Good morning! The weather has been a lot better than forecast which is good news! There were several photographers around early in the morning on Friday and here are a couple of pictures from Matt Walton:
The sunrise over the river:
A muntjac deer browsing in some vegetation:
A stoat concealing its long tail with a black tip!:
Image credits: Matt Walton
Thank you very much to Matt for sharing these great images with us!
Katherine did here Common Bird Census (CBC) down in Botany Bay at the far end of the reserve on Friday morning. She heard a grasshopper warbler and saw a green sandpiper. She also saw a large red damselfly, which is our first species of Odonata of the year.
I had to make an unscheduled trip down to the far end of the reserve (it’s a long story!) and I saw my first hobby of the year over Joist Fen viewpoint. By the time Katherine headed back through the reserve, there were at least three hunting together over the same area.
I popped up to the Washland viewpoint at lunchtime and there were four common terns fishing. A pair of great crested grebes were also building their nest in the middle of the small pool.
A lesser whitethroat was reported near Mere Hide on Saturday and hobby numbers have been building up nicely. There were at least 12 over Joist Fen viewpoint yesterday along with at least 10 swifts. A nightingale was also heard singing north of the river, opposite New Fen North, the first area of reedbed.
Emma supervised me on my third Common Bird Census (CBC) visit of the year in Brandon Fen this morning. There were more reed warblers and common whitethroats compared to last week. A cuckoo was also singing at the edge of the car park and we disturbed several roe deer alongside the entrance track.
Typically, when we got back to the visitor centre, a lesser whitethroat was singing (albeit briefly) outside the office window. Although it was on my “patch”, I couldn’t count it as we didn’t hear it during our survey!
It’s a lovely day today so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!