Highlights from the reserve this week include a drake garganey, who can currently be seen most days feeding at various points along the river north of East Wood. He seems to be without a female but is loitering with gadwall, mallard and coots. The garganey was first seen on 15 March, which is quite an early record for us but they are quite discreet in their behaviour, subtle in their plumage (especially females or from a distance), quiet and easy to miss. We suspect that each summer we have one or two pairs nesting here, but after a short time in the spring when they are more conspicuous, they tend to slink into the reedbeds, never to be seen again until a year later! Another highlight has been a male hen harrier popping up here and there, most recently seen by warden Emma flying over the Visitor Centre pond at about 15:00 on 17 March- he has been spotted on and off across the reserve since December, and was seen hunting over New Fen North (viewable from the Viewpoint) on 16 March at about 10:30. A ringtail (juvenile or female hen harrier) was seen at various times too, so we know two of these beautiful birds of prey have been using the reserve this winter. We are likely to lose them soon as they head to the UK's uplands to breed, but we will keep our numerous marsh harriers who are busy courting, displaying and squabbling for territories- they will nest anywhere undisturbed with reedbed, and Joist Fen is always a popular area where several birds can be seen at once. A day with sunny, warm weather and a bit of wind is ideal- the harriers seem to love playing and showing off in the breeze! Listen out too for the shrill calls of males as they fly slowly over the spot they want to use as a nest site- or sometimes they'll call from the ground- and females will watch from nearby bushes or hang in the sky above, looking down at the male and weighing up whether his suggestion is suitable! The females' nest choice usually wins out as she is the one with the bargaining chip- she will allow mating if and when it suits her, produce the eggs and help care for the chicks. A male marsh harrier will be looking to support and win the favour of as many females as he can- the more offspring he can father, the better for him- but he will have to be careful too because the success of any nest depends largely on his contributions of bringing prey items into the nest, especially in the early days when the female cannot leave the eggs or chicks to hunt herself- so he does need to think about how many nests he really wants to support!Other drama in the reedbed areas of the reserve including up to three pairs of common cranes using the reserve, plus two single cranes which are loosely associated together. It is early days in the nesting season, but things are looking promising so far. The weekly Tuesday bittern surveys (which take three hours) are a really useful time to spend out on the reserve looking for marsh harriers, cranes, egrets and other wildlife which can be especially active early on in the day. This Tuesday's weather (16 March) was pretty bleak so no 'boomers' were heard, but if you visit on a sunny, mild day over the next few weeks- especially a morning- you stand a good chance of hearing one. Two of our volunteers were treated to a bittern flight over New Fen North on 12 March.There has been a good show of waders on the Washland with an avocet making an appearance on 17 March, as well as two redshank, one snipe (with 7 on 17 March), one curlew and several lapwing all seen this morning (19 March) and two oystercatcher, last seen on 17 March. Curlew numbers vary from day to day as passage migrants (curlews that visit Lakenheath Fen as part of their migration) move between Cowles Drove, the Washland and the pig fields south of the railway line. Duck numbers remain high with 150+ wigeon, 8 tufted duck and 16 shelduck reported this morning, as well as 20-30 gadwall, 10 or so teal and a few mallards. Shoveler are always conspicuous and numbers are high enough for them to often be exhibiting their 'swirling'; behaviour, which is where birds pair up and swim in circles, with their bills just below the waters' surface. They will do it in shallow bodies of water when their feet can touch the ground; each bird stirs up sediment for the bird behind, who will filter the silt and snaffle tiny bits of food using their special bills, which are spatulate and have filter plates running down the side, a bit like a miniature version of a humpback whale. They are helping each other, but both gaining from the partnership when otherwise neither bird would be able to feed that way. It always seems to involve pairs of the opposite sex, so the feeding may have a role in pair bonding and courtship prior to the breeding season too. Volunteer Paul counted 85 of these on the morning of 14 March using the Washland. You can watch this behaviour on the link below:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY1zZXCPqKsLittle grebe have been seen occasionally on the river, particularly between the Washland Viewpoint and the Wilton Bridge (the bridge that carries the cut-off channel over the B1112), often in pairs, as well as great crested grebes here and also on the pools throughout the reserve- they are getting easy to see now as each pair settles down to their elaborate courtship displays on each pool, and they will soon be nest-building. Interestingly, eight bearded tits were seen in the reedbed at the edge of the Washland on 18 March, which is an unusual spot for them, but they really can turn up anywhere there is reed, no matter how small the area. The boardwalk to Mere Hide (even though the hide remains closed) usually offers the best chance of hearing or seeing them, as well as Joist Fen Viewpoint.Back at the bird feeders, we have had frequent visits from marsh tits, reed buntings, long-tailed tits, a male siskin, greenfinches and chaffinches, and sometimes a little egret or two can be found at the back of the Visitor Centre pond early in the morning (before anyone has walked along the balcony) and if the weather is wet, there's often an otter hunting on the pond. They really seem to favour fishing in the rain; also check the pool at New Fen and anywhere along the river too. A song thrush, a wren and a great tit have been particularly vocal near the Visitor Centre and a Cetti's warbler has been calling often near the Photography Station.In terms of insect life, we haven't had any butterfly sightings this week but there have been a few bumblebees whizzing past windows and workers today, and the odd hoverfly in sunny sheltered spots, on what has been the first mild day for a while. Hawthorn is coming into leaf nicely, blackthorn is flowering and the goat willow's woolly buds are beginning to emerge- these pollen-rich catkins will soon be a magnet to early pollinators and also blue tits which love to feed on the protein-rich pollen. I suspect they also enjoy snacking on the flower beetles that the catkins attract in large numbers, too. There is a lovely accessible willow that flowers well on the corner where the balcony path joins the main hard track- keep an eye out for it if you walk past in the coming weeks.Out on the reserve this week we have been putting out a network of wooden fence posts with colour markers on, across all four of our trails- the long circular trail (purple trail), the East Wood trail (orange), Trial Wood trail (green) and Brandon Fen family trail (yellow). The colours correspond to where you are on the reserve when you encounter the post; there are 19 altogether and they are designed to run in parallel with the reserve map visitors are offered when they arrive, so that if (especially new or unfamiliar visitors) get a bit disorientated on the ground, they can use the colour markers to help them find where they are on the map. It is a temporary fix, while we wait for more permanent signage to arrive, with location names and distances on (e.g. 'Joist Fen 2km' on an arrow leading off a post, showing direction, destination and distance- these should be in place within a year or two and are part of our long-term plans. The four colours correspond with what is on the paper map and were originally devised to be the colours most conspicuous and useful to any colour-blind visitors we get.The work party on a Thursday also did another potholing session on Thursday- along the hard track between the Visitor Centre and New Fen- and we plan another week or two of this to finish the job.I hope you have found this weeks' blog useful. As a reminder of what stage we are at with our reopening, here's the details:Outdoor Welcome Point and accessible toilet open daily, 09:00 to 17:00 during the week and 09:00 to 16:00 at weekendsTakeaway refreshments available from the Welcome Point daily, 09:00 to 17:00 during the week and 09:00 to 16:00 at weekendsMost trails (aside from a temporary path closure), all viewpoints and the car park open daily from dawn until duskMere Hide remains closed, for now.With best wishes for the week ahead,Heidi Jones (Visitor Experience Officer, RSPB Lakenheath Fen).