Hello and welcome to the latest blog. It's been a good few weeks since the last one, regrettably, as various other projects and tasks have got in the way. But, there's plenty to see on the reserve at the moment- we have a wealth of butterflies and dragonflies flitting about along the trails, Kingfishers being more often seen now at Mere Hide, and there's still a handful of Hobbies about. Recent rain has helped encourage out Purple loosestrife, Yellow loosestrife, Marsh woundwort in wetter places, whilst Dove's-foot cranesbill and Viper's bugloss thrive in dry and sunny spots, such as at the edge of paths and in the sandy meadow in Brandon Fen.A lot of our visitors arrive hoping to see a Bittern, and now is a good time of year to try to spot one, as females are busy flying around collecting food for their hungry growing youngsters (they have between one and three chicks). We will soon begin to see young Bitterns fledging the nest, when they will be more obvious as they learn to fly, land and follow Mum to beg for food in a much larger world than they have known until now. These two beautiful photographs were taken from Mere Hide in May, by Roger Collorick: Photo credit: A beautiful bittern sneaking around Mere Hide, by Roger Collorick, in May 2023.As well as Bitterns, Mere Hide has proved productive for sightings of Kingfisher and Great crested grebes too: Photo credit: A lovely couple of Kingfisher shots, and a Great crested grebe family, from Mere Hide recently. Photos by Roger Collorick.Mere Hide is a very popular destination at the moment, even for visitors coming a good distance to visit the reserve. However, seating is limited (the hide comfortably seats 10) and we know some visitors, especially photographers, like to arrive very early in the morning and spend a few hours watching and waiting for kingfishers in particular. This is very welcome, and we encourage visitors to linger and be patient when looking for wildlife, but we'd like to put a gentle request out for visitors to give up their seats and their space in the hide if the hide is full and new visitors can't get a seat, and if they have been there for more than an hour already. This is because we want Mere Hide, like other features on the reserve, to be enjoyed by as many visitors as possible. If you have any queries about this, please get in touch with us using our details at the bottom of this blog. In June, warden Emma and I installed some extra kingfisher perches as not only had a couple of old ones collapsed over time, but the water level was too high for most of the remaining ones to be used by the birds as perches.Another popular target species is Hobby- and whilst we don't have the high numbers of May/early June, it is still likely that you will see several birds hunting across the reserve on fair weather days. They will be looking to catch dragonflies, butterflies, beetles and other large insects, as well as small birds like Swallows and House martins if the chance arises. Hobbies do nest on the reserve, usually well away from visitor trails (they are quite shy) and near the top of the tallest trees, like our poplars.Whilst most summer migrant birds that visit us will be here for a while yet, Cuckoos are already in the process of leaving us- as males leave almost as soon as they have mated with all the females. It's less likely you will hear one on a walk round now, but one was spotted yesterday (1 July) which is more likely to have been a female, as they stay a little later whilst they finish laying all their eggs in the nests of their 'host' species. This is usually the nest of a Sedge warbler or Reed warbler in a reedbed habitat like ours, but Dunnock and Meadow pipit are very popular species in the wider countryside.Up on the Washland, our volunteer Paul does a regular count for us and on 30 June he recorded 62 Coot, 14 Gadwall, 70 Mallard, 1 Oystercatcher, 3 Great crested grebes and 43 Mute swans. As well as these waterbirds, Stonechat is very often reported from the bankside scrub on the edge of the Washland footpath, and we have several pairs breeding along the riverbank. Great white egret and Little egret are also frequently to be found on the Washland and there was one of each up there on 28 June, and a Great white egret was spotted from Joist Fen Viewpoint earlier today too (2 July).Our Marsh harriers are busy gathering food to feed their hungry youngsters, and can often be spotting quartering the reedbeds at New Fen and Joist Fen. Other raptors now seen on an almost daily basis overhead include Common buzzard and Kestrel (especially around Brandon Fen), Red kite and Sparrowhawk. In the past week, a Barn owl has been spotted near Joist Fen Viewpoint, along with a Spotted flycatcher, which was seen perched on a dead twig in an Elder bush, using it as a spot to hunt flies from! We've also had a Barn owl reported around the Visitor Centre and along the entrance track at dusk too in the past week.Insect lifeAs well as all of these beautiful birds, there's a wealth of dragonflies on the wing now too- Four-spotted chaser, Southern hawker, Black-tailed skimmer and Scarce chaser are very common. Blue-tailed, Common blue and Azure damselflies are plentiful and the first Ruddy darters are out now too. In total this year so far, we've recorded 14 species, with the most recent being Emerald damselfly on 23 June. Butterfly numbers are even higher, with 17 species at the moment:
As well as these jewels flying around, we've also recorded some interesting moths recently- on 29 June, the work party found three Scarlet tiger moths in Botany Bay- this is a species which we first recorded here last year, by Shaun Collier on 23 June. Back then, ours was only the second record for Suffolk in decades, and yet a year later we find ourselves with three! It looks like they are breeding here, which is fantastic news.
Photo credit: Scarlet tiger moth by Katherine Puttick
As well as this, another rare moth was discovered recently on the reserve- the Dusky clearwing. Following a flurry of discoveries in East Anglia recently, members of the Suffolk moth group decided to try out a pheromone lure to check if the species was present here- and it was- along with a Red-tipped clearwing, two were attracted on 24 June. With most of the clearwing moths, the only way to find out if they are present is to use synthetic versions of the pheromones that are emitted from female moths, to attract male moths. For a short time, the males are distracted and come down from the trees and bushes. Different pheromones attract different species, but some species come to the same lure. Here's a photo of a Dusky clearwing from a previous event- the photo has been kindly shared with us by Neil Sherman, the County Recorder for Suffolk.
Photo credit: A Dusky clearwing moth by Neil Sherman.These mysterious moths are more common than we thanks- over the years we have now recorded five species- Red-belted, Six-belted, Hornet and now Dusky and Red-tipped- thanks largely to the use of pheromones.
One visitor enjoyed watching a Common lizard basking on the Dragonfly Platform this morning (2 July)- other places to look for these include the raised Breckland plant bed and the boardwalk to Mere Hide too.Upcoming EventsOur Big Wild Sleepout is fast approaching (29-30 July) and we have 9 spaces left- it has booked up quite quickly this year so if you are aware of anyone who was keen to attend, please encourage them to book up soon, by clicking here or visiting our general events page at https://bit.ly/LakenheathFenEvents. Over the weekend, we are planning to have volunteers from Breckland Astronomy Society here to show us our way around the night sky, as well as bug-hunting, pond-dipping and the chance to make a bug hotel, bee drinker and to sow some wildflowers for families to take home with them. We'll also have guided walks on offer (with bat detectors!). Included in the booking price is everything- from pitch fees, access to all activities, breakfast in the morning and general reserve entry fees.Later on we have our Race for Wildlife (Sunday 15 October). If you haven't heard of this event before, it's a unique opportunity for sporty wildlife lovers to run either a 5k or 10k route around the reserve, to raise money for us. Both routes take in the full range of habitats we have here, and there's a good chance of seeing some of our special wildlife on the way. We haven't held this event since 2019, so after a long hiatus that was mostly COVID-related, we're really pleased to be going ahead this year. On the day, there's always a lovely atmosphere, and we'll have plenty of marshals dotted around the trails to direct runners along their routes. We have a couple of water stations, secure baggage storage, ample free parking and a homemade cake stall at the end! Plus, family and friends are welcome to cheer runners on. Every finisher gets a medal, and tickets cost £15 for adults and £7.50 for Under 16's. Please spread the word about this great event with anyone you know who might be interested in racing for wildlife- as all the profits from ticket sales go into funding conservation here at Lakenheath Fen. Bookings can be made on the event's page here or by clicking on this link https://bit.ly/RaceforWildlife_2023. I hope this blog has been useful, and as usual if you have any questions, please get in touch with us in person or by phone (01842 863400) or via e-mail at lakenheath@rspb.org.uk. We are always grateful to receive your sightings from the reserve, which we can record ourselves and also pass on to future visitors.With best wishes for the week ahead,Heidi Jones (Visitor Experience Officer, RSPB Lakenheath Fen).