Good afternoon. There has been plenty to see over the last couple of days so it’s now time for some more recent sightings.
On Sunday morning, a very raggedly looking common buzzard flew over the visitor centre and there was plenty of kingfisher activity from Mere Hide. At one point, one was fishing from a perch on top of the hide!
As the day went on, two spotted flycatchers were seen at the edge of East Wood and a juvenile cuckoo was seen flying north over the river. Three red eyed damselflies were feeding along the path south of West Wood and several small red eyed damselflies were feeding over the visitor centre pond.
In the afternoon, a bittern was feeding at the edge of the riverbank and a grass snake was seen swimming across the pond dipping pond. A brown hawker was also attracting attention, as it was laying eggs in the visitor centre pond.
Emma and Katherine saw a bittern over the far end of the reserve and several marsh harriers. The cranes were also calling at the far end of the reserve.
I went for a walk around the reserve before work this morning and there were four little egrets on the washland. I photographed this interesting species of puffball alongside the path in Brandon Fen:
Image credits: David White
When I got back to the visitor centre, a robin was singing near the visitor centre and a jay was on the peanut feeder in front of the visitor centre.
As the morning has gone on, the little egret numbers have increased gradually. Regular visitor Dave Capps saw 12 on the washland near Wilton Bridge and Emma saw 23 from the Washland viewpoint. She also saw eight grey herons and 79 mute swans.
We had a very successful Wild Wednesday family event this morning and while we were out and about on the reserve, we saw a small red eyed damselfly over the visitor centre pond bed and a brown hawker over the pond dipping platform.
While we were pond dipping, we found two common newt tadpoles, several large great diving beetles and some impressive dragonfly nymphs.
At lunchtime, a grass snake slithered across the path in Brandon Fen and several peacock butterflies were showing well on the hemp agrimony near the visitor centre. There were also several large tiger hoverflies feeding in the same area.
Please note that if you are planning to visit the reserve this weekend, the roadside barrier will be closed at 11pm on Friday and Saturday night. It will reopen at around 6am on the following mornings.
There is plenty to see at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!