Good morning. It’s a lovely sunny day today so I will begin with some of my pictures from the last couple of days:
West Wood:
Bird cherry outside the visitor centre:
Peacock butterfly:
Image credits: David White
I will start off where I left off on Friday. A red kite drifted over West Wood and at least 36 hobbys were seen over Joist Fen viewpoint. A common sandpiper was on the washland.
There were also several invertebrates on the wing. This included several hairy dragonflies, large red damselflies and our first common blue damselfly of the year.
I popped up to the Washland viewpoint after work on Friday and was very lucky to find a turtle dove perched up on the wires behind the large pool. There were also at least four common terns feeding over the pool.
We had a very successful bat night on Friday evening. Several noctules were hammering up and down East Wood and a mixed group of pipistrelles (both common and soprano) were feeding near New Fen viewpoint.
There were also several birds around. A barn owl was hunting over washland and two tawny owls were calling in East Wood. A bittern was booming in New Fen North and a large female sparrowhawk flew over East Wood.
I walked around Brandon Fen before work and I was very pleased to find three common sandpipers on the washland near Wilton Bridge. Surprisingly, I think this is a new reserve record count! A cuckoo was also calling in East Wood.
Site Manager Dave led a group of students from Cambridge University around the reserve. They saw a crane and a bittern in flight. They also saw at least 30 hobbys overhead.
As the day went on, a whimbrel flew north over the reserve and a lucky couple saw a water vole from Joist Fen viewpoint. A water rail was showing well in front of the viewpoint and a garden warbler was singing outside the visitor centre.
This morning, there were at least three cuckoos calling near the visitor centre and I saw a muntjac deer in Brandon Fen. A barn owl was hunting in front of the Washland viewpoint and three shelducks flew south over the viewpoint.
As the morning has gone on, a crane was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint and several bearded tits were seen near the viewpoint. A bittern was seen from New Fen viewpoint along with a male garganey. A garden warbler was also singing in our staff car park.
There is plenty to see at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!