Good morning. We have had another busy week here so without further ado, I will start where I left off with some sightings from Wednesday afternoon.
Our second willow emerald damselfly of the summer was photographed by the pond dipping platform along with a female red eyed damselfly.
Meanwhile, there was some excitement when visitor centre volunteer John spotted an otter feeding in the visitor centre pond. Sadly, by the time and Suzanne and I managed to escape from the office, there were only bubbles to be seen...
On Thursday morning, local photographer Matt Walton was here very early in the morning. Here are a couple of his pictures:
The washland:
Kingfisher:
Image credits: Matt Walton
Thank you very much to Matt for sharing these images with us.
The morning count on the washland produced:
Little egret: 53
Greenshank: 5
Little ringed plover: 1
Yellow wagtail: 1
Green sandpiper: 1
Redshank: 1
Common snipe: 1
Common sandpiper: 2
Kingfisher: 2
Ruff: 1
Shelduck: 1
As the day went on, I saw a hobby in flight over the visitor centre and at lunchtime, there were two Egyptian geese showing well from the Washland viewpoint.
On Friday, volunteer Steve spent some time at the Washland viewpoint. He saw three cranes, four greenshanks and two common sandpipers. The heron family was also well represented, with 32 grey herons and 27 little egrets.
Yesterday, a bittern was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint and several bearded tits were calling in front of New Fen viewpoint. A little grebe was also showing in front of the viewpoint and a green woodpecker was showing well in Brandon Fen.
It was a lovely morning this morning and I took this photo of the river Little Ouse:
Image credit: David White
Local birdwatcher Nick was up at the washland early this morning and he saw:
Garganey: 5
Greenshank: 2
Yellow wagtail: 3
Water rail: 1
Common snipe: 4
Kingfisher: 1
As I walked back to the visitor centre, a chiffchaff was singing above my head. Two kingfishers were fishing in the visitor centre pond and a tree pipit flew high over the visitor centre, calling as it went.
There is plenty to see at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!