August 9 sightings: A good week for insects

Firstly, I would like to apologise for the lack of photos and hyperlinks in this mornings post. Hopefully the issue will be rectified soon! Our local cranes have been seen several times this week and a pair were seen from of Joist Fen viewpoint on Wednesday. Although our bitterns are coming to the end of their breeding season, they are still being seen regularly from both viewpoints. One was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint on Tuesday. I went for a walk in the fog yesterday morning and despite the fact that it was really rather cold, I could here plenty of bearded tits pinging in the reedbed. The largest groups could be found in New Fen North (the first area of reedbed) and just behind Joist Fen viewpoint. I didn't see a single marsh harrier but then again, I couldn't see more than ten metres in front of me so that wasn't that surprising! A green sandpiper flew over the visitor centre on Monday and a juvenile cuckoo flew over the visitor centre yesterday morning. One of our volunteers saw a barn owl from Joist Fen viewpoint and there were also four little egrets feeding in the pool in front of Joist Fen viewpoint. The "visitor centre kingfishers" continue to please the crowds and two were present for most of the morning on Wednesday. This week has been particularly good for insects and Suzanne saw a brown argus butterfly in Brandon Fen on Wednesday. An impressive red underwing moth was found near the visitor centre yesterday and I saw a small damselfly that could well have been a small red-eyed damselfly. This species is pretty scarce around here so I wish I had a better chance to take a look at it! We had a great bug hunting session yesterday lunchtime and as well as the usual grasshoppers, crickets and ladybirds, we found a very strange looking creature. As none of us could identify it, I potted it and bought it back to the visitor centre. A quick look in the book found that it was a female glow-worm which was really rather exciting! This species was only "re-discovered" on the reserve in early July so it was great to see that there are more of them around. Yesterday afternoon was also a great one for reptiles. I saw two grass snakes swimming across the visitor centre pond and there were four juvenile common lizards basking in the sun in the staff car park. I went for a walk in the rain this morning and saw a roe deer with a fawn scampering along the riverbank which was lovely to see. We hope to see you soon!