Good morning. I have now returned from my week off and caught up with what I needed to catch up with so here are some recent sightings from where I left on on Sunday 18 November. I will start off though with an image of Brandon Fen looking rather frosty from that day that I haven't shared yet:
Image credit: David White
Sunday 18 November
I went up to the Washland viewpoint mid-afternoon and saw two stonechats. Shortly after I got back to the visitor centre, most of us managed to miss an otter which made a brief appearance in the visitor centre pond which was slightly frustrating!
Meanwhile, further down the reserve, the following was seen during the coordinated harrier account:
Monday 19 November
Volunteer John spent some time up at the Washland viewpoint and saw:
Thursday 22 November
A water rail was seen at the edge of the visitor centre pond and a female bullfinch was seen near the feeders behind the visitor centre. This is the first record of this species on the reserve this year so it is a welcome addition to the reserve year list!
Saturday 24 November
Volunteer John counted at least 118 whooper swans in front of the Washland viewpoint which is a good count for here.
Monday 26 November
There was plenty to see with 50 whooper swans in front of the Washland viewpoint and two goldcrests near the visitor centre.
There was also plenty to see over the far end of the reserve, including:
Tuesday 27 November
Suzanne and I went for a walk around the reserve before work and we saw the following:
A sparrowhawk flew over the visitor centre pond and a kestrel was perched up near the car park.We had a look from the Washland viewpoint and counted the swans. We got up to 83 whooper swans and two Bewick's swans which is a good count. A great white egret was also showing well from the viewpoint.
As the day went on, at least three different common buzzards were hunting near the visitor centre. I saw three different bitterns near Joist Fen viewpoint during the afternoon and a probable male hen harrier was seen in the same area.
Thursday 29 November
Suzanne counted at least 80 whooper swans from the Washland viewpoint first thing.
We hope to see you on the reserve soon!