When I was growing up, my favourite colour was indeed blue. I think it was mainly because my favourite "character" Thomas the tank engine was that colour. I still so love the colour blue and when I got into bird watching a couple of years after I discovered Thomas and his friends, I found that there were a range of pretty blue birds that could be seen in this country. Inevitably, the kingfisher was always the one that jumped out at me. I didn't actually get a good view of one until September 2005 when I visited RSPB Leighton Moss with my parents. As I don't own a camera with a big lens, I never thought I would manage to get a photo of one. That was until last Saturday, when our friendly visitor centre kingfisher was posing on top of the visitor centre feeders! These aren't great, as they were taken through the window but I don't think I will ever get better!:
And here it is eyeing up a goldfinch:
Image credits: David White
I have also been trying to learn our resident dragonflies and damselflies this year and of course, they are also very colourful indeed! I photographed this beautiful common blue damselfly yesterday morning (which, of course is resplendent in blue and black):
Image credit: David White
I went for a walk this morning and was very pleased to see two kingfishers feeding in front of New Fen viewpoint. There were also two jays harassing something in East Wood. Judging by the cacophony of sound coming from the wood, I am pretty sure it was a tawny owl. As I walked back towards the visitor centre, there was a very well camouflaged roe deer in East wood which I had to identify by the shape of its ears!
In other news, there have been several sightings of cranes this week. We saw three just beyond Joist Fen viewpoint on Sunday and five were seen north of the river yesterday. Bitterns continue to be seen regularly from both New Fen and Joist Fen viewpoints and there were several bearded tits in front of New Fen viewpoint this morning. At least one hobby can still be seen tearing around the sky near Joist Fen viewpoint and a crossbill flew over the visitor centre on Sunday afternoon.
If you are planning to visit this weekend, we have our regular FREE Saturday saunter guided walk tomorrow and a Children's walk and pond dipping session on Sunday. Details of how to book places can be found by clicking the link above. We hope to see you soon!