Hello to all of our supporters and thank you to those of you who have visited us in the past week. Your visits mean a lot to us- it is lovely to hear what you have seen during your walk, it really helps us when you spend a pound or two on refreshments or simply it's just good to know you have enjoyed the reserve and what it has to offer! Our aim here is to help people connect with wildlife and the history and story of the Fens and it is a lovely feeling when we manage it. To start with, here's some stunning photos sent in to us by a regular visitor of ours, Cheryl Closs, of a family group of bearded tits she encountered on a walk here this week:Photo: A mature male bird (hence his black 'beard' or moustache).
Photo: Going up the stem- a juvenile bearded tit (the chest and belly and head is a buff colour), a female (a cleaner white chest) and a male bird, likely to be a pair and their youngster. Photo credit: The male bird showing his second 'good side'!These wonderful little birds become easier to see in autumn and winter as their summer diet of insects switches to reed seeds. On colder, calm days, especially in the mornings, you stand a chance of seeing these if you follow the hard track from New Fen down to Joist Fen. They tend to flit across the path in roving groups similar to long-tailed tits, so keep an eye out in front of you or use the viewpoints at New Fen, Trial Wood or Joist Fen to get a little height and scan over the reedbed with binoculars. It's important also to know what they sound like, as their unique 'pinging' calls often tell you they are nearby even if you can't see them to start with. Get familiar by having a listen here: https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Panurus-biarmicus where there are several recordings.Elsewhere on the reserve, visitors have been enjoying the last hobbies of summer, which have been busy catching dragonflies on sunny days, either alone or in small family groups of an adult with one or two youngsters. In the next month or so they will leave us, but for now they are here decorating the skies. The dragonflies they are feeding on at the moment will be mostly southern hawker, migrant hawker, common darter and ruddy darter and if you visit on a warm day you should be able to spot these species along with willow emerald damselfly for at least another month or so. Today is very wet and windy but we are hoping next week will bring fairer weather again and we will see the dragonflies for a few more weeks!The Washland has been providing lots of interest with single garganey reported (last on 20 September) and up to five pintail (19 September) including at least one drake. Shoveler, teal, wigeon (twenty-two on 22 September) and gadwall are also present on the Washland and their numbers are increasing as we move through autumn- it is fascinating to watch the activity of the ducks from the Washland Viewpoint. Kingfisher have been seen regularly across the reserve and the river that passes in front of the Washland is an especially good place to look. Keep an eye out too for grey wagtail as they breed nearby and yellow wagtail in flight over the reserve (last reported on 20 September)- there is always a chance these will touch down on the Washes for a quick feed on insects before continuing on their migration south. Snipe are another highlight and numbers have been building, our last count was eleven birds on 19 September- look out for these tucked in the muddy, sedgy corners of the Washes. They do an awful lot of sleeping and resting so scan carefully through the mud to try to pick out their beautiful patterning, rather than looking for movement. When they do feed they push their long and sensitive bill into the mud and use it as a probe to detect tiny movements from invertebrates like worms which they then quickly snatch up and go looking for the next one. Ruff (three on 22 September), redshank, lapwing and oystercatcher should be up there too on most days.During spring and summer we don't really see marsh tits very often on the reserve, but it is getting to the time of year when they are more frequent on the bird feeders at the Visitor Centre, so look out for them on the trays underneath- they will quickly grab a seed to take away into a nearby bush to peck through- they don't linger at the feeders like the greenfinches, chaffinches, goldfinches and reed buntings do. If you stop by at the feeders, listen out for two very vocal birds in the scrub at the corners of the pond- water rail and Cetti's warbler- we've heard them a lot this week!A couple of visitors took this lovely photo of a stoat as they walk down to Joist Fen on 22 September- we seem to have a lot here as they are often seen by visitors. Other mammals to look out for at the moment include roe deer, muntjac deer and pipistrelle bats if you are here close to sunset- they are usually flying around the Visitor Centre or over the pond at the Centre on warmer evenings. Photo credit: Janet & Alan Loy.Our cranes have gone very quiet lately and most of our group of nine are now at the Ouse Washes, in a winter colony where they will remain until the Spring. You can sometimes see them feeding in fields from the balcony at the Welney WWT reserve so if you are visiting there in the coming weeks, keep an eye out for them. However, we still have two or sometimes three birds with us, which often fly into roost and are visible from Joist Fen. These were last spotted on 22nd September.Whilst we have had to close the reserve to visitors for the second half of today due to high winds, we hope the weather will improve from Sunday onwards, as the wind and rain subside and we should be dry for a few days! As a quick reminder of the facilities that are open here at RSPB Lakenheath, here's a quick guide:
Car Park, Mere Hide and Trails - open from dawn until dusk, daily
Accessible toilet - open from 9am to 5pm daily
Visitor Centre - closed, but our Welcome Point which is outside and COVID-secure, is staffed from 9am to 5pm daily
Refreshments - available in takeaway format from outside the Visitor Centre, 9am to 5pm dailyWe hope to see you on the reserve soon!With best wishes,Heidi Jones (Visitor Experience Officer, RSPB Lakenheath Fen)