Good morning. As you can see from the title of this blog post, I have already been around the reserve this morning! After having to put up with some horrible, dark, mornings recently, it was great to get up in the light for a change and go for a walk before work!
I went out armed with my camera and my first port of call was to try out the new steps that connect the grassy path near the visitor centre to the riverbank:
Once I had safely negotiated one of the only hills(!) on the reserve, I ended up taking pictures of fungi for the majority of my walk. Unfortunately, my fungi identification skills lead a lot to be desired so I can't tell you what these species are. If anybody knows, please comment below:
Image credits: David White
As I was mainly looking down rather than up, I didn't see that many birds (it was also really rather windy, which didn't help!) However, I saw at least six little egrets as I walked along the river along with a kingfisher. A common buzzard was north of West Wood and a marsh harrier was hunting over the washland. To be honest though, it was just great to be out on the reserve!
There was plenty to see yesterday though. I saw two roe deer in Brandon Fen and at least three common buzzards were circling overhead. I also heard a stonechat near the Washland viewpoint.
Meanwhile, further down the reserve, Roy saw a bittern from Joist Fen viewpoint along with at least five marsh harriers. A merlin was also seen several times nearby. At least two bearded tits were seen from Mere Hide and there was plenty to see at New Fen viewpoint. There were at least two kestrels and three common buzzards overhead, while a kingfisher was fishing in the pond for most of the day.
As the day went on, a probable peregrine flew over West Wood and there were plenty of insects on the wing. This included lots of migrant hawkers and plenty of common darters.
The weather forecast for this week is looking pretty good so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!