Hello and welcome to this weeks’ blog. The annual Big Garden Birdwatch is fast approaching (29-31 January) and for many wildlife enthusiasts and their families it will represent a small piece of normality- something to do which doesn’t need to be affected by Coronavirus and it’s far-reaching effects on our lives. For those of our visitors not familiar with the survey, if you have a garden or a green space viewable from a window, and can pull up in a comfortable chair with a pen and paper for an hour over the last weekend in January, you can take part! For me, it is always a welcome opportunity to sit down and take a little while to do nothing more than admire the beautiful birds that grace my garden. So far today I have had plenty of goldfinches visiting, a greenfinch, a robin, blackbird, several dunnocks and- to my joy- two lesser redpoll- a male and a female- tagging along with the goldfinches. A first for my garden and I am thrilled to bits with them! The first time you do the Big Garden Birdwatch, you might be surprised by the variety of species that do visit your garden as soon as you stop to take time to observe them. I remember the first time I did it, I had no idea long-tailed tits passed through my garden until then!
To find out more about how to take part, and to register, please visit: https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/
We will be taking part and sending in our results at RSPB Lakenheath Fen. In a normal year, we would be inviting you to do so with us, but this year- given that we are all required to stay at home unless for essential trips- we would ask that you do the survey from your own garden.
It is a little tricky to write about sightings on the reserve given that we have so many fewer visitors to report them to us, but what I can mention is what our staff have seen during their movements across the reserve in their daily work. Yesterday morning (15 January) the grazing area in Brandon Fen (which is currently occupied by a few sheep) produced a single cattle egret in the company of a little egret. This follows a report of one at the river edge at Joist Fen on 11 January, likely to be the same bird. We are beginning to see one or two sightings per year as these beautiful exotic birds become more common in the local area- our last one was here from 13 to 16 August 2020 and it could well be the same bird. The young buzzard who fledged from a nest high in the poplars on the entrance track is still seen daily in the trees either side of the track, especially in the mornings- I tend to see him perched up keeping a close eye on the ground (possibly for earthworms and insects) when I arrive. Keeping him company on occasion are a few deer- up to ten roe deer and one or two muntjac, moving through the trees as they browse the vegetation.
Back at the Visitor Centre, our bird feeders have been full of long-tailed tits (with a party numbering at least fifteen on 15 January) and a male and female great spotted woodpecker being highlights. Also visiting are one or two siskin on occasion, with regular marsh tit, blue tit, great tit, coal tit, chaffinch, reed bunting, dunnock, robin and blackbird, plus a pheasant or two in the clearing-up brigade! On 9 January it was a very cold and frosty morning and whilst I was filling the bird feeders I was lucky enough to glimpse the water rail that frequents the Photography Station feeders, picking up spilt seed from the birds above, so he/she is still visiting regularly.
Photo credit: A couple of images of a frosty start on 9 January at the reserve. Taken by Heidi Jones near the Photography Station.
As far as we know, our male and female hen harrier are still roosting in Joist Fen- every now and then we are at that end of the reserve at dusk and see them flying it to roost with lots of marsh harriers. Little egret, great white egret and grey heron are frequent overhead as they fly from their daytime fishing spots into roost, and sometimes we see barn owl hunting over the river or north of the reserve over Cowles Drove- farmland that has always been popular with them. When I left from a visit on 3 January, dark had fallen as I reached my car but I could hear a barn owl screeching from within the entrance track woods, likely to be one of the birds often seen in Brandon Fen. Last night when I left the reserve (14 January) I could hear the haunting calls of whooper swans drifting down onto the Washland into roost, and I spent five minutes just listening to them, soaking up that beautiful sound and taking comfort in the fact that the natural world lives on with as much enthusiasm as ever, despite whatever changes or difficulties us humans are facing at the moment.
Redwing and fieldfare continue to pass through, often high above and calling as they go, and siskins can be seen mixing with the goldfinches and flying in circuits together between the car park and the Visitor Centre. I am hoping next week to set our first moth trap of 2021 at the reserve, if we get a dry and calm night, so watch this space for images of the haul! Photographic evidence will hopefully feature in next weeks’ blog.
A couple of pieces of positive news that I think I ought to mention- the first is that we are permitted to carry out our monthly winter WeBS counts on the reserve under lockdown. For those not familiar, ‘WeBS’ stands for Wetland Bird Survey and our staff will be outside, come rain or shine, counting wetland birds on the reserve once a month on a Sunday morning. These surveys were devised by the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) and are crucial for helping us build a picture of the variety and number of wetland species using the reserve. They also help to inform future management plans, so we are very grateful that they are considered COVID-safe and that we can continue doing them. If you want to read more about WeBS counts you can do so here: https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/wetland-bird-survey
The second thing is that we have been putting together a provisional plan for events and children’s activities for late spring and summer, in the hope that by the end of March we can hold some events for our visitors- again, it is a case of ‘watch this space’ because although we don’t know what restrictions we will be living under then in Suffolk, we have a plan of action if government guidance allows!
Lastly, we would like to thank all of our visitors for their patience, understanding and compliance with the current COVID restrictions and what they mean for our facilities. We have been very quiet in terms of visitor numbers this week, and while in normal times this is not what we want, it is the right situation to be in at the moment, so thank you for those of you that no matter how much you miss visiting, have stayed at home instead. We look forward to welcoming you back to the Fen once restrictions are lifted!
With best wishes, Heidi Jones (Visitor Experience Officer, RSPB Lakenheath Fen).
Thanks for your kind comment, it is a pleasure to write them and an honour to be able to still visit the reserve for work. There should be a new blog coming out later today!
Thanks for these updates. This is for me (and many others, I'm sure) the next best thing to visiting my favourite reserve.