Good afternoon. It felt really autumnal here this morning! Sadly, for those of you who like summer, autumn isn’t too far away.
However, it isn’t quite here yet! Since the last time I blogged, both pairs of cranes with their young were seen last Thursday and two turtle doves flew over Joist Fen viewpoint.
Although most of last Friday was a washout, volunteers Simon and Pete were out ringing in Brandon Fen during the morning. They saw a good selection of bird species while they were ringing. A greenshank flew west along the river followed by four avocets. There were seven common terns fishing on the washland and a kingfisher flew over Brandon Fen.
We had The Long Walk on Sunday. As a wet weather precaution, I parked the reserve Astra down at Joist Fen viewpoint. On my way back through the reserve, a bittern flew over New Fen North triangle and two turtle doves flew in to West Wood.
Although it rained for some of the walk itself, we did see plenty of interesting wildlife. We saw at least three individual bitterns between Joist Fen viewpoint and the far end of the reserve. There were at least seven marsh harriers hunting over the west end of the reserve and a kingfisher was fishing as we walked back along the riverbank.
We also saw two barn owls on our travels. They were presumably trying to dodge the rain! We disturbed two roe deer on the way through the reserve along with several black tailed skimmers.
There was also an added bonus on the way back through the reserve: I heard a turtle dove purring in West Wood. This is a great sign, so hopefully we might have a nesting pair. Fingers crossed!
Sadly, we didn't see the cranes. However, they had been heard south of the railway line earlier on in the day so that is probably where they were. If you would like to take part in the next “Long Walk”, it will take place on Sunday 20 September. Details on how to book places can be found here.
I went for a walk before work this morning and the reserve looked lovely in the morning light. I took a couple of pictures and here they are:
The washland:
The cows grazing the washland:
A gatekeeper trying to hide:
Image credits: David White
After a successful Wild Wednesday session of family activities, work experience student Owen and I went up to the Washland viewpoint. We saw the following:
There were also three common buzzards circling overhead.
We witnessed a moment of drama as we walked back: a brown hawker plucked a gatekeeper from its perch before devouring it on a nearby leaf. Delightful!
There is plenty to see at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!