Good morning! I have already told this story on the RSPB Suffolk Facebook page, but for the benefit of those of you who don't "do" Facebook, here is what happened to me on Friday morning: I was manning the reception desk in the visitor centre and just as I got to the desk to speak to the first visitor of the day, I noticed a bright blue blob that was perched at the edge of the visitor centre pond. That bright blue blob turned out to be a kingfisher. Now that's what I call a good start to the day!
It was the first time that I had seen one of these little beauties from the visitor centre window for quite some time. I am pleased to day that the same bird kept coming back throughout the day and we even managed to get it through the telescope for several staff and visitors to see up close.
Meanwhile, further down the reserve, it turns out that Ali was having a similar experience. She went to check the water levels at one of the sluices in New Fen North, the first area of reedbed and found not one,but four kingfishers! Apparently, they were all perched up in a tree in front of her before scattering off in different directions.
As they were showing so well, I think I need to include a picture of one that was taken recently on the reserve!:
Image credit: Matt Walton
It wasn't all about kingfishers on Friday though. There were two hobbys circling over the car park and a bittern was seen from the riverbank. At least two cranes were also seen from Joist Fen viewpoint over the course of the day.
It was a bit damp early yesterday morning but it did eventually cheer up. Again, our first sighting of the day was... you guessed it, a kingfisher feeding in the visitor centre pond! This was closely followed by a barn owl that floated over the reedbed behind the visitor centre which was lovely to see.
A juvenile cuckoo was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint and a grasshopper warbler was spotted preening at the edge of East Wood. There were plenty of bugs to see and Roy found a female glow worm alongside East Wood. He also found a curious looking creature alongside Trial Wood that we decided was a striped slender robberfly. There were also lots of golden-bloomed grey longhorn beetles alongside the paths. As I like these so much, here is a picture of one that I took on the reserve last year:
Image credit: David White
Why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!