Until this morning, we have been treated to some lovely weather here so here are some recent sightings:
Site Manager Dave was about and about with his camera on Monday and here are some of his images:
Common darter dragonflies:
Migrant hawker dragonfly:
Wasp spider:
Image credits: Dave Rogers
Thanks very much to Dave for sharing his images with us.
If you are interested, we have now put a sign near where the wasp spider tends to be. Please ask in the visitor centre for more detailed directions.
On Monday afternoon, local birder Steve found at least five small red eyed damselflies on the reserve. Three were at the western edge of West Wood and another two were feeding over the washland pool north of East Wood.
Yesterday morning, I saw three different kingfishers on my morning walk. One was feeding over the washland, one was feeding in front of New Fen viewpoint and one was perched at the edge of the visitor centre pond. I saw a family of four common whitethroats feeding along the riverbank Public Footpath and there was a female tufted duck on the washland pool north of East Wood.
As the day went on, bearded tits were showing well alongside the boardwalk on the approach to Mere Hide (photographs to follow later on in the week). A sandwich tern was reported from the washland viewpoint and I saw two hobbys from the same viewpoint. Judging by their behaviour, they looked like an adult and a juvenile.
It was really rather chilly for my walk around the reserve this morning. There was a good count of nine Egyptian geese on the washland and a common snipe flew over the visitor centre. While I was opening up the visitor centre, I was watching a kestrel hovering overhead and two hobbys flew past at top speed. This was presumably the same two individuals that I saw over the Washland viewpoint yesterday afternoon.
You may be interested to hear that there are still plenty of spaces available on the Bat night on Saturday evening 7pm-9.15pm. The weather is looking good at the moment so please follow this link to find out how to book your place on the event.
Please also note that there are still cattle grazing on the riverbank Public Footpath between the Washland viewpoint and Joist Fen viewpoint.
We hope to see you soon!