Good morning. It is really rather chilly today so here are some more recent sightings for you.
Volunteer Paul came in on Sunday and spotted a great white egret from the Washland viewpoint. Although the weather was not ideal, at least one bittern was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint during the course of the day.
On Monday, Suzanne saw a buzzard over Brandon Fen. On Tuesday, ex Site Manager Norman saw five cranes from Joist Fen viewpoint. It shouldn’t be too long now before our resident birds are back on territory for good so we should be seeing more of them soon.
It was really rather snowy yesterday morning but a kingfisher was still fishing in the river first thing. A great white egret was showing well from the Washland viewpoint and a water rail was skulking in front of the photography station. The sun came out at lunchtime and three buzzards were circling high over the car park. I popped up to the Washland viewpoint early afternoon and saw two shelducks moving rather gingerly on the ice.
It was certainly cold this morning and I went out with my camera to capture some frosty shots of the reserve:
Image credits: David White
A Cetti’s warbler was skulking around near the Washland viewpoint and Suzanne saw five roe deer around Brandon Fen. We took the bins down to the end of the road and there was plenty of activity alongside the track. A marsh tit was calling and we saw at least two goldcrests flitting around. Two mistle thrushes also flew over just before we got back to the visitor centre.
If you are planning to visit the reserve this coming weekend, you may be interested to hear that there are still several places available on our Winter Hike in the Fens on Sunday 3 February. This is a 10 kilometre guided walk 9.30am-3pm which visits parts of the reserve that aren’t usually open to the public. If you are interested in coming along, please click here for more information, including how to book.
Other than that, the majority of the reserve is rather frozen at the moment so please take care if you are planning to visit. The Public Footpath along the riverbank is likely to be slippery in places and wellies are now moreorless essential for negotiating this path at present.
We hope to see you on the reserve soon!