Is, thankfully, the phrase I heard plenty of times over the radio on Thursday!
As previous blogs have mentioned, it’s not been easy to pin down how many bittern nests we have on the reserve this year.Our surveys have recorded very little activity and been inconclusive to say the least, which is unusual in comparison to previous years.
However, Thursday proved to be different – within 10 minutes of being in position, over looking Joist Fen, I saw my first bittern flight! In prior weeks I’ve waited up to two hours to see one, so I knew this had to be a good sign....
And it was! We had plenty of bittern activity throughout the morning and the radios were in constant use to alert each other to incoming bitterns that could otherwise be missed.Darren won the prize for the most bittern flights recorded, mapping 18 in total. Whilst it’s still a little early to come to any conclusions it’s finally a step in the right direction!
Croaking bittern! (Credit: Matt Walton)
Over the last few days, bittern sightings are being reported increasingly often from both Joist Fen and New Fen viewpoints, so if you’re visiting soon there’s a good chance of seeing them there.
Our marsh harriers are also showing well from both viewpoints, with regular aerial food passes between the male and female – a very impressive sight. We’ve also spotted our first fledged juveniles of 2016 making their first tentative flights over the reedbed, looking a little wobbly on their wings!
Our cranes are very elusive at the moment, but one of the families can occasionally be seen from Joist Fen viewpoint. The vegetation is almost as tall as they are now, but a little patience can be rewarded with a glimpse of Little, Large and their youngster.
Bearded tits have been showing well from New Fen viewpoint over the last week, with great views of juveniles on the grit tray to the right of the viewpoint.
Juvenile bearded tits (Credit: Ken Clegg)
New Fen has also been a great spot to see kingfishers over the last week and we’ve even had occasional sightings of them on the visitor centre pool; always a welcome visitor!
Other highlights of the week include turtle dove (over Brandon Fen), common tern and hobby over the washland, barn owl in Brandon Fen and red kite flying low over the visitor centre on Thursday afternoon.
Making the most of the drier weather, the moth trap has been out over the last couple of nights - I’ll leave you with some of the highlights:
Buff tip
Buff ermine
Large emerald
Poplar hawkmoth (All image: Emma Cuthbertson)