Good morning. We have had an interesting couple of days on the reserve so here are some more recent sightings:
As the sun was shining yesterday morning, I went out on the reserve armed with my camera. Here are some of my photos, I hope you like them!:
Fungi around the Brandon Fen family trail:
The washland:
A couple of views of the crack willow near the visitor centre which is sadly now looking quite worst for wear:
Image credits: David White
As I walked around the reserve, it quickly became clear that there were a few birds on the move. A couple of siskins flew over the visitor centre and a juvenile nightingale was showing well in the visitor centre alders. Shortly after we opened up the visitor centre, a chiffchaff was feeding on the fennel by our office window and a couple of willow warblers were feeding behind the visitor centre. A kingfisher was also feeding at the edge of the visitor centre pond.
There was nice surprise late morning when regulars Ian and Kath found a juvenile common redstart feeding in one of the Scots pines at the edge of the car park. This is only the third confirmed record of this species on the reserve, so it was great to see. It was showing well and spent quite a lot of time feeding on the ground.
Ian and Kath had also been up on the riverbank where they had seen a whinchat just west of the Washland viewpoint. They also saw the following on the washland:
Volunteer Pete went and had a look shortly after. He added a green sandpiper and a common snipe to the day's list. I went up there mid-afternoon and added a couple more species: This included an oystercatcher and four juvenile common terns. I also saw presumably the same wood sandpiper from earlier on in the day.
Meanwhile, further down the reserve, at least two hobbys were seen from Joist Fen viewpoint. Several different bitterns were seen from the viewpoint. At least six common lizards were also basking alongside the Fen pools near the visitor centre.
There was time for one more surprise at the end of the day. Volunteer John went looking for the redstart after we locked up and although he didn't see it, he found a very obliging lesser whitethroat which is a good record for here.
It was a bit bleak first thing this morning but as I drove along the entrance track, a common buzzard flew up in front of me which was a good start to the day. I spent some time looking over the washland and I saw the following:
I spent some time looking for yesterday's redstart at the edge of the car park. although I may have heard it, I didn't see it so it may have moved on unfortunately.
A juvenile green woodpecker was feeding near the pond dipping area and when I got back to the visitor centre, a kingfisher was perched at the edge of the visitor centre pond.
If you are planning to come and visit, please note that there are still cattle grazing along the riverbank Public Footpath between the Washland viewpoint and Joist Fen viewpoint.
We hope to see you soon!