Good morning. It was a lovely start to the day on Thursday and although I didn’t have a lot of time before work, I saw at least 20 lapwings from the Washland viewpoint. I also took these photographs of some of the pretty plants that are currently in flower near the visitor centre:
Purple loosestrife and yellow loosestrife:
Marsh woundwort:
Image credits: David White
There was plenty of bittern activity in front of Mere Hide and up to five different birds were seen over the course of the day. Two noisy oystercatchers flew north of the visitor centre during the afternoon, calling as they went.
There were a couple of interesting waders present in front of the Washland viewpoint yesterday morning. This included two little ringed plovers and two greenshanks. A pair of stock doves were also feeding on the exposed mud, which aren’t a species that we see here very often.
I took a walk around East Wood (the first poplar wood) and despite the time of year, there were plenty of warblers singing. This included at least three garden warblers, a blackcap and a chiffchaff.
As the day went on, bitterns were showing well from Mere Hide and a kingfisher was also fishing in the same area. Warden Emma also saw a very short crane flight near Joist Fen viewpoint in the afternoon.
I had a walk around Brandon Fen before work this morning and a cuckoo was flying around over the grazing marsh. A kingfisher whizzed low in front of me and an impressive male emperor dragonfly was hunting over the path.
I met local bird ringers Simon and Pete who had seen a greenshank flying over. I saw my first two Essex skippers of the year feeding on the vipers bugloss near the car park and a goldcrest was also singing in the same area.
When I got back to the visitor centre, a garden warbler was singing at the edge of the visitor centre pond. Volunteer John went up to the Washland viewpoint when he arrived and saw:
I just about have space to plug our Big Wild Sleepout camping event that will take place on Saturday 28 July. This year, for a wilder experience, we will be camping around the Brandon Fen family trail rather than in front of the visitor centre. Please follow this link to find out more about the event.
If you are planning to visit the reserve, please note that are still cattle grazing on the riverbank Public Footpath between the Washland viewpoint and Joist Fen viewpoint.
We hope to see you soon!