Good morning. There has been plenty seen here over the last couple of days so here are some more recent sightings:
I will start off by posting some images of the short eared owl from Monday evening. We hope you like them:
Image credits: John Wightman
Thank you very much to John for sharing these great images with us.
I will start off where I left off with some sightings from Tuesday afternoon onwards. Volunteer Paul went up to the Washland viewpoint and six bearded tits were showing well in front of the viewpoint. I went up there at lunchtime and sadly, the bearded tits had moved on. I did see a redshank and two shelducks though.
As the day went on, a water pipit was seen on the washland and two garganeys were seen in front of New Fen viewpoint. A great white egret was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint and a raven was also reported feeding in Humphrey's Paddock, which is the grazing marsh that is visible from the viewpoint.
Alan and I went for a walk after work and my first port of call was to photograph the marsh marigold, which is now flowering in the Fens raised bed on the visitor centre lawn:
Image credits: David White
We went up to the Washland viewpoint and had brief views of the short eared owl hunting further west along the river. We had to wait until 18.10 to see it hunting for any length of time though, when it was hunting north of East Wood.
While we were waiting for the short eared owl to reappear, a great white egret flew east along the river before heading back west shortly after. Three sand martins were feeding overhead and two stonechats were feeding north of the river.
On Wednesday, I saw a roe deer as I drove in along the entrance track. A barn owl was hunting over Brandon Fen and a male marsh harrier was hunting over the washland. A redshank was feeding on the pool north of East Wood and a great white egret was feeding on the washland north of New Fen North. Another barn owl was hunting over the washland north of West Wood and a bittern was booming in New Fen North.
As the day went on, two lesser redpolls flew east over the visitor centre and a red kite flew over New Fen viewpoint. Two cranes were seen from Joist Fen viewpoint and two bitterns were seen chasing eachother over the far end of the reserve.
In the afternoon, Emma, Suzanne and I went to view our land north of the river and we saw two little owls. These may be visible from the riverbank west of Joist Fen viewpoint if you have a telescope.
The reserve team did their first bittern listen of the year yesterday morning and Emma was lucky enough to see six bitterns flying together over the far end of the reserve. There were several butterflies on the wing including a couple of small whites and a holly blue over the riverbank.
Volunteer Lawrence saw six common buzzards over Joist Fen viewpoint and another three over West Wood. A swallow was seen over the river and Alan was fortunate enough to see an otter at the far end of the reserve.
This morning, I went up to the Washland viewpoint when I arrived and saw a kingfisher. I could hear a redshank displaying and I could also hear a bittern booming from further down the reserve.
As I walked along the riverbank, a male stonechat was feeding nearby and a great white egret was feeding on the riverbank north of New Fen North. Two pairs of lapwings were displaying over the newly cut area of reeds in New Fen North and I was very pleased to hear my first sedge warbler of the year singing approximately half way along New Fen North from the riverbank. A group of five lesser redpolls were feeding behind New Fen viewpoint which were nice to hear.
I heard two blackcaps singing as I walked back through the reserve, including one that was singing near the visitor centre. There were also several plants starting to flower nearby including the fine bird cherry in front of the visitor centre and some grape hyancinth near the staff gate.
If you are planning to visit this weekend, please note that we have our Spring Family Fun Day on Sunday 10am-4pm. This will mean that the area near the visitor centre may be quite busy. The far end of the reserve should not be affected.
We hope to see you on the reserve soon!