Good morning. As I expected, I would not have a chance to post this week until now so here's for making up for lost time!
As is often on the case on a Friday, I will start with a few pictures.
This first picture is a couple of weeks old, but I think you'll agree that it is definitely worth sharing! This amazing picture of a kingfisher (and a bittern!) was taken from the visitor centre window on Saturday 18 October:
Image credit: John Wightman
The great white egret has been present all week and here are some pictures of it:
Image credits: Andy Collier
The local marsh harriers and kingfishers have also been showing well this week.
Female marsh harrier:
Kingfisher with fish:
Image credits: Matt Walton
Thank you very much to John, Andy and Matt for sharing these great images with us.
Travelling back through the mists of time to last Friday, there were three adult yellow legged gulls on the washland and 13 unidentified waders flew over the visitor centre. These were most likely to be golden plovers, but unfortunately none of us got a good enough view of them to confirm identification.
The weather was a bit damp last weekend but a bittern was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint and two stonechats were seen near Mere Hide on the Saturday.
We had a welcome visit from eight cranes on Monday that flew west over the reserve. An otter was also seen near Mere Hide
The great white egret was on the washland on Tuesday morning and a roe deer was skulking around in Brandon Fen. A grey wagtail was seen on the riverbank near Joist Fen viewpoint and I FINALLY saw my first Lakenheath Fen treecreeper of the year behind New Fen viewpoint.
I went and jumped in some puddles for an hour and a half before work on Wednesday morning. While I was doing this, I was distracted by the great white egret that was showing well on the washland and a roe deer that was browsing at the edge of West Wood.
Despite a gloomy start yesterday, it turned out alright in the afternoon. I went for a walk down to Joist Fen viewpoint at lunchtime and saw the great white egret on the washland. Slightly further down river, I found an adult yellow legged gull and an adult herring gull which are both good records for here. A kingfisher shot along the river and a common buzzard was circling overhead.
As the day went on, Suzanne saw four bearded tits in Brandon Fen and a peregrine was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint. Katherine saw three whooper swans at the west end of the reserve and at least two barn owls were hunting over the reserve as darkness fell.
The weather isn't looking too bad this weekend so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!