Good afternoon. It's the last day of August so here is the last recent sightings blog post of the month.
On Monday morning, local birdwatcher Nick counted six garganeys and 271 teals on the washland.
As the day went on, a bittern, a bearded tit and a hobby were seen from Joist Fen viewpoint. A water rail was also skulking in front of Mere Hide.
Meanwhile, back at the visitor centre, up to three kingfishers were feeding in the visitor centre pond for the majority of the afternoon.
Volunteer John went up to the Washland viewpoint after we closed and despite the fact that the water levels have come up, he still saw a good selection of waders:
Greenshank: 4
Green sandpiper: 1
Redshank: 1
Common sandpiper: 3
Common snipe: 4
Dunlin: 2
Little stint: 1
I went for a walk down to New Fen viewpoint before work yesterday morning and as I walked along the riverbank, I saw a barn owl and a kingfisher. As I walked from the stile towards the viewpoint. I photographed this garden spider devouring a garden slug:
Just before I got to New Fen viewpoint, I heard a group of bearded tits calling and managed to catch a glimpse of two individuals.
I went up to the Washland viewpoint at lunchtime and I saw a juvenile marsh harrier hunting. I also saw a green sandpiper and a common snipe.
I went up to the Washland viewpoint this morning and although I was a bit pushed for time, I saw:
Garganey: 6
Kingfisher: 1
Yellow wagtail: 1
Greenshank: 2
Willow emerald damselfly: 1
A kingfisher appeared at the edge of the visitor centre pond shortly after we opened and proceeded to fish on and off all morning.
I led a guided walk to look for reptiles and I found this smart common lizard in our staff car park:
As we walked around, we found one more common lizard and we were rather surprised to find an amphibian, a common frog near the visitor centre. We also saw a marsh harrier being mobbed by a hobby near New Fen viewpoint.
Meanwhile, further down the reserve, volunteer Catherine saw two bitterns from Joist Fen viewpoint and another one from the Washland viewpoint.
Our cranes haven't been seen since Friday so it seems like they may have gone for their autumn holidays out into the Fens. Hopefully, they will be back before too long. We will keep you updated!
There is plenty to see at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!