I am pretty sure that somebody has seen a first on the reserve this morning: Two visitors were watching a bittern feeding at the edge of the pool in front of Mere Hide when suddenly, they saw it boom in front of their very eyes! I know that this behavior has been witnessed at RSPB Minsmere in the past, but unless anybody knows otherwise, this is definitely a Lakenheath Fen first!
The same visitors also saw plenty of other great things including a grasshopper warbler that was reeling out in the open near the start of the boardwalk down to Mere Hide. There were also several bearded tits showing themselves in the morning sun. To put the icing on the cake, a Cetti's warbler was showing in front of Joist Fen viewpoint.
Meanwhile, a hobby was perched up in the dead trees in Trial Wood and a cuckoo was calling in the same wood. I walked down the hard track alongside Trial Wood in a hope of photographing the water violet that is in flower alongside the track. Alas, I couldn't get anywhere near it so here are some pictures that I took of it last year:
Image credits: David White
On my travels I saw a female sparrowhawk over the washland just north of West Wood and two common terns kept flying up and down the river.
Although the weather wasn't great yesterday, there were still plenty to see. A cracking male marsh harrier was hunting over the washland and a red kite flew over New Fen North, the first area of reedbed. Roy saw our first two swifts of the year over Joist Fen viewpoint and he saw several hairy dragonflies on the wing alongside Trial Wood.
The weather forecast for this week isn't looking too bad so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!
Hi David
I am glad you've put this post up. Here's our description of that fateful booming moment:
“Crouching, neck bent back on itself, bill at a slight downwards angle and open but not widely. A wheezing inhalation followed by a slight, but visible, convulsion just as the 'whump' was produced, I think with a slight downwards flick of the bill. I noticed that this bittern produced a definite 'whump' compared to the 'blowing across a milk bottle' sound that all the others seemed to do - perhaps the less percussive sounds look less convulsive, but who knows. Pretty sure it boomed in response to another boom, but it ignored the same bittern booming both beforehand and afterwards, so not clear what provoked it into responding that time, if indeed it was responding.”
It was a fantastic moment. I'll post a picture of the male responsible.