The last week seems to have passed in a blur but thankfully, there is still a list of reserve sightings in front of me to report.
I will begin though with some lovely pictures that we have been sent this week by visitors:
A smart common whitethroat:
Image credit: Brian Anderson
A bittern from below:
Image credit: Matt Walton
A female scarce chaser:
Image credit: Charles Whitfield King
Thank you very much to Brian, Matt and Charles for sharing these lovely pictures with us.
If you read Ali's blog post on Wednesday, you will know that there was a flurry of excitement on Monday when she found a bordered white moth in the car park. This was the first record of this species on the reserve. While we were admiring it, we just missed two common crossbills that flew overhead. Fortunately for me though, another individual flew low over my head as I walked back toward the visitor centre.
One lucky visitor saw a honey buzzard fly north over New Fen viewpoint at lunchtime and there were at least 17 hobbys feeding over Joist Fen viewpoint. Our first black tailed skimmer of the year was seen alongside West Wood and a stoat was seen near New Fen viewpoint.
I went for a brief walk on Tuesday morning before the rain started and had great views of a barn owl hunting over Brandon Fen. A common tern was hovering over the washland and a jay was hopping around on the visitor centre lawn.
On Wednesday, Ali was out on the reserve and saw two cranes at the west end of the reserve. She also saw six hobbys over New Fen viewpoint and three bearded tits from Mere Hide. A stonechat was also seen near the hide.
There was a bit of excitement on Thursday morning when a quail started calling very loudly right behind the visitor centre. Sadly, it didn't stay there for long but it was heard in various places on the reserve over the course of the day. There was also an unusually high count of 58 mute swans on the washland.
Its a lovely sunny day this morning so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!