There have been plenty of people enjoying the reserve this weekend so here are some more recent sightings from Thursday afternoon onwards:
Visitor centre volunteer Steve got lucky on Thursday when a merlin flashed across the visitor centre pond. A mistle thrush was singing in Brandon Fen and volunteer John W saw three cranes north of the river.
On Friday, volunteer Roy saw a woodcock along the entrance track and a barn owl near the visitor centre. Warden Emma and volunteer Cat saw a jack snipe in New Fen North, the first area of reedbed.
On Saturday, a red kite flew over the visitor centre and John W saw two shelducks from the Washland viewpoint.
Yesterday, Emma saw a green woodpecker along the entrance track as she drove in. There was plenty to see from Joist Fen viewpoint in the afternoon including:
There were also 120 whooper swans in front of the Washland viewpoint and they were making quite a racket after dark!
There were three shelducks on the washland this morning. Volunteer Paul saw seven cranes north of the river and a bittern was seen in flight near Joist Fen viewpoint.
Emma and Cat went to check how much water was coming in from the river and they found this bee colony next to the abstraction metre:
Image credits: Emma Cuthbertson
Oh dear!
Warden Katherine has just seen a curlew on the washland which is a good record for this time of year. Several woodcock have also been seen around the poplar woods over the course of the day.
I took this photograph over the visitor centre pond at lunchtime, just to show how dull the weather is at the moment:
Image credit: David White
Hopefully, it will brighten up soon!
If you are planning to visit, please note that the riverbank Public Footpath between the Washland viewpoint and Joist Fen viewpoint is still extremely muddy. Wellies are currently essential for negotiating this path at present. The surface of the rest of the reserve paths is currently fine.
We hope to see you soon!