We are now five days into 2024 and we have made a good start with our bird list, which now stands at 45 species. You can see the full and current list if you wish to- attached as a pdf file at the bottom of this blog. As usual, because of our rural location and wetland nature, it’s a few days before we spot all of the commoner ‘garden birds’ which many of us many have seen on 1st January without much difficulty! We still need Dunnock, Collared dove and Goldcrest but it shouldn’t be long before someone finds these. On the other hand, we’ve made a good start with our reedbed specialists with Bearded tits being heard in numerous places by yesterday’s work party (4 January). Yesterday also saw our second Bittern record, after the first on 2 January. The lucky folk who saw this first Bittern also saw five Common cranes from Joist Fen Viewpoint, as well as eight Marsh harriers (presumably at roosting time, when numbers build on the reserve build prior to them settling into the reedbeds to roost). The sighting of the Cranes follows a recent pattern of either two, three or five birds being seen every week or two in random spots across our landholding, including on and near the new land at Cowles Drove. The visiting birds are quite likely to be our regular breeders- either Pair A2, Pair B2 (with their fully-grown juvenile from 2023 in tow) or the five together, as in winter they lose their territoriality and can be quite sociable. On 20 December, regular visitor Ron Smith got these photos of what is likely to be the B2 family during one of their occasional visits here: Photo credit: A crane family (likely B2 with their 2023 fledgling) on the reserve on 20 December 2023. The juvenile features in most of these photographs and can be identified by his or her much duller, plainer head markings. Just a hint of the adult plumage on the head is now showing through. One spectacle that has become apparent already this year is that watching for harriers from Joist Fen viewpoint at dusk is worth a go- especially if the weather is dry, and a little wind will only help matters too. The communal winter roosting of Marsh harriers in quiet reedbeds is a sociable affair and if the weather allows, the birds will take some time to settle and beforehand there will be much flying around, chasing, weak skydiving and interaction between rival males and potential breeding pairs. It’s the very first stages in courtship and some pairs may be re-acquainting themselves with each other, or perhaps young males could be attempting courtship for the first time. It’s nothing like the serious stuff we see in Spring once birds have dispersed to their breeding grounds, but the harriers certainly seem to ‘make a start’ at this time of year. If you go down to see them, do bring a torch if you have one as part of your return walk to the car could be in the dark! Whilst looking (birds will be coming in from all directions) it’s worth keeping an eye out for Hen harrier too. When looking for these, both sexes are smaller than Marsh harriers and adult males are very conspicuous, with a pale grey body (appearing almost white) and black wingtips. Females and young males are collectively known as ‘ringtails’ as a close look and in good light you’ll see distinct black barring along the tail. At a distance, though, a bright white rump is distinctive. The reedbeds are an attractive roost site for many species, including small birds like Blue tit and Reed bunting. For this reason it’s worth keeping an eye out too for the petite Merlin (roughly Collared dove sized), Peregrine and Sparrowhawk which may be attracted by the chance of a late meal. Whilst water levels are high across the reserve, including the Washland, small numbers of Shoveler, Mallard, Teal and Gadwall may be seen during the day, with up to three Great white egrets and two Little egrets around the muddy edges of the flood or the river. The Washland is the site of our first Kingfisher record of 2024, when one was seen fishing at the edge of the water. Little grebe have also been recorded in the river itself, with Stonechat relatively easy to spot as they perch atop thin twigs and scrub along the riverbank. They like high spots and male birds will ‘flick’ their wings at regular intervals at times, much like a wagtail ‘bobs’. Water pipit are also regular and will fly slowly up and around in a loop from small puddles, calling, only to settle back down again often close to where they started. When the river overspills onto the lower bank in winter, it encourages the pipits closer to the path and so they are an easy spot in winter on the reserve. As I write this, our Friday morning volunteer Roy has just popped into the office to mention that he and Roger have found a Chaffinch and a Marsh tit using the feeders- so there’s two more species for today already. I wonder what’s next? Other news from the reserve Work parties this week have been focussed mainly on finishing scrub removal from Botany Bay and Norfolk Fen (to maintain the reedbed habitat there) for the upcoming breeding season. Conditions on the new land on Cowles Drove are very wet but the good news is that work south of the drove road was finished just before Christmas, where three dams and seven culvert pipes have been created and installed. The effect of this is that previously dry arable ditches are now wet, creating habitat for wetland wildlife and helping to raise the water table in the fields. This will hopefully encourage breeding waders like Redshank and Lapwing in the future. A large part of the land purchase was a big field north of the drove road and an excavator there is working on the ditches as we speak. Our Site Manager Dave paid a visit to check on progress recently and got the truck stuck in the mud! Here’s some photos for your amusement: It wasn’t long before he was rescued, thankfully! Dave says on most visits there he sees several Brown hare in the fields, with Great white egret and Little egret in the ditches and a small gang of Pied wagtails and Starlings follow the excavator keenly when it is working. We are also in the process of making available a lovely pair of binoculars who have been very generously donated to us by someone in memory of their late friend Kathy Martin, who loved the reserve. A plaque is being made by A&J engravers in Brandon and we hope that a handy volunteer of ours will be able to make a small shelf to display them. The binoculars will be kept behind the welcome desk and available for volunteers and visitors to use around the Visitor Centre, if they do not have their own pair. I’d like to finish the blog with these lovely sunrise photos, again taken by Ron Smith on 20 December- as we have bid farewell to 2023 we hope that 2024 will be a year full of health and happiness for our staff and volunteers, wildlife success stories on the reserve and many wonderful and memorable visits for our supporters. Photo credit: Sunrise on 20 December 2023, by Ron Smith With best wishes, Heidi Jones (Visitor Experience Officer, RSPB Lakenheath Fen).