I have to admit; sometimes I struggle to condense a couple of days worth of sightings into just one blog post! I have in front of me a MASSIVE list of sightings from the last week so I will try my best! I will begin though with a couple of photos that have been taken on the reserve recently:
A cute little bank vole that was behind the visitor centre:
Image credit: Tim James
Some of the lovely lady's smock that is currently in flower on the riverbank:
Image credit: David White
Anyhow, where was I?! Our first damselfly of the year, a large red damselfly was seen near Mere Hide on Monday. There were two sightings of unusual waders with a greenshank landing briefly on the washland and a stone curlew flying over the car park.
A grass snake was seen from Mere Hide and there were plenty of birds of prey to see. A late male hen harrier flew over the west end of the reserve and two hobbys were showing well from Joist Fen viewpoint.
The unusual wader theme continued into Tuesday when a black tailed godwit flew over the washland and three whimbrels flew north over the visitor centre, calling as they went. A grasshopper warbler was also reeling at the edge of East Wood.
I went for a walk before work on Wednesday and found a drinker moth caterpillar feeding alongside East Wood. There were also plenty of butterflies to see later on in the day including lots of peacocks, green veined whites and small tortoiseshells.
There was another "bittern listen" on Thursday morning and Katherine had a fantastic morning on the riverbank overlooking New Fen North, the first area of reedbed. A black tailed godwit flew over and a common tern flew west along the river.
A grasshopper warbler was reeling out in the open and a female whinchat was perched in some riverside vegetation. Katherine's great day continued when she found our first hairy dragonflies of the year on the wing near New Fen viewpoint. Meanwhile, closer to the office, Suzanne was treated to the sight of two pied wagtails having a bath in the pond bed in front of the visitor centre. How lovely!
Yesterday, a barn owl was hunting over the washland and two hobbys were feeding in front of New Fen viewpoint. I did my second Common Bird Census (CBC) of the year around Brandon Fen this morning. I saw a roe deer at the edge of the entrance track and a blackcap was singing out in the open behind the visitor centre.
Phew, That was quite a marathon! We hope to see you soon!