Good morning. We have got some inconvenient but much needed rain here this morning so instead of gazing out of the window waiting for the rain to stop; I thought I would update you all with some recent sightings.
I will begin with some great images that were taken on the reserve last week:
A stoat in full flow:
Kingfisher:
Juvenile bearded tit:
Bittern:
Image credits: David Gowing
Thank you very much to David for sharing these great images with us.
A jay was mimicking a common buzzard outside the visitor centre on Saturday and there was plenty of kingfisher activity in front of Mere Hide. A bittern was also seen from the same area.
Meanwhile, a juvenile bittern was seen in front of Joist Fen viewpoint and a water vole was seen near the visitor centre. A sand digger wasp was also feeding in front of the visitor centre.
We had our family fun day on Sunday and I walked around Brandon Fen early in the day to check the trail was still up. While I was out, there were at least 10 black tailed skimmers on the wing. Later on in the day, a ruby tailed wasp was showing well in front of the visitor centre along with a hornet mimic hoverfly. There were also two juvenile kestrels over the visitor centre.
A red kite flew over New Fen viewpoint on Monday. There was also plenty of crane activity at the far end of the reserve. The family of four were seen in flight west of Joist Fen viewpoint and the other pair were seen with their young in the grazing marsh west of Trial Wood.
Yesterday, bitterns were seen from New Fen viewpoint and Joist Fen viewpoint. There were 12 juvenile grey herons on the washland and nine little egrets were also present. Meanwhile, closer to the visitor centre, a stoat was seen carrying a mouse along the visitor centre veranda.
There is plenty to see at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!