On the last official day of Summer, you can definitely see signs of two seasons on the reserve at once. Migrant birds like Hobby and Swallow are still here, and as you walk around the trails it’s easy to hear Blackcap, Whitethroat and Reed warbler singing. However, passage migrant birds have been spotted too. Whilst it’s still easy to find dragonflies and butterflies, more autumnal bugs like ladybirds, Dock bugs and spiders are becoming more conspicuous. The Washland has been putting on a spectacular show lately- with 24 Little egret and 15 Great white egret joining 4 Grey heron on volunteer Paul’s morning bird count on 30 August. The egrets stand like white sentinels at the back of the Washland, graceful and still and very obvious! This number of egrets is by far a record for us, and never before have we seen so many. Cattle egret haven’t been spotted for a few days now, but do keep an eye around the feet of any roaming cattle you see on or near the reserve for them. They are very mobile and it wouldn’t be surprising if they resurfaced again. Paul also spotted a Green sandpiper and a Ruff on the Washland, and as of an hour ago (1pm 31 August) the Green sandpiper was still around as it zipped past me, flying upriver! Paul also counted 150 Lapwing, a single Wigeon and on 29 August he also saw a Black-tailed godwit. One lucky visitor yesterday spotted an Osprey flying over Joist Fen and West Wood- it will be on passage migration and although we’ve had no further reports today (31 August) they do tend to linger more in the Autumn than the Spring, so watch this space! If we get further sightings, we’ll make sure to post about it. At the Visitor Centre pond, we continue to see Kingfishers most days- one showed well on 28 August here and one was also seen at New Fen viewpoint today. Mere Hide is an extremely popular place to look for kingfishers at the moment, so if you find there is little free seating in there, do try the viewpoint shelters and the pool at the Centre. Here you have a reasonable chance of seeing one, especially if you are feeling patient and can spare an hour or even half an hour. It is hard to miss the dragonflies at the moment- there’s a huge number of Ruddy darter, Common darter, Migrant hawker and Southern hawker around at the moment- in fact now can be a good time to get more familiar with these species as few others are around late in the season. Willow emerald damselflies are much more delicate, but common in sheltered, sunny corners at the edges of paths. You could also still spot Common blue damselfly and Small red-eyed damselfly too (this species was recently found near the balcony at the Visitor Centre (see photo).
Photo credit: Small red-eyed damselfly by Heidi Jones
In a similar way to dragonflies, the range of butterflies you can see on the reserve is now reducing- but a good variety can still be seen in fair weather- including Small tortoiseshell, Comma, Peacock, Red admiral, Small white, Large white and Green-veined white. Check clusters of wildflowers as you walk around and also the buddleia at the Visitor Centre- which can be a good place to see hoverflies, including Europe’s biggest- Volucella zonaria (pictured). Something to look out for: In the coming weeks, spiders are going to get more and more obvious! A particularly interesting species that we get here is the Marbled orb-weaver (Araneus marmoreus). Not only is the ‘usual’ form beautiful and often intricately patterned, but at Lakenheath Fen we get a higher-than-average occurrence of the variant ‘pyramidatus’ which has a banana-yellow abdomen! As we move further into Autumn, the abdomen of the females swell to huge proportions as they fill with eggs. Below is a male and a female of the ‘pyramidatus’ form so you can see the difference. Certain wet fenland sites, like Wicken Fen and us at Lakenheath Fen, appear to have more of the yellow form than is usual, but we are not sure why. Whatever the reason, they are beautiful! The pattern on the abdomen of the usual brown form varies hugely and no two individuals look the same. Photo credit: Marbled orb-weaver (Araneus pyramidatus) with var. pyramidatus below. Photos by Janet Dobson. Photo credit: A slimmer male of the variant 'pyramidatus'. Photo by Heidi JonesIt's also worth keeping an eye out for the vibrant displays of Hemp-agrimony, Purple loosestrife, Marsh woundwort and Tufted vetch as you walk around the trails- these photos were taken by the Plant Pools near the Visitor Centre a few days ago. Common lizards love to bask on the wooden path borders here on sunny days so approach carefully if you want to see them- if you are quiet, they are often happy to let you admire them from just a few feet away! The middle raised bed at the Visitor Centre is another good place to look for them.Upcoming Events We are now in the process of publishing our Autumn/Winter events programme, which will cover until March 2024. We plan to have a couple of ‘Raptors in the Reedbed’ guided walks in the hour or so before dusk, to hopefully allow visitors to see birds of prey such as Barn owls, Marsh harriers and rarer species such as Hen harrier or Merlin roosting or hunting in the reedbed as it gets dark. We also plan to try a new version of this event in December- an ‘accessible’ alternative where we are stationed very close to our New Fen parking area, where the viewpoint is a short distance away and with plenty of seating. We’ll take flasks and biscuits with us too! So if you know of anyone who normally misses out on our guided walks because of their mobility, do let them know that we hope to offer something more suitable this year. All of our upcoming events will be listed on https://bit.ly/LakenheathFenEvents and in a week or two they should all be up there to view. With best wishes for the week ahead, Heidi Jones (Visitor Experience Officer, RSPB Lakenheath Fen).