I will get to the enigmatic title of this blog post shortly but before I do that, here is a photo of two common snipe that was taken recently on the reserve by Matt Walton:
Image credit: Matt Walton
Yesterday turned out to be a good day. The visibility wasn't great first thing but as I drove down the entrance track, a woodcock flew up in front of me which was a good start to the day.
I went for a walk along the riverbank and when I got to the northern side of East Wood, the first poplar plantation, two stonechats were perched up at the base of the riverbank and a kingfisher flew down the river. A water pipit also flew up from the same area.
As I walked down towards New Fen North, I could hear a call that we don't here very often, a firecrest! It was feeding in a willow bush just north of New Fen viewpoint with at least two goldcrests. Although it wasn't particularly easy to see, I saw enough of it to confirm its identity. This is only the second record of this species on the reserve this year and the only other one was on 2 May near the visitor centre.
Meanwhile, further down the reserve, local birder Jonny heard a bittern "grunting" in front of Joist Fen viewpoint. This is very unusual for this time of year as we are more use to hearing this strange sound in the early spring before our resident birds start booming.
I decided to have a change at lunchtime and ate my lunch up at the Washland viewpoint. I am very glad that I did as when I got up there, there was an adult great black backed gull resting in the large pool. This species is fairly scarce inland and we certainly don't see them here very often so this was a real treat. Sadly, it didn't stick around for long through before flying west along the river. So, after not having found anything unusual on the reserve for quite a while, I found two good birds in the same morning!
After the gull had exited stage left, a water pipit flew up in front of the viewpoint and a female common darter perched on the wooden barrier in front of the viewpoint. A pair of stonechats were also perched up nearby in the early afternoon sunshine.
Suzanne went for a walk around Brandon Fen and saw a common buzzard overhead. She also saw six siskins, four redwings and 15 fieldfares feeding together in the poplars. She went up to the Washland viewpoint on the way back and saw the great white egret.
As the afternoon went on, some lucky visitors photographed what appeared to be a first winter ring ouzel in flight over the riverbank and a late marbled orb weaver spider near New Fen viewpoint.
There was plenty on the move this morning and a mistle thrush flew east over Brandon Fen shortly after first light. At least one brambling was calling overhead and a reed bunting was singing in the reedbed which is quite unseasonal.
The great white egret flew in to the large washland pool and a water pipit was feeding near the Washland viewpoint. Two stonechats were feeding near the viewpoint and small numbers of bullfinches were dotted around the reserve. This is another unusual species for the reserve so they were great to see. At least one flew over East Wood and another two were feeding in the visitor centre alders. A kingfisher was perched at the edge of the visitor centre pond and a grey wagtail also flew over.
Please note that the stile that links the riverbank Public Footpath to the path down to New Fen viewpoint is now CLOSED due the the fact that the riverbank is slippery in places. We are working on an alternative route so please watch this space!
There is plenty to see at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!