Good morning. Now that the twelve days of Christmas are over, things have gone back to normal here. I will begin this morning’s recent sightings post with some pictures of the eight cranes that were photographed here on 29 December and seen again on 31 December:
Image credits: John Dixon
Thank you very much to John for sharing these great images with us.
Closer inspection has revealed that the three were indeed one of “our” pairs with their youngster from 2015. Although we are not sure who the other five were, it was great to see them nonetheless!
There was plenty to see before it started raining on Sunday morning. A family of four otters were seen at the end of the ramp up to the Public Footpath in Brandon Fen. A group of four whooper swans were feeding north of the river and two great white egrets were seen just west of Joist Fen viewpoint. A great black backed gull also flew over Joist Fen viewpoint, which is a good record this far inland.
As I drove in on Monday morning, two little owls were feeding on the entrance track and a roe deer skulked across the track in front of me.
I went up to the Washland viewpoint and saw several interesting species. A group of four pink footed geese flew west along the river along with four greylag geese. A group of six whooper swans also present, before departing towards RSPB Ouse Washes at 07.44.
A great white egret was present and two barn owls were hunting nearby. Two shelducks were feeding in the large pool and a redshank flew over. A roe deer was also feeding on the Public Footpath near the reserve entrance.
As the day went on, two kingfishers were seen from the Washland viewpoint and a song thrush was singing in Brandon Fen. A visitor went down to Joist Fen viewpoint in the afternoon to look for birds of prey. He saw 15 marsh harriers and a peregrine.
I was off celebrating my birthday yesterday but there was plenty to see here nonetheless! Two great white egrets were seen from the Washland viewpoint and a female merlin was seen from New Fen viewpoint. At least five marsh harriers were hunting in front of Joist Fen viewpoint and a barn owl was hunting in the same area.
It was very foggy when I got here this morning but I still caught a glimpse of a muntjac deer ambling across the entrance track in front of me. The visibility hadn’t improved by the time I walked around Brandon Fen unfortunately. A marsh tit and a song thrush were singing in the poplars. Two roe deer were also grazing at the edge of the path. Additionally, two water pipits flew up just east of the Washland viewpoint.
There is plenty to see at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!