Hello and welcome to the latest blog! Before we cover the usual wildlife sightings and happenings on the reserve, i'd like to announce on behalf of the reserve team (and the reserve itself!) that we have one successfully fledged Common crane chick! He, or she, is the juvenile of pair B2, our newer (and presumed younger) pair of cranes. So far, most of what we have seen of the young family has been via trail camera, and some of the best images are included below for your enjoyment! Photo credit: Our young Crane family- their youngster has a gingery, plainer head than the parents, but is nearly fully grown in these photos from July. Please ignore the date and time stamp- the camera was set up wrong- though the temperature was probably correct!For many weeks, we weren't sure what was going on, and both of our Crane pairs were being very secretive, as usual. Then, we began to see pairs of adult Cranes flying around the reserve together, which is the last thing we want to see- as it usually means any chicks or eggs have been lost. Crane parents are usually very attentive and will never leave their young unattended, so when one adult is caring for the brood, it frees up the other adult bird to go off and feed, preen and bathe, and generally do their own thing. Then, the 'off duty' adult returns after a few hours and the birds swap duties. So when we see two adults flying around together, it usually means they have no young to care for. During June it became clear that pair A2 had lost whatever young they had, but there was no sign at all of B2. However, they'd been VERY sneaky and evaded our crane expert Norman's long watches, the work parties, bittern surveyors, and all of the trail cameras. So, our warden Emma moved the cameras and it caught the wonderful photos above- at this stage the chick is around 11 weeks old. Fast forward a month, and we now know this chick can fly capably and so it is as safe as it can be- especially with its parents taking good care of it all autumn and winter, as should happen.Although we will try to locate the nest sites of both pairs, we will probably never know why we presumably started out with four young (two per pair) and ended with just one. The reason is most likely to be predation by a Fox, as we believe the young were OK until at least 6-7 weeks old- as both pairs were behaving as if they had young to care for, even A2. At this age, they are too big for a Marsh harrier, Stoat or Weasel to predate, leaving only the fox as a viable threat. But, we'll never know for sure- the loss of up to three chicks could have been illness, and even up to one in each pair may never have hatched in the first place. This is one of the reasons we will try to check the vacant nest sites in due course.Recent SightingsAs I write this, a Kingfisher has been showing well on the Visitor Centre pond several times today (3 August). It likes to perch in the overhanging willows and reedbed edges, peering into the pond. We also have good numbers of juvenile Marsh harriers on the wing now, which can be told apart from their parents by their richer orange heads and chocolate-coloured bodies (this second feature is similar to females, but more uniform and usually darker in youngsters). They can also be clumsy and noisy, as they learn to fly and beg their parents for extra food! Most of the reserve's Marsh harriers nests seem to have two fledglings, but a pair who nested in reeds near the Wilton Bridge (the road bridge that crosses the river Little Ouse to the north of Brandon Fen) have three, and one of them is a frequent sight flying over the Washland to the west. Also on the Washland yesterday (2 August) was one Oystercatcher, around 150 Lapwing, 20 Shoveler, 10 Teal, 30 Gadwall, one Great crested grebe, 110 Black-headed gulls, 32 Mute swan, 7 Little egret and 4 Great white egret. The day before, we began August with one drake Pochard and 150 Mallard joining them. All these Washland bird records come from our devoted regular birder Paul who comes in early most mornings each week to tell us what he has seen.Elsewhere on the reserve, summer migrants like Swift, Swallow and House martin are here in good numbers, especially on warm and sunny days. There's still plenty of Reed and Sedge warblers singing from within the reedbeds, their tunes punctuated by outbursts from our resident Cetti's warblers, who will keep us company all year round. At our bird feeders, we are recieving regular (but separate) visits from two juvenile and an adult female Great spotted woodpecker, as well as a few Greenfinches. A cast of commoner birds such as Coal tits, Blue tits, Great tits and Goldfinches mean there is always plenty going on, with Collared dove, Blackbird, Robin and Dunnock hoovering up the spilt food! A lovely little Short-tailed vole (a.k.a. Field vole) regularly scampers along the decking if there are no visitors close by. Other non-bird highlights regularly seen include Muntjac deer (in any wooden area) and Common lizards basking on the raised beds opposite the Visitor Centre.Non-wildlife happenings on the reserveAs some readers of this blog may be aware, we had our annual Big Wild Sleepout last weekend (29-30 July) and we are glad to be able to say that it seems to have been a big success- we were fully booked and those that attended seemed to enjoy the variety of activities we arranged, including pond-dipping, bug-hunting, guided walks and more creative sessions to make and take home bee drinkers, pots of wildflowers and mini bug hotels. Thanks to the hard work of our volunteer and staff team both in the lead-up and during the event, it meant we were well prepared and had many pairs of hands free to help with whatever was needed. Our work party volunteer Phil mowed the campsite; wardens Emma and Katherine prepared the camp-fire with firewood, seating and a water supply. And a handful more volunteers helped out during the event with all the activities, and even helped tidy up! Where would we be without them?!We now look to our next big event, the Race for Wildlife (Sunday 15 October, 11am-2pm). Tickets are selling well so please do book your place sooner if you can to avoid disappointment. Until then we will have monthly guided moth trap mornings and pond-dipping sessions, as usual, and places for all events can be booked here.With best wishes for the week ahead,Heidi Jones (Visitor Experience Officer, RSPB Lakenheath Fen).