Yesterday was definitely a day for the "fishermen" of the bird world. Things started well with one of our regular "visitor centre" kingfishers making regular visitors to the visitor centre pond. It was so lovely to admire such a colourful bird at such close quarters. Things got even more excited at lunch time when an osprey was seen from New Fen viewpoint. Here is a photo of one of these awesome raptors:
Image credit: Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)
What was originally thought to be the same bird was then seen fishing in front of the washland viewpoint shortly after. Dave even got some photos of it, so hopefully they will follow soon. Dave then very kindly let the rest of the staff know (including myself) which was very kind. I just happened to be on the way home from a day out and as quick as a flash, I arrived at the reserve with my parents in tow.............
We headed straight to the washland viewpoint and were immediately presented with a good sign: a flock of around 120 lapwings taking to the air right in front of us. This is usually a sign that there is a large raptor in the area. Sure enough, when we looked west along the river, there was not one but two large raptors patrolling the skies over the river and the washland. As they came closer, it became apparent that they were both ospreys!
One eventually started circling over New Fen North and the other came straight towards us. We were then treated to fantastic views of the closer bird fishing in the washland pool for at least 10 minutes. We got good enough views of it to see that it was a juvenile as it was quite barred in places. It eventually gained height and headed off south east over Brandon Fen and was lost to view. Needless to say, these fantastic views put massive smiles on all of our faces!
I went and had a look for them this morning but sadly, I couldn't see either. Presumably they had already moved on and continued on the migratory journey down to West Africa for the winter. There was a very autumnal feel to this morning and the dew revealed hundreds of spider's webs:
Image credits: David White
There was also a female common darter on the look out for an early meal:
There were also at least five little grebes on the washland along with three wigeons. A chiffchaff was singing in the staff car park and a willow warbler was singing in the big willow near the visitor centre. Its a lovely day today so why not come and visit? We hope to seen you soon!
How fantastic for you all - looks like a male osprey on the beautiful photo. I can never get enough of watching them.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.