There has been a distinct contrast between the weather on Friday and the weather this weekend. .i.e. it was a LOT better on Friday! In the sunshine on Friday, Ali saw a species of leaf hopper whose given name was Cercopis vulnerata south of Trial Wood. If you know where to look, these little red and black insects are very numerous at this time of year. Also on Friday, the Savi’s warbler was singing intermittently just east of Joist Fen viewpoint and a tawny owl was calling in West Wood. A turtle dove was seen in the same wood and two bearded tits were seen in front of Joist Fen viewpoint. A lucky visitor photographed three bitterns flying together. I have just been sent the image so hopefully I will be able to post it here soon.
Ali did here bird survey in Brandon Fen yesterday morning and found two marsh tits and an oystercatcher. A grasshopper warbler was showing well between the furthest two poplar woods and a hobby was seen from Joist Fen viewpoint.
Perhaps the most exciting sighting of the day was of two juvenile bearded tits feeding on the grit tray in front of Joist Fen viewpoint. This is the first time that we have seen “beardies” using them here. Until now, they have mostly been popular with the local reed buntings! Grit trays are very popular with bearded tits and here is a picture of a gang of them feeding on one at RSPB Leighton Moss:
Photo credit: Ben Hall (rspb-images.com)
Hopefully we will be getting views like this here in the near future! It would certainly be nice!
I went for a walk in the evening and took a few pictures. Here is some of the pretty ragged robin that is flowering in one of the bays alongside New Fen North. Apologies for the image being slightly out of focus I was struggling to keep the camera still as it was so cold (rubbish excuse, I know!):
There were at least 300 swifts tearing around the sky over the reedbed and a cuckoo was calling in East Wood. I also encountered this little fellow on the edge of the track alongside West Wood:
It’s a drinker moth caterpillar. These funky looking creatures get their name dew from drinking the dew of grass and reed stems. The adult moths also live up to their name as if they get into moth traps, they are usually to be seen lurching around the air like they have had one to many shandys! Don’t you just love moths?!
Unfortunately, the Savi’s warbler was not heard at all yesterday but I still stopped and listened for a while anyway! I saw a brief bittern flight from Joist Fen viewpoint and there were plenty of marsh harriers hunting nearby.
It seems that the male red footed falcon has disappeared again as it hasn’t been seen for a couple of days. It has done this before though so if it reappears, we will let you know. We hope to see you soon.