Hello there! We have just finished a very successful two night Big Wild Sleepout event so just before I go and have a long sleep, here are some recent sightings for you:
It was a lovely day on Friday and local photographer Matt Walton was out and about early. Here are some of his pictures:
Dawn over the washland:
Some juvenile bearded tits in front of New Fen viewpoint:
Image credits: Matt Walton
He also saw an otter fishing in the river, although he didn't manage to photograph it unfortunately.
While I was putting my tent up, at least five tree pipits flew over. A kingfisher was feeding in the visitor centre pond and three juvenile bearded tits kept appearing at the edge of the visitor centre pond.
Meanwhile, further down the reserve, local photographer David Capps saw a bittern at New Fen viewpoint along with a marsh harrier that was being mobbed by three common buzzards. He also saw at least six common lizards on the approach to Mere Hide.
We started off the event on Friday with a bat walk. We heard common pipistrelles, soprano pipistrelles and noctules. Some of us were also lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a tawny owl on our way back through the reserve.
It was a lovely day yesterday and there were plenty of insects out and about. This female common darter was happy to pose for my camera near the visitor centre:
Image credits: David White
After a successful astronomy evening, we toasted marshmallows and listened to some more bats near the visitor centre. There were a feeding groups of common pipistrelles overhead and a noctule kept hammering back and forward. There was a feeding frenzy of Daubenton’s bats over the visitor centre pond just before bedtime and a barn owl also flew over.
I lead a walk at 5.30am this morning and it was really nice to be out and about early. Two tree pipits flew south over the visitor centre and a green woodpecker flew across the track in front of us. A tawny owl was a surprise encounter in West Wood and there were a couple of species of waders feeding alongside the riverbank. This included a green sandpiper, an oystercatcher and three common snipe.
After having a look at some lovely moths, it was time to pack our tents away. However, we quickly got distracted when this really rather cool looking beetle was found near the visitor centre:
Image credit: David White
In my current state of tiredness, I haven’t managed to conclusively identify it as yet. However, it looks like some kind of longhorn beetle so hopefully we will identify it when I am back in later on in the week.
All in all, it was a great weekend and was enjoyed by all. We would like to thank the 51 people who camped over in total over the course of the two nights. We hope to see you all on the reserve again soon!