Good afternoon. There has definitely been a dragonfly theme to this week here so far. Yesterday, we were lucky enough to be joined by writer and dragonfly ambassador Ruary Mackenzie Dodds, who lead a workshop about our “tooth jawed” friends for RSPB staff.
In recognition of these beautiful creatures, here are some wonderful images of a selection of species from last week, courtesy of Richard Jones:
A banded demoiselle:
A blue tailed damselfly:
A black tailed skimmer:
A four spotted chaser:
Thank you very much to Richard for sharing these images with us.
Volunteer Paul spent some time up at the Washland viewpoint on Monday. He saw two hobbys and five common terns.
It was a bit showery yesterday but Suzanne still managed to get out for a walk at lunchtime. She saw two hobbys and a common buzzard from the Washland viewpoint.
Meanwhile, further down the reserve, Emma surprised a bittern on the hard track just west of Joist Fen viewpoint. It was apparently doing the “bitterning” stance right in the middle of the track!
I went for a walk before work this morning and a cuckoo flew into East Wood. A common tern was fishing along the river and a barn owl was hunting over New Fen North, the first area of reedbed.
As I approached Joist Fen viewpoint, a garden warbler was singing between the riverbank and the viewpoint. I may have also heard the little bittern barking between the viewpoint and West Wood, but I wasn't entirely convinced.
I spent around 45 minutes in the viewpoint and in that time, I saw two bittern flights. A wing tagged marsh harrier was hunting in front of the viewpoint and several bearded tits flew low over the reedbed. A green sandpiper also flew west over the viewpoint.
As I walked back through the reserve, some more bearded tits were pinging between Joist Fen viewpoint and Mere Hide. Another garden warbler was also singing in East Wood.
A song thrush was singing in the staff car park and there were also plenty of butterflies fluttering around there while Suzanne and I were having a meeting. A small skipper landed on Suzanne’s arm and a ringlet was fluttering around nearby. We also saw a species of bush cricket, which was most likely to be a long winged conehead.
There is plenty to see at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!