Good morning. I should have been out leading a dawn chorus walk this morning but we had to cancel it due to the weather forecast. This is really rather frustrating, as I really enjoy leading dawn chorus walks!
Anyhow, that's enough of me grumbling. There has been plenty going on here over the last two days but before I get on to that, I will share a few pictures that I took of the sunset on Thursday evening:
Image credits: David White
I hope you like them!
A pair of garganeys were showing in front of the Washland viewpoint on Friday morning and a female whinchat was on the washland north of West Wood, the furthest poplar wood.
One of the BTO’s satellite tagged cuckoos (who we think is called Stanley!) was seen on the reserve and there were at least 44 hobbys hunting over Joist Fen viewpoint. One our volunteers was lucky enough to see a spotted flycatcher in East Wood, just behind New Fen viewpoint.
A barn owl was hunting over the washland yesterday morning and I saw a late fieldfare in Brandon Fen. A cuckoo flew into the big willow tree near the visitor centre and a garden warbler was singing out in the open in the staff car park.
As the day went on, another osprey flew north over New Fen North, the first area of reedbed (that's the second one in a week!) A great white egret was seen on the washland and the spare pair of cranes were seen from Joist Fen viewpoint.
A lucky couple saw a water vole from the washland viewpoint and a bittern was seen from New Fen viewpoint. Although there weren't quite as many hobbys around as there were on Friday, the highest count was on 31 birds which is still pretty good!
Elsewhere on the reserve, a bittern was seen from Mere Hide and a kingfisher was seen in the same area. A small group of bearded tits were also seen between New Fen viewpoint and Mere Hide.
Oh, and just before I head out on the reserve for a (particularly wet!) pre-work stroll, here is some late news from Wednesday. A turtle dove flew over East Wood. This is great news and let’s hope it sticks around.
We hope to see you soon!