Good morning. It has quite honestly felt like winter here this week so I will begin with a picture that was taken in more summery conditions last Saturday:
Four spotted chaser and scarce chaser:
Image credit: Liz Knowles
Thank you very much to Liz for sharing this great image with us.
I went for a walk in the pouring rain on Tuesday morning and I was very fortunate to see an otter feeding in the river just east of the Washland viewpoint. I also heard two cuckoos, one in Brandon Fen and another in East Wood.
Dave and Suzanne went down the reserve in the afternoon and saw one of pairs of cranes with at least one chick near Joist Fen viewpoint. A bittern flew over the far end of the reserve and they also saw at least three cuckoos.
Suzanne and I did our last Common Bird Census (CBC) of the year on Wednesday morning. We saw a female barn owl hunting over the grazing marsh and at least three cuckoos.
Emma also did her CBC in New Fen South. She saw four bittern flights between Trial Wood and Joist Fen viewpoint.
I went bug hunting with a group of children and the undoubted highlight was seeing a freshly emerged emperor dragonfly in the raised pond bed in front of the visitor centre. A dragonfly nymph was trying to drag it back into the water, which was incredible to watch!
Yesterday, I spent a very enjoyable day at RSPB Minsmere helping with BBC Springwatch. As expected, I missed plenty of great wildlife here! Volunteer Lawrence saw a single crane in flight along the railway line.
There were also some unusual flyovers. Two spoonbills flew west over the reserve before heading north. A ringed white stork, which is presumably the bird that has been hanging around the local area recently, also flew over the visitor centre. I definitely chose the wrong day to be somewhere else!
I went for a walk this morning and saw two marsh harriers hunting over the washland. I went to investigate the strimming that was done yesterday along the southern edge of New Fen North, the first area of reedbed. I found these plants:
Celery leaved buttercup:
Water violet:
While I was botanising, I saw two cuckoos in flight from East Wood to West Wood. I also heard a spotted flycatcher calling in East Wood, just behind New Fen viewpoint.
When I got back to the visitor centre, I couldn’t resist photographing the marsh pea that is currently in flower in the Fens raised bed in front of the visitor centre:
Image credits: David White
There is plenty to see at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!