Bewick’s swans were ringed and although I couldn't read them, fortunately another visitor did.
I reported the ring codes to nearby WWT Welney and here is what I found out: The two individuals were a male and female which had been ringed the previous day in Prickwillow, Cambridgeshire. As the swan flies, that is only around seven miles away so they had probably just come for a look around! Thank you very much to the staff at WWT Welney for their assistance with this.
It was a cold but lovely day on Friday and ex-Site Manager Norman spent the afternoon at Joist Fen viewpoint. There were plenty of harriers around, including at least 12 marsh harriers and three hen harriers. He also saw at least two bitterns and a barn owl.
It was a pleasant morning yesterday and local photographer Matt Walton was out and about early. He saw three great white egrets on the washland and took these photos:
Some fieldfares and redwings along with two Egyptian geese:
A little egret:
An assortment of gulls:
Image credits: Matt Walton
Thank you very much to Matt for sharing these images with us.
There was plenty to see on the reserve including at least eight bearded tits at Joist Fen viewpoint along with two common buzzards. A barn owl was hunting near the visitor centre during the afternoon and a ringtail hen harrier was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint.
Meanwhile, closer to the visitor centre, many of us got a visitor centre feeder “tick” yesterday afternoon: four long tailed tits! They must have known that it was Big Garden Birdwatch weekend! A water rail was also skulking around at the edge of the visitor centre pond.
There were four roe deer on the entrance track as I drove in this morning and a little grebe was present on the washland. We hope to see you soon!