Well, it turned out that Friday was definitely a day to be out on the reserve with lady luck on your side. Things started exceptionally well with a ringtail Montagu’s harrier flying west along the river which is a rare spring record indeed. Those of us who were in the office had to be contented with great views of a grass snake swimming across the visitor centre pond! This, of course was fantastic to see.
A kingfisher was feeding in the Fen pools near the visitor centre and there was plenty of bittern activity over New Fen North. The highest count was three birds flying together with another booming in the reedbed. Here is a picture of two of them courtesy of Tim James:
Photo credit: Tim James
Tim was also very lucky to get this lovely shot of the Brandon Fen ring ouzel:
The female wheatear was also still present in the same area.
Things than got really exciting when we received a report of a male red footed falcon feeding over New Fen North at lunch time. It spent some time over the first area of reedbed before joining at least 15 hobbys that were feeding over Joist Fen viewpoint. Here is a picture of this magnificent bird:
Sadly, it hasn’t been seen since Friday afternoon but let’s hope it reappears with the hobbys later on today or tomorrow in the warm sunshine. On a personal note, I am definitely hoping to see it as I have never seen one before and I started working here in October 2008. This was only around four months after a male and female “red foot” spent over two weeks here. I might as well admit that I am very jealous!
There was also an intriguing report of a Mediterranean gull over the washland that was feeding with a group of black headed gulls later in the afternoon. I headed down to Joist Fen viewpoint in the evening and saw several great bittern flights, probably involving the same bird. First, it flew from New Fen North into what we call New Fen North triangle. It then flew from there, right in front of Joist Fen viewpoint before landing near the bog oak.
There was plenty of crane activity and we saw two flights from single birds. This included the one legged individual. There was also a grasshopper warbler reeling between Joist Fen viewpoint and the riverbank.
It was really rather windy yesterday morning and I saw a bittern fly from Joist Fen into New Fen North. The poor bird was blown sideways as it ambled through the gap in the poplar woods! A female sparrowhawk dashed into Trial Wood and a treecreeper was singing in East Wood.
Later on in the day, the one legged crane was seen north of the river near Joist Fen viewpoint and two garganeys flew into New Fen North. There were around five hobbys pelting around the sky and a red kite flew over Joist Fen viewpoint. Several bearded tits were also seen in front of Joist Fen viewpoint. Some lucky visitors also saw a stoat running along the hard track alongside Trial Wood.
It was a beautiful evening yesterday once the wind had dropped. Over 100 swifts were hunting over Joist Fen viewpoint and a hobby was steaming around in the distance. I saw both of our resident male barn owls. One was hunting along the riverbank near Joist Fen viewpoint and the other was over the washland. What a great couple of days and lets hope our luck continues!