What a difference a day makes – beautiful hot weather yesterday, to heavy showers and a definite drop in temperature today! Whilst we’ve all been enjoying the summer sunshine, the rain was a welcome relief as the reserve is certainly in need of a little extra water!
The hot weather hasn’t put the wildlife off however and there’s plenty to report from the past few days. Kingfishers have been making some star appearances over the last week, both on the visitor centre pool and from New Fen viewpoint.
Myself, John and Roy were happily watching a kingfisher from the visitor centre yesterday morning when we witnessed a very strange sight – a very unhappy moorhen chasing the kingfisher around and away from the pool! Luckily, it didn’t seem to be put off by this and was back again throughout the day.
Thanks to Matt Walton for sharing this beautiful photo with us:
New Fen viewpoint has also proved to be the spot for bearded tits this week, with juveniles being seen from there over the last couple of days. They are proving to be slightly elusive, but a little patience has been rewarded with great views of these iconic birds;
Posing on the kingfisher perch! Image credit – David Capps
Sticking together. Image credit – Matt Walton
Bitterns have been regularly seen in flight from both viewpoints and also from Mere hide. The first juvenile marsh harriers of the season are now being seen from Joist Fen viewpoint and along the river bank. These very dark birds with orangey-red heads are often perched in willows within the reedbeds, as they start discover their full flying potential!
A pre-work walk for David on Friday produced two barn owls (one in Brandon Fen, the other over the washland), a song thrush singing in Brandon Fen, cuckoo and a skylark singing over the visitor centre.
Making the most of the sun yesterday I headed out to have a look for butterflies and whilst I didn’t record huge numbers I saw a good range including red admiral, comma, small tortoiseshell, meadow brown, large skipper and ringlet.
The warm weather is also perfect for moth trapping, though I’m glad I didn’t put the trap out Friday night with the spectacular storms we had! The forecast last night was much better; the trap went out near the visitor centre and recorded 21 different species including (there really are some brilliant moth names!) buff ermine, bright-line brown eye, brown-line bright eye, barred straw, ringed china mark, dark arches and light arches to name a few.
Dark Arches - Emma Cuthbertson
Brown-line bright eye - Emma Cuthbertson
Burnished brass - Emma Cuthbertson