Well as I write today's blog I can see that the feeders in front of the Visitor Centre are a hive of activity, with a non-stop stream of visiting birds, the commonest of which are blue tits and great tits but two male greenfinch, plenty of coal tits, a couple of marsh tit and a few reed bunting are visiting regularly too. In the cold snap of last week we had a regular male brambling, but he seems only to visit when it is really cold and icy- we tend not to see him in milder spells. We recently started to put out peanuts and it only took three days for a female great spotted woodpecker to find them so do look out for her if you visit the reserve in the coming days. She is very shy so you may need to look using binoculars and from a distance, before she spooks and flies off. Chaffinches, goldfinches and the odd feisty robin have been joining in the medley too.

Yesterday- 11 December- I filled up the Photo Station feeders and put peanuts in all the drilled holes on the feeder trees so in the next day or two it will be worth stopping to look here for tits and woodpeckers trying to prise out peanuts one at a time! Underneath these feeders you will often see pheasants and sometimes water rail too, especially on cold days. Suzanne, our administrator, had an early-morning walk on 9 December and saw a bittern flying along the river by the Wilton Bridge, which is the latest in a string of sightings of bittern in this area, nearly all of which are early in the morning too. She ended up with a hat trick of lovely birds after spotting our regular juvenile buzzard on the ground, likely feeding on worms, in the meadow on Brandon Fen and a barn owl in flight too. We should start to see more of our barn owls in the colder, shorter days of winter and Brandon Fen has always been a hotspot for them with several breeding pairs in the area. Smaller birds like redwing, fieldfare, treecreeper and redpoll have been seen regularly this week in Brandon Fen too, and look out for goldcrests in the conifers, often with mixed tit flocks.

Joist Fen continues to be reliable for bittern and bearded tit and I had a lovely walk in from Botany Bay on 5 December, heading east towards Joist Fen along the riverbank footpath and we saw a small group of bearded tits just south of the footpath, plus 100+ lapwing feeding on the fields north of the river, three great white egrets, four little egret and one bittern in flight once we sat at the viewpoint. You may see a great white egret with a leg ring on the reserve and please let us know if you do- he or she has been nicknamed 'Elena' and is from Lithuania, where she was ringed on 31 May 2020 as a chick and stopped off in The Netherlands and at Abberton reservoir in Essex on it's way here. The leg ring (PA34) tells us the birds' story, when otherwise we'd have no idea where this individual had come from, so please do report your sightings of Elena as it'd be interesting to know how long he or she stays here!

Returning closer to the Visitor Centre, the Washland has been quite quiet although one of our volunteers spotted two shelduck up there this morning (11 December) and we have had one yellow-legged gull frequently seen in with the lesser black-backed gulls and black-headed gulls too, and it is always worth watching the wet edges for snipe and water pipit, and the riverbank vegetation for stonechat, reed bunting and Cetti's warbler which have been seen most days. Visiting after dusk (05:00 onwards) or getting here early in the morning, before 07:00, should reward you with hundreds of whooper swans coming in to roost on the Washland, calling noisily and drifting down in white streams as they land on the water. It's a beautiful sight even in the half-light and the sound they make more than makes up for what you can't see clearly. 

In the coming week on the reserve we have the Environment Agency here, working on some riverbank maintenance between New Fen and Botany Bay, so you may see a bit of activity up there on weekdays, but it will help to keep the flood defences intact and we should receive a few sapling trees to use on the reserve which the Environment Agency kindly donate to us too- we will use these in East, West or Trial Wood to increase the diversity and age profile of trees in those former poplar plantations. You may also see machinery working in various reedbed locations too, especially New Fen South- the area south of the hard track at Joist Fen- mainly a reed cutting machine which is helping us create ideal habitat for our cranes next year. Here's a photo of our lovely digger driver Pat hard at work for the cranes:

  Photo credit: Katherine Puttick, 11 December 2020, showing Pat working in New Fen South reedbed.

And to top it off, our lovely volunteers, and warden Emma, have spent the last two weekends replacing the viewpoint roof at Joist Fen with plyboard and roofing felt- which should be a lot more durable and weather-resistant than the old reed-thatch. New Fen Viewpoint roof was completed a couple of weeks ago but the gang finished the viewpoint at Joist Fen on 5 December. Social distancing allows for only three team members on the roof at once, but they made it work and we are very proud of what they have achieved, regardless of COVID and the restraints it places on work parties sometimes!

As usual, we appreciate hearing about all your sightings and do let us know what you have seen before you go, or via Facebook (RSPB Lakenheath Fen) or Twitter (@RSPBLakenheath), or by phoning us on 01842 863400. Our Visitor Centre is now open again, using a one-way system of one household at a time through the building:

-    Visitor Centre and accessible toilet open 09:00 to 17:00 on weekdays and 09:00 to 16:00 at the weekend.

-    Takeaway refreshments available during these hours from the Visitor Centre.

-    Visitor Car Park, all trails, all viewpoints and Mere Hide are open from dawn until dusk daily.

Hope to see you soon on the reserve!

Best wishes for a happy weekend,

Heidi Jones (Visitor Experience Officer, RSPB Lakenheath Fen).