Good morning. As usual, I will start where I left off with some sightings from Wednesday. Our first scarce chasers of the year were on the wing alongside Trial Wood and at least 12 hobbys were over Trial Wood. A kingfisher was also seen near Joist Fen viewpoint.
As Ali mentioned in her blog post on Friday, there have been plenty of bittern sightings this week including one that landed in front of Mere Hide on Wednesday afternoon. A stoat was also seen on the hard track near the hide on the same day.
You can read all about Thursday morning's bittern watch in Ali's blog post so I won't keep going on about that! A barn owl was also seen over the car park on Thursday and a nightingale was reported singing at the west end of the reserve that evening.
One of our locals came down early on Friday morning and got some great pictures.
Here is a lovely barn owl hunting...:
...And here is a bittern:
Image credits: Matt Walton
Thank you very much to Matt for sharing these fantastic pictures.
There were a few other interesting sightings from Friday including a report of four first summer cranes on the riverbank west of Joist Fen viewpoint. A crossbill also flew north over the car park.
The weather was really rather unpredictable yesterday but one of the local barn owls was still out hunting over Brandon Fen mid-morning. Another individual was out hunting in front of Joist Fen viewpoint at lunchtime.
A garden warbler was singing behind the visitor centre for most of the day and an oystercatcher flew over, calling noisily as it went. I had a quick look on the washland after lunch and although the rain made viewing difficult, I saw a lovely common tern fishing.
It did eventually clear up for a while in the afternoon and Roy headed down to Joist Fen viewpoint. He saw two bitterns in flight over Mere Hide and at least four hobbys over Joist Fen viewpoint. A female sparrowhawk was seen at the west end of the reserve along with a jay.
If you are planning to visit over the next couple of days the sun is due to shine but judging by the forecast, we recommend you bring a coat just in case! We hope to see you soon.
Sounds like you had a good day out. I was there too and had some pretty good sightings, including a close-up of a Cuckoo and Barn Owl. Always nice to leave on a high note. Good post and informative. Thanks.