This weeks’ blog covers a couple of weeks here at Lakenheath so I’ll try and be succinct and pack a lot in! Last Monday I took the opportunity to volunteer at RSPB Minsmere for the day, to help out during the busy period that was Springwatch. Dave had already done this and David did it a couple of days after me and we all agreed it was a great way to spend the day. In the morning I was located in Bittern Hide, which overlooked the location of the famous bittern nest. My hours of practise at spotting bitterns in flight were put to good use and the visitors saw some great long flights. In the afternoon I moved to the green woodpecker nest which was a fantastic spot, showing people where the nest hole was and looking out for the chicks who kept peeking out. At that point I think five of the chicks had already fledged and at least two remained in the nest, which meant that the adults had to keep returning to the nest to feed those two while also looking after the fledglings. The jackdaws, whose nest hole was just above the green woodpeckers, were also popping back and forth so it was a busy site to keep an eye on and most enjoyable.
Last Thursday we held another bittern survey here at Lakenheath. It was a lovely warm morning, not like the previous weeks survey which had been absolutely freezing due to a constant cold wind! I was positioned at Joist Fen viewpoint and although it was quite quiet in terms of bitterns (for me anyway), there was plenty of other wildlife to keep me entertained. A family of carrion crows were very noisy nearby and there seemed to be a vast movement of lapwings flying north over the reserve. Banded demoiselles were everywhere as were cuckoos. One cuckoo decided to come very close – I was the only person at the viewpoint and had clearly been sat very still for quite a while (and no, I wasn’t asleep!)
Photo credit: Ali Blaney – cuckoo
After a few minutes the cuckoo flew down to the base of the reeds and eventually appeared back up on the tree with a large caterpillar, which it proceeded to fling about wildly. They do this to shake the toxins out of hairy caterpillars before they eat them and it was really interesting to watch at such close range, if slightly grim for the caterpillar! Other insects were having a slightly better day in the sunshine:
Photo credit: Ali Blaney – golden-bloomed grey longhorn beetle
Photo credit: Ali Blaney – hoverfly - Syrphus ribesii
The good news is that while my bitterns were being quiet the others were having more luck and we think they spied out another nest. Let’s hope the survey tomorrow brings us yet more!
This week we have been mainly preparing for the coming weekend, which is the RSPB Big Wild Sleepout. The Lakenheath campout is taking place over two nights with a whole host of events that are already fully booked – it’s going to be a busy weekend! There is still one space left to camp on Friday night here which will probably snapped up quickly, there will be other events near you so if you're not booked on one yet why not take a look at the RSPB website or take part by camping out in your own garden - see how you can get involved. Preparations here have included lots of strimming to get the place looking smart and the trails accessible - we have yet more to do on Friday. We'll also be getting the fire site ready and wittling down some marshmallow sticks - you can't have a campout without toasting a few marshmallows!