While the weather this week hasn’t always been ideal for wildlife watching, we have had plenty of visitors on drier days, many of whom have been reporting their sightings to us after their visit and for this we are always very grateful!
On Friday we had another osprey sighted by one of our volunteers from Joist Fen- this could well be the same bird that visited us around a week ago, or a new bird stopping off her as part of the movement of ospreys south and east from their breeding grounds in Scotland and Wales. We are getting towards the end of this conveyor-belt of birds but we can perhaps expect sightings for another week or two.
It has felt very autumnal for most of this week, and this is reflected in the frequency of sightings of great white egrets- they are being seen more and more often- most days in fact- from either Joist Fen in flight, or feeding on the Hockwold Washes which you can view from the Washland Viewpoint. We had a new record for the year of seven birds on 21 August which beats our winter of 2019-20 record of six birds seen at once. Most days between one and three are spotted. If you do head up to the Washland, whilst our avocets seem to have flown the nest (literally!) we had a count of six black-tailed godwit, one ruff, one sand martin, six swifts and a green sandpiper up there this morning. Look out too for young marsh harriers learning to hunt, as well as little egret and growing numbers of shoveler, teal, gadwall and mallard. The river is a good place to look for kingfisher and the bushes bordering it harbour more and more stonechats as we move towards winter. Along with reed bunting and Cetti’s warbler, these three birds tend to be dotted all along the riverbank footpath and come here each autumn to winter with us.
Another sign of the changing seasons are puffball fungi- these are sprouting up along the footpaths around the Visitor Centre, Photography Station and New Fen- they love rich, damp organic soils and so they thrive here, and are an important food source for mammals like roe deer.
At the Visitor Centre, the feeders are getting more popular as the days shorten, and we have been getting occasional visits from our great spotted woodpecker. Greenfinch, reed bunting and marsh tit are some of the highlights to look for on the feeders, and do keep an eye further back as a kingfisher has been perching regularly above the pond and fishing from here.
In terms of insect life, the windy and wet weather put any hopes we had of setting the weekly moth trap, but a regular visitor of ours did send us in this beautiful photo of a Silver Y- a day flying migratory moth whose numbers increase through summer and into autumn:
Photo credit: A Silver Y moth, seen on the reserve and photographed by David Knowles On drier days we have seen plenty of red admiral, peacock, comma and small tortoiseshell butterflies as well as the odd large white and small white. These are really species we will see more of as we move towards autumn and they are joined on the wing by plenty of migrant hawker, brown hawker and emperor dragonflies. The migrant hawkers can often be found far from water, hunting smaller insects in sheltered patches of scrub and woodland. We are seeing increasing numbers of willow emerald damselflies- a good place to look for these is in the bushes between the Visitor Centre and the Photography Station. Red-eyed and common blue damselflies are still frequent sights on the sheltered pools at New Fen through to Joist Fen, so look out for these while we still have them.
Looking to the week ahead, the weather looks a lot drier and a bit warmer so it should be a good few days for insect sightings, and for the common lizards that decorate the Dragonfly Platform at the moment. These lizards are delighting visitors and the best time to look for them is early on in the day, while they are still basking in sunny spots, trying to warm up. Because of the time of year and the good level of water on the Washes, it will be worth a look during your visit at the waders up there too. Do let us know what you see by stopping by at the Visitor Centre before you go, by e-mailing us at lakenheath@rspb.org.uk, telephoning 01842 863400, or messaging us on Facebook (RSPB Lakenheath Fen) or Twitter (@RSPBLakenheath).
As a quick reminder of our current facilities, our trails and Car Park are open from dawn to dusk, whilst the Welcome Point and accessible toilet are open from 9am to 5pm every day. Mere Hide is still closed, but all other paths and Viewpoints are open for you to enjoy. With best wishes for the coming week, Heidi (Visitor Experience Officer, RSPB Lakenheath Fen).