This past week marks a change in the seasons- it is the first week of autumn and the reserve is changing accordingly. Many mornings it's a bit chilly, damp but lovely and bright! It has been a good few days for sightings of our regular favourites, including common cranes and bitterns from Joist Fen viewpoint. We have up to nine cranes seen at the moment, which is made up of our two pairs which spent the summer with us, one of which has a fledgling chick, and another four birds which are a family who bred nearby and reared two chicks. This pair used to nest with us, so it is interesting that they have chosen to return to us once their chicks can fly, to socialise and feed with our other five birds. Below is a photograph from one of our trail cameras, of this years' chick at nine weeks old with a parent on the reserve. Photo credit: Our young crane chick with a parent, image taken by trail camera on 6 June 2020 and edited by Emma Cuthbertson.Bitterns, on the other hand, are much more secretive and we know much less about their private lives. Each Spring at Lakenheath Fen involves lots of survey work to try to work both how many booming males we have here, and later on, how many nests we have on site. This Spring was very different and survey work was impossible due to some staff being furloughed and the remaining members of the team being reduced to tasks only in the remit of health and safety and site security. However, we have been encouraged by plentiful sightings of them since the reserve reopened, including some sightings of juvenile birds. So it looks like, without us the bitterns did just fine!
Our Site Manager did spot a family party of bearded tits moving through the reeds together on the morning of 4 August, and unlike bitterns, 'beardies' should become more and more conspicuous soon as their diet is about to switch from insects to seeds, to coincide with the ripening of the reed seeds. The purplish reed flowers of early summer are now turning a rusty brown, indicating that they are ripening. As autumn progresses the leaves will turn a beautiful golden brown, giving rise to beautiful views of autumnal reedbeds across the reserve. Look out too for increasing numbers of reed buntings which descend to feed on the seeds too. Whilst autumn is upon us, our hobbies haven't left us yet and three were seen by one visitor on 4 August, though one bird at a time is more usual now. Marsh harriers are seen daily over reedbed areas or hunting over the Washland- although numbers will drop as mostly juveniles and male birds might leave the reserve to hunt in nearby farmland, females are more sedentary and many of these will spend the winter with us, delighting visitors with their beauty and acrobatics.Up on the Washland, it's been a little quieter for waders lately, but there are still plenty of lapwing as well as odd redshank and oystercatchers in ones and twos. However, duck numbers are building up- another nod to autumn- with wigeon and shoveler increasing particularly. Gadwall, mallard and teal can also be found up here, along with singles of little egret and up to three great white egret on a daily basis, with three recorded on 31 August. To our knowledge, we last had an osprey on 28 August, however we could have missed birds passing through, especially if they did so overnight or very quickly, and we are still within the window for passage migration of these so keep your eyes on the sky! You may also see our very vocal young buzzard, who was born high up in a poplar on the entrance track in May and has long fledged the nest- but he or she still takes to their air and calls to be fed most days! Brandon Fen and the Visitor Car Park have also been good places to look for green woodpecker, kestrel and sparrowhawk in recent days, and it sounds as if siskin are descending on us again. It is around now that they arrive back at the reserve after breeding (sometimes all the way over in Europe, or just locally in Thetford Forest) so keep an eye on the feeders at the Visitor Centre for them. They enjoy sunflower hearts and especially nyger seed. In recent days the feeders have been attracting several greenfinches and 15-20 young goldfinches, who have seemingly arrived out of nowhere! It is lovely to see them shuffling about on the seed trays and chittering to each other.Another small bird worth looking out for is spotted flycatcher- we had one recorded two days running, on 2 and 3 September, along the track between the Visitor Centre and New Fen. It is likely this individual is just passing through us on it's way back to Africa, but keep an eye out for him or her nevertheless as it could still be here.Turning to our insect life, dragonflies continue to delight with good numbers of emperor dragonfly, migrant hawker, southern hawker and more petite species like banded demoiselle, willow emerald damselfly, ruddy darter and common darter still on the wing. These species should dominate the month of September, with fewer red-eyed damselfly, common blue damselfly and azure damselfly as time goes on. The show of butterflies at the moment is made up of mainly red admiral, peacock and comma, with a few large white and green-veined whites. Look out for small copper and brown argus in more sheltered spots on warmer days, as these two species are still in the throes of their second brood and can't resist a nice day.
Photo credit: Green-veined white butterfly by Heidi JonesFlowering plants are becoming a bit scarce now, but hemp agrimony and evening primrose are still dotted throughout the reserve, with water-mint and white water-lily in wetter areas, such as the pools at New Fen and Joist Fen. Water-mint is a superb species for providing nectar for late summer and autumn insects- hoverflies and bees love it and it is very beautiful in it's own right.We hope you can visit the reserve in the coming days, and join the many visitors who come here for the peace and quiet and wildlife sightings. It is always useful to hear what you have seen out on the reserve, so do let us know either in person, via e-mail (lakenheath@rspb.org.uk) or via social media. On Facebook you can find us by searching for RSPB Lakenheath Fen and on Twitter as RSPBLakenheath. You can also phone us up to tell us what you saw on 01842 863400.As a quick reminder of our situation after reopening- our Car Park and trails are now open from dawn until dusk every day, with an accessible toilet and takeaway refreshments available from 9am to 5pm every day. Our Visitor Centre building and Mere Hide remain shut, but we have an open-air Welcome Point (open 9am to 5pm) at the side of the Visitor Centre where you can speak to a member of the team about the latest sightings and where to go to stand the best chance of seeing what you've come to see.With best wishes for the week ahead,Heidi (Visitor Experience Officer, RSPB Lakenheath Fen).