Hello and welcome to this weeks' blog. The weather over the last few days has been very mixed- on the sunny days between 9th and 12th we had multiple sightings of peacock and red admiral butterflies and common darter dragonflies each day, and it should be possible to see these in the coming week if we have more mild days. Last night (12th) we set a moth trap and caught just one moth- a feathered thorn- although a trap on the evening of 9 November resulted in one streak (see photo below), one scarce umber (second photo), winter moth, black rustic and white point (a migrant species). At this time of year, if the weather is right- mild, calm, cloudy and dry you can still catch quite a variety of moths, just not the quantity you would if you trapped in late spring or during summer.
Photo credit: Streak by Katherine Puttick
Photo credit: Scarce umber by Katherine PuttickOur whooper swans are still continuing to delight visitors with a count of over 600 yesterday morning (12 November) at 07:00 so if you are happy to get here early (before 07:30) it is worth heading up to the Washland viewpoint to watch them taking off in groups after roosting there overnight, and with the whooper swans a lot of visitors find the enjoyment is as much in the sound they make as the sight of them- they have a beautiful far-carrying 'whooping' call which sounds really impressive when there are so many calling at once. Look out up here for little egret, great white egret, shoveler and kingfisher up there too, as well as marsh harrier and buzzard overhead. We had a report of a probable yellow-legged gull in with the herring gull and lesser black-backed gulls on the Wash on the morning of 10 November- so if you are a gull enthusiast it might be worth seeking this one out! While you are up on the Washland do listen out for the squeals and grunts of water rail- the Viewpoint has always been a good spot to listen to them and they have been especially vocal this week. You should also hear Cetti's warbler, wren and perhaps stonechat in the vegetation either side of the footpath. If you want to try and see a water rail though, it's best to head to the Photography Station where one of our volunteers, Jacob Tancock, took these beautiful photographs of one under the bird feeders on 12th November:
Photo credits: Water rail, both by Jacob Tancock
On the bird feeders we are still seeing a good variety of species- reed bunting, goldfinch, chaffinch, greenfinch, long-tailed tit, great tit, blue tit, coal tit and marsh tit make up most of the visitors with the odd siskin, robin and some very attractive common pheasants that come along periodically to hoover up excess seed that the birds spill! For some of our newer visitors it might be worth mentioning that we have two sets of bird feeders on the reserve- in addition to the ones at the Visitor Centre, there are some at the Photography Station and the relative quietness of the feeders here does tend to attract shier species such as great spotted woodpecker, greenfinch and the water rail. We have had many reports of redwing and fieldfare overhead from visitors almost anywhere on the reserve, so keep an eye on the sky for these. Our bearded tits are very popular with visitors and although they will never visit feeders, we have had a flurry of reports of them from the reedbeds around Mere Hide- although the hide is closed, the boardwalk that connects the hide with the main path is worth walking slowly and quietly along to see if you can see or hear any, especially if you visit in the morning.
Our previous site manager, Norman Sills visited the reserve last night looking for cranes coming in to roost, and although he didn't see any he did report about half a dozen marsh harriers flying into roost, and we did have a visitor report to us of one crane in flight from the riverbank on 8 November from his viewpoint on the riverbank at Joist Fen, so if you head down the western end of the reserve do keep an eye out for cranes. A big surprise from Joist Fen yesterday came in the form of a single Chinese water deer, spotted by a visitor and photographed in the afternoon. Records show we have one recorded about once a year or so, so it could be the same lone individual repeatedly seen or it could be that there is a population here that is so small that we only ever see one at a time! Here's that photo: Photo credit: Chinese water deer by Nigel NuddsWe are glad to announce that the Visitor Centre will now be staffed again on Mondays- we had thought that due to a shortage of volunteers on a Monday we would have to close the 'meet and greet' part of the reserve for one day a week but we are glad to say we are now open every day of the week. Here's a quick reminder of the facilities we have available at the moment:- Welcome Point staffed by a member of the team at the front of the Visitor Centre ; open 09:00 to 17:00 on weekdays and 09:00 to 16:00 at the weekend
- Visitor Centre building CLOSED to through access by visitors for the duration of the Second Lockdown
- Accessible toilet open daily from 09:00 to 17:00 on weekdays and 09:00 to 16:00 at the weekend
- Visitor Car Park, all trails and viewpoints open daily from dawn until dusk
- Mere Hide CLOSED for the duration of the second lockdown.As usual, if you have any questions about the reserve do give us a call on 01842 863400, e-mail us at lakenheath@rspb.org.uk or use Facebook (RSPB Lakenheath Fen) or Twitter (@RSPBLakenheath) to send us a message. We also love to hear your sightings and see your photos too.With best wishes,Heidi Jones (Visitor Experience Officer, RSPB Lakenheath Fen)