Good morning. It's a lovely sunny morning here so it's time for some more recent sightings. Although I have been out with my camera this morning, I will start by posting a couple of sunny pictures that I took on the reserve over last weekend:
The Little Ouse river:
New Fen viewpoint:
Image credits: David White
I will start off where I left off on Saturday with some recent sightings. There was some excitement at lunchtime when an osprey was seen over the Washland viewpoint. It didn't linger there for long though and promptly appeared over Joist Fen viewpoint. It then hunted over there for the next 15 minutes providing several lucky visitors with great views of it.
In the afternoon, a water rail was skulking in front of New Fen viewpoint and a great spotted woodpecker was feeding on the peanut feeders behind the visitor centre.
There was plenty to see from the Washland viewpoint on Sunday morning. Between local birder Paul and myself, we managed (albeit at different times):
Great white egret: 1
Greenshank: 3
Green sandpiper: 3
Yellow wagtail: 1
Marsh harrier: 1
Teal: 352
Garganey: 4
As the day went on, a bittern was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint and a red kite drifted high over the river. A kingfisher was also fishing in the visitor centre pond.
In the afternoon, a weasel was seen alongside Trial Wood and this impressive musk beetle was photographed near the visitor centre:
Image credits: Barbara Donald
Thank you very much to Barbara for sharing these great images with us.
Sadly, the great white egret was not seen again on Monday which is a shame. A wood sandpiper was reported on the washland on Tuesday along with two green sandpipers and six common snipe.
I spent a cumulative couple of mornings at the Washland viewpoint on Tuesday evening and yesterday morning and I saw:
Ruff: 3
Curlew: 1
Common sandpiper: 1
Greenshank: 1
Green sandpiper: 2
Kingfisher: 1
Grey wagtail: 1
Common snipe: 4
Little egret: 5
Dunlin: 2
Local birder Steve spent a bit of time up there with me and after I left, he saw a hobby, a barn owl and a water rail.
In the afternoon, a goldcrest was calling in front of the visitor centre and a kingfisher was feeding in the visitor centre pond.
I went for a walk before work this morning and just as I headed out, a grey wagtail flew over the visitor centre. As I walked along the riverbank, I saw a greenshank and two green sandpipers. I also saw a wing tagged marsh harrier.
As I walked down from the riverbank towards New Fen viewpoint, I saw lots of spiders. This included plenty of garden spiders, four-spot orb weavers and marbled orb weavers. Some photos will follow in a blog post in the near future. At the viewpoint, I saw a kingfisher and a water rail. When I opened up the visitor centre, I spotted a kingfisher perched at the back of the visitor centre pond.
There is plenty to see at the moment so why not come and visit? We hope to see you soon!