Good morning. Suddenly, it is feeling really rather autumnal on the reserve. The sightings from the last couple of days have reflected that, so without any further ado, here they are:
I went up to the Washland viewpoint mid-afternoon on Thursday and counted at least 350 lapwings in the afternoon sunshine. There were also three redshanks feeding in a typically energetic fashion nearby.
It was really rather foggy first thing yesterday morning so the visibility was pretty poor for my early morning walk around the reserve. Despite the visibility, there were plenty of birds on the move. Good numbers of redwings were calling overhead and at least one redpoll flew south over East Wood. A small group of bramblings were feeding in East Wood and a little egret was feeding in the gloom in front of New Fen Viewpoint.
As I walked back through the reserve, a treecreeper was singing in East Wood and several song thrushes flew over. A kingfisher also made a brief appearance at the edge of the visitor centre pond.
Once the fog had lifted, two grey wagtails were feeding at the edge of the visitor centre pond and a common buzzard was soaring over the visitor centre. Volunteer Pete went up to the Washland viewpoint shortly after lunch. He saw a male wigeon and 62 teals. He was also pretty sure that he could hear some whooper swans calling nearby.
Meanwhile, further down the reserve, a bittern was seen in flight from Joist Fen viewpoint. One kingfisher was seen from New Fen Viewpoint and another was seen along the riverbank. At least one stonechat also seen in the same area.
This morning, at least three goldcrests were feeding at the edge of the car park. I took a couple of pictures of Brandon Fen looking rather autumnal:
Image credits: David White
A redpoll and a yellowhammer flew south over the grazing marsh. A skylark was singing its beautiful song high over the washland. A water pipit flew up near the Washland viewpoint and a couple of waders were present in front of the viewpoint. This included around a dozen lapwings, a redshank and dunlin in winter plumage.
Shortly after we opened up the visitor centre, a green woodpecker was feeding on the lawn and a kingfisher made a brief appearance at the edge of the pond. Two grey wagtails were also feeding on the floating vegetation on the pond.
We hope to see you soon!