It was a classic November day on Sunday and the weather was really rather unpredictable. Dave was out on the reserve for most of the morning and he saw a great selection of wildlife. Although he saw at least three marsh harriers over Joist Fen viewpoint, most of the action was going on in front of New Fen viewpoint. At least four bearded tits were showing well in the reeds and a bittern poked its head up and flew right in front of the viewpoint. A kingfisher was also showing well nearby.
I lead the crane talk and walk later on in the day and although we weren't lucky enough to see any cranes, we did see plenty of other things. Probably the same kingfisher from earlier on was perched in front of New Fen viewpoint for the duration of our stay there and two great egrets flew west along the river. These were closely followed by five little egrets. We got caught in a rain storm at Joist Fen viewpoint but it was worth getting wet. A lovely male barn owl came out to hunt and showed really well for us.
There were some amazing rainbows during the late afternoon and here is a picture of one over Brandon Fen:
Image credit: David White
It was a lovely day on Monday and one of the great egrets was present on the washland for most of the day. A little grebe was a surprise visitor the visitor centre pond and an otter showed well from the Washland viewpoint for over an hour. Also, one of our first time visitors took some great pictures during his visit. Please see this forum post for more details. There were a few more notable sightings including a common curlew and a good count of 10 little egrets on the washland.
Yesterday, both of the great egrets were on the washland. I had a little wander around this morning and saw 12 fieldfares in Brandon Fen. A group of seven whooper swans flew east along the river and landed on the washland. There were at least five little egrets nearby before they were scattered by a passing female marsh harrier. A big mixed flock of finches were flying around over the visitor centre. This consisted mainly of redpolls of one kind or another and a few siskins. We hope to see you soon.