Yesterday was certainly a day to be remembered yesterday. Although it was really rather frosty first thing, the sun shone for most of the days and by the afternoon, it was really rather warm.
There was plenty to be seen on the reserve. The early bird (ers) and photographers saw two cranes and our first cuckoo of the year from Joist Fen viewpoint. I went out for a walk around the new trail off of the Brandon Fen family trail and had a superb view of a male barn owl hunting over the riverbank. While I was watching it, I was being serenaded by the beautiful song of a male blackcap in Brandon Fen. It rarely gets any better than that as far as I am concerned.
There was a noticeable arrival of warblers as well and the creaky song of several reed warblers could be heard from the reedbed. To compliment this, the scratchy, hyperactive song of good numbers of sedge warblers could also be heard. My personal highlight though had to be several common whitethroats that I encountered singing right from the top of bushes. I have said it before but they remind me of myself: Loud, excitable and conspicuous!
Roy re-found the male garganey on the washland. It must have been sheltering from the wind for the last week or two. Perhaps the most unusual report of the day was of two whinchats on the riverbank north of East Wood. These charming little birds are now becoming really rather scarce in southern Britain unfortunately. There were three hobbys over Joist Fen viewpoint and our first grasshopper warbler of the year was heard singing at the west end of the reserve.
There were several bitterns booming on the reserve including one in front of Joist Fen viewpoint. There was plenty of marsh harrier activity at Joist Fen viewpoint and several bearded tits were seen from New Fen viewpoint.
I went out for a walk with a mixture of colleagues, Lakenheath Fen volunteers and Fen Drayton Lakes’ volunteers in the afternoon. A muntjac deer ran in front of us as we walked around the new trail and there were plenty of butterflies on the wing. This included some beautifully bright brimstones and also:
Plenty of peacocks:
Photo credit: Katherine Puttick
And even more small tortoiseshells:
Photo credit: David White
When we got to New Fen viewpoint, we were treated to the lovely sight of a pair of coots with three young. They were great fun to watch as they bobbed around the water. Several reed buntings were showing themselves well and a few lucky members of the group saw a short flight from a bittern. We all retreated back to the visitor centre for a well-deserved and enjoyable ice cream. I think we could all do with more days like this, thank you very much! We hope to see you soon.