Just in case you are wondering, I will get to the answer of the above question below! The reserve was very busy on Friday morning and there was also plenty of great wildlife to see. I heard my first turtle dove of the year purring away in Brandon Fen and the Savi’s warbler was still showing well just east of New Fen viewpoint. A male golden oriole was seen in East Wood before it was chased out by one of the local cuckoos. There were at least 17 hobbys over Joist Fen viewpoint and three bitterns were display flying in front of Joist Fen viewpoint.
There was also plenty of insect activity with several four-spotted chasers and banded demoiselles on the wing. Katherine also saw two eyed hawkmoths mating at the west end of the reserve. There were plenty of “woolly bears” (or garden tiger moth caterpillars) out an about. Here is a picture of one that was taken recently:
Photo credit: Raphael Stipic
There were several water vole sightings on Saturday including one near New Fen viewpoint. The “visitor centre jay” was also out and about and I managed to get this rubbish photo of it:
Photo credit: David White
The afternoon proved to be a fantastic one for birds of prey with a moulting adult red kite over Joist Fen viewpoint and at least four hobbys over New Fen viewpoint. Katherine and I were also lucky enough to see a female honey buzzard in the evening. I first saw it as it flew west over the visitor centre at tree top height and then Katherine watched it float over the washland before heading south.
We had our first wild camp out of the year that evening and we began with a lovely walk down to the Trial Wood viewpoint once everybody had pitched their tents. A barn owl was hunting over New Fen North and a bittern was booming in the same area. We could hear two grasshopper warblers reeling between Trial Wood and West Wood and kept hearing bursts from the Savi’s warbler in the distance.
As we walked back towards the visitor centre in the fading light, a tawny owl was calling in East Wood and there were plenty of bats out and about. We heard a mixed group of common pipistrelles and soprano pipistrelles over East Wood. There were also good numbers of Daubenton’s bats “trawling” over the visitor centre pond when we got back.
All was relatively quiet that night until the vast majority of campers were woken up by a mournful wailing sound that was echoing through the darkness at approximately 1.02am. The cause of the commotion was a stone curlew that was making quite a racket nearby. The “stonie” kept calling until it was time for me to get up at 3am.
That by the way answers the question above, even though I was cursing the bird at the time! In fact, we have very few previous records of this species here despite the fact that they are fairly numerous in the nearby Brecks. The best place to see them locally is Weeting Heath NWT reserve.
We all went for a walk at 4.30am yesterday morning and we were treated to fantastic views of the Savi’s warbler just east of Joist Fen viewpoint at around 6am. Here is a picture of it from yesterday:
Photo credit: Tim James
We saw a kingfisher from Joist Fen viewpoint and a female sparrowhawk flew out of West Wood. A bittern flew high over New Fen North and we saw a cuckoo being pursued by an indignant chaffinch near the visitor centre. We found out later that presumably the same stone curlew from yesterday was wandering around on the riverbank at around 5.10am so it was great that it was actually seen rather than just heard.
We were also pleasantly surprised later on in the morning when the male red footed falcon flew over the visitor centre. It hadn’t been seen since Wednesday evening so we finally thought that it had gone. It was then seen in the evening alongside Trial Wood so it is great to have it back.
It’s a lovely morning this morning and the Savi’s warbler was buzzing away in its usual place. A female cuckoo was also seen in Trial Wood. We hope to see you soon.