Good afternoon. There has been plenty to see over the last couple of days so here are some more recent sightings:
On Monday afternoon, two kingfishers were seen along the river and a bittern was seen from New Fen viewpoint.
Yesterday, the marsh warbler was still present along the riverbank just west of Joist Fen viewpoint. I decided to walk into the reserve from Lakenheath village yesterday afternoon and despite the fact that it was a long walk, I had a fantastic evening. I heard at least two bitterns booming and saw a hobby hunting over the far end of the reserve. There were also several marsh harriers hunting overhead.
However, my main target of the evening was to photograph dragonflies and damselflies. I managed to photograph six species in total, and here are my best attempts at each of these:
Azure damselfly:
Banded demoiselle:
Blue tailed damselfly:
Red eyed damselfly:
Scarce chaser:
Variable damselfly:
I also saw an emperor dragonfly and a couple of four spotted chasers. However, I didn't manage to photograph either species unfortunately.
I spent some time up at the Washland viewpoint this morning and while I was up there, three cuckoos flew overhead which was nice to see. Waders were a bit thin on the ground as I only saw an oystercatcher and a lapwing. Fortunately, owls were more conspicuous as I saw a short eared owl and a barn owl as I walked along the riverbank.
I also saw this large drinker moth caterpillar alongside East Wood:
Image credits; David White
When I got back to the visitor centre, I bumped into reserve volunteer Mike who had just been down to see the marsh warbler and said that it was showing well.
I led a guided walk mid morning and we saw a very smart female scarce chaser shortly after we left the visitor centre. We also saw a stoat carrying prey near New Fen viewpoint.
We bumped into Site Manager Dave who was out and about with his camera. Here are some of his photos along with where he photographed them:
Dragonfly platform, just north of New Fen viewpoint:
Azure damselflies mating:
Four spotted chaser:
Bagpipe sluice, which is at the edge of East Wood
Bittern:
Image credits: Dave Rogers
Thank you very much to Dave for sharing these images with us.
If you are planning to visit the reserve, please note that there are cattle grazing on the riverbank Public Footpath.
We hope to see you soon!