Good morning. It's been a strange week in many ways with poor weather, staff being away and staff being ill (the latter two mainly apply to me to be honest!)
I will begin with a brief detour back to last Friday when incredibly, an otter and a kingfisher were feeding in the visitor centre pond at the same time during lunchtime! I went up to the Washland viewpoint shortly after witnessing this spectacle and saw three common buzzards circling overhead.
Fast forward to Tuesday when Emma saw the following from the Washland viewpoint:
Shoveler: 27
Teal: 17
Gadwall: 12
Stonechat: 1
On Wednesday, Katherine went down to Joist Fen viewpoint during the afternoon and she counted 19 marsh harriers going into roost at the far end of the reserve.
I returned yesterday and I walked around Brandon Fen first thing. A flock of at least 50 lapwings were over Wilton Bridge and a female kestrel was perched up in Brandon Fen. As I walked back to the visitor centre, I could hear a chiffchaff calling in front of the centre. Meanwhile, further down the reserve, volunteer Roger H saw a great white egret from New Fen viewpoint.
I popped up to the Washland viewpoint at lunchtime and saw an adult yellow legged gull amongst the more common species. Two redshanks also flew over.
It was well worth getting up early this morning and when I arrived shortly after 7am, a common buzzard left its overnight roost in the staff car park. A goldcrest was also calling outside the visitor centre.
My first port of call was the Washland viewpoint where I saw:
Whooper swan: 6
Water pipit: 2
Barn owl: 1
Marsh harrier: 5
A great crested grebe was also feeding in the river east of the viewpoint which is an unusual record for this time of year.
As I walked along the riverbank, I took these photographs of the sun coming up over the washland:
Image credits: David White
As you can see, there was nothing "Black" about this Friday here this morning!
A great white egret was feeding in front of New Fen viewpoint when I got there and shortly after it flew off, a kingfisher flew across the pond which was rather nice to see.
As I opened up the visitor centre, a water rail flew across the visitor centre pond and a kingfisher dived in the water in front of me which was a pleasant surprise. Volunteers Roger and Janet saw a Chinese water deer with a fawn near the car park when they arrived and a grey wagtail flew over the visitor centre shortly after.
If you are planning to visit the reserve this weekend, please note that the Barn owl walk on Sunday is FULLY BOOKED. Unfortunately, we can only accommodate those who have booked places in advance. You are still more than welcome to visit the reserve and look for our ghostly friends though!
We hope to see you soon.