Hello and welcome to the latest blog. We are now well into the throes of summer and this is reflected in the insects you can see on the reserve at the moment- the most common butterflies are meadow browns, ringlets and large whites, with plenty of small and large skippers on the viper's bugloss flowers when the sun is out. Small heath and red admiral are also common species at the moment, and we should soon begin…

Hello and welcome to this week's blog. We've had a variable week in terms of weather, but on the warmer days we have been seeing plenty of dragonflies and butterflies. Bitterns in flight are one of the current highlights as females fly short distances across the reedbeds to find food to feed their youngsters. While they don't 'boom' like the males, they will sometimes make a grunting sound as they fly- have a…

Hello and welcome to this weeks' blog. We have had some very warm weather over the past few days which has brought out the first common blue butterflies and the first red-eyed damselflies of 2021. The damselflies were a species I spotted from the Dragonfly Platform on 9 June, during a lunchtime walk where although I thought it would be a little early for them, I was heading that way anyway to repair some signage so…

Hello and welcome to this weeks' blog. Things really warmed up at the weekend and this hot, sunny weather has really boosted butterfly and dragonfly numbers on the reserve. A walk at the moment in weather like this should reward you with hairy dragonfly, four-spotted chaser, azure damselfly, red-eyed damselfly (especially from the dragonfly platform) and common blue damselfly. We have also had reports of banded d…

Hello and welcome to our latest blog. We have had a wet and windy week here and haven't seen the sun much since Tuesday (18 May), but the hobbies have been putting on a stoic performance for visitors nonetheless. On wet days we haven't seen so many, but not a day goes by without a few on the wing. Our peak numbers are now between 50-60 on an ideal day, and visitors are also still hearing the occasional booming …

Many of our visitors have been asking us when we will be hosting our guided walks again and we have now proudly put together an events programme for the next couple of months. Below are the details, with links to our booking website Eventbrite:

Thursday 27 May and Saturday 26 June: Get to Know Your Butterflies (11:00 to 13:00)

 will be a guided walk of approximately two miles, taking in various butterfly hotspots along…

Hello and welcome to the latest blog. I thought i'd give a brief round-up of the sightings from this past week, for the benefit of visitors who might be paying us a visit over the weekend and into next week...

We've had some changeable (!) weather but a mild, sunny day (if a little breezy at times) tempted a large red damselfly out of the raised pond bed in front of the Visitor Centre, and during the process of…

Hello and welcome to our latest blog… my apologies for it being several weeks since our last one- this is by no means a reflection of the quietness of our wildlife or lack of sightings but more a result of me taking a couple of weeks leave! It is lovely to be back and to plunge into a reserve absolutely BURSTING with spring sightings, so without further delay…

One of the most conspicuous of our summer residents…

Hello, and welcome to this weeks' blog. The migrant birds have continued to roll in, and I was greeted by two singing whitethroats when I arrived this morning. One was reported yesterday, along with a singing reed warbler (though this is unconfirmed). Yesterday (10 April) also brought a report of a wheatear but no further sign of the single cuckoo and hobby reported last week. The reedbeds are filling up with sin…

Hello to all and welcome to our latest blog. The past few days have been packed with sightings, including our first willow warblers (31 March) and plenty of chiffchaffs adding spice to the dawn chorus, and a flock of 120+ sand martins overhead at the Visitor Centre yesterday (1 April); this follows on from a single bird spotted on 27 March and another fifty or so spending most of today hunting for insects over the Washland…

Below (at the bottom of this blog) is a downloadable (and printable) PDF file for our spring-themed Easter spotter sheet which we encourage families to bring with them for a walk around Brandon Fen this Easter weekend. Our Brandon Fen trail is especially suited to finding the wildlife on the sheet, although you could take in more of the reserve's trails if you like, to see what else you can spot!

If you aren't able…

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…

First migrant bird arrival dates 2018-2021

 

Average arrival date

2018

2019

2020 (COVID)

2021

Booming bittern

03 March

 

 

--

02 March

Cuckoo

20 April

15 April

19 April

03 May

 

Garden warbler

30 April

01 May

19 April

30 May

 

Garganey

25 March

29 March

09 March

23 March

15 March

Grasshopper warbler

10 April

18 April

08 March

17 May

 

H…

Hello to all and welcome to this weeks' blog. Spring is well underway here and changes are happening everywhere- hawthorn is coming into leaf and blackthorn into blossom, whilst great tits, song thrushes and robins have been making themselves heard. Corvids are carrying nesting material over our heads and the first flowers of field speedwell and red dead-nettle are springing up. Our buzzard pair seem to be settled…

Hello and welcome to the latest blog. We've had a good week for wildlife sightings here on the reserve and we have noticed a definite shift towards Spring and the behaviour and drama that goes with it for our wildlife. On Tuesday (3 March) we held our first bittern survey of the year, where we gather a few willing volunteers and stake ourselves out at different points across the reserve, between 06:30 and 09:30, to…

Firstly, please accept an apology from me for not writing a blog last week- things have been a bit frantic at the reserve as we try to finish up several jobs to make things a bit more enjoyable for visitors when they return to us in the Spring (hopefully!). This week, with a lot of help from our Site Manager Dave, we built and installed the second of two new bird feeder trays in front of the balcony at the Visitor Centre…

Hello and welcome to this weeks' blog. How did you get on with the Big Garden Birdwatch? While all the results from everyone who took part are still to come in, it seems to be that in 2021 there was a record turnout, both in people who registered to take part and those that got out a pen and paper on the day- registration is always a little lower as for some people the survey is an impromptu but attractive opportunity…

Hello and welcome to this weeks’ blog. The annual Big Garden Birdwatch is fast approaching (29-31 January) and for many wildlife enthusiasts and their families it will represent a small piece of normality- something to do which doesn’t need to be affected by Coronavirus and it’s far-reaching effects on our lives. For those of our visitors not familiar with the survey, if you have a garden or a green space viewable from…

At the start of a new year we are building up sightings very quickly, with bearded tits making an appearance on 2 January, when our Site Manager Dave saw a small party of six near the Photography Station. This follows hot on the heels of an elegant and beautiful male hen harrier and eight cranes seen in the evening of New Years’ Day by Dave’s predecessor, Norman Sills, from Joist Fen Viewpoint. Yesterday evening (7 January…

Hello to one and all and welcome to the last blog of 2020- today is the last day the Visitor Centre will be open for a while, but every day over the Christmas and New Year period the visitor car park, all of the trails and Mere Hide will remain open for your enjoyment. Below is a list of what will be open and when between now and the New Year:

21-23 December: Visitor Centre CLOSED, Accessible Toilet OPEN

24 December -…

Well as I write today's blog I can see that the feeders in front of the Visitor Centre are a hive of activity, with a non-stop stream of visiting birds, the commonest of which are blue tits and great tits but two male greenfinch, plenty of coal tits, a couple of marsh tit and a few reed bunting are visiting regularly too. In the cold snap of last week we had a regular male brambling, but he seems only to visit when…

Hello to all and welcome to this weeks' blog. While we haven't seen our cranes much lately- just a sighting every two or three days, last Sunday (22 November) we had five here and they were showing well from Joist Fen viewpoint, looking south west. It is likely to have been our 2020 family (pair A2 and their chick) and another pair, which may or may not have been our other pair- there was lots of bugling going…

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…

Hello and welcome to this week's blog. I thought i'd start with the moths we caught last night on the reserve- it was a mild, calm night with cloudy skies and at a low of 8c, a good night to set the trap! Our list for the night was:

- November moth x 5

- Mottled umber x 1

- Large wainscot x 3

- Feathered thorn x 1

- Red-line quaker x 2

- Dark chestnut x 1

- Setaceous hebrew character x 1

- December moth x 2

-…

Hello and welcome to this weeks' blog. If you have visited us today or plan to do so in the next few weeks you should notice a big difference at Mere Hide- all the reeds surrounding it have had their autumn haircut! This is one of the tasks we leave until the breeding season for birds has well and truly passed- reed and sedge warblers as well as whitethroats often have late broods and can be raising young into September…