Good afternoon. There has been so much going on this weekend that I thought I would do an update now. This gives me the chance to share some of the great pictures that have been taken over the weekend:
A hunting barn owl:
A great white egret in flight:
Two pictures of “Little & Large”, one of our resident crane pairs:
Image credits: Matt Walton
Thank you very much to Matt for sharing these wonderful pictures with us.
I will start with some late news from Friday evening. An ex-colleague of mine was down at Joist Fen viewpoint at dusk and was lucky enough to see an otter. He also saw a woodcock in flight.
Matt Walton, who took the pictures taken above yesterday morning, saw three barn owls hunting near New Fen viewpoint. He also saw a kingfisher fishing in front of the viewpoint.
I went for a walk in the lunchtime sunshine and found plenty of coltsfoot in flower on the riverbank. I witnessed a moment of drama on the washland: all of the ducks took flight, which in turn flushed a great white egret, which flushed a bittern! Quite what caused all of this fuss is any bodies guess, but I think it was an unseen otter. It’s just a shame that I didn't see it just to be sure!
Meanwhile, further down the reserve, volunteers Roy and Emma saw two great white egrets from Joist Fen viewpoint along with five marsh harriers. They also saw an oystercatcher on the washland.
I went for a walk this morning and although it was rather breezy, the sun was shining which was nice. Two mistle thrushes flew north over East Wood and two roe deer scampered alongside the railway line.
I walked back along the riverbank and had a good view of two great white egrets in flight. A marsh harrier was hunting over the washland and a kingfisher was calling nearby.
Katherine, Emma and volunteer Paul did the last WeBs count of the winter this morning. Highlighting included two cranes, a redshank and a jack snipe that they saw on a part of the reserve that isn't open to the public.
As I mentioned yesterday, B1 class steam locomotive “Mayflower” came past the reserve earlier on today on its way to Norwich. Here is a slightly wonky shot of it (my tripod was on uneven ground, that's my excuse!):
Image credit: David White
The weather forecast isn’t looking too bad for the coming week so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!