What a difference a week makes! In stark contrast to last week it has been cool, overcast and had a moderate breeze from the North and East, dropping the temperature and insect life considerably.
The fen has had a selection of stand out species such as two cranes today, these flew in and landed in front of Fen Hide giving the visitor inside superb views along with a selection of comical shots as they stared eye to eye with a Chinese water deer. The other species of note was a ‘herd’ of 50 Bewick’s swans, again these flew over the reserve this morning, their beautiful soft calls alerted us to their presence. Other species which have been seen at the fen include marsh harriers displaying, although much reduced in the cooler air, bearded tit has been seen fleetingly in various places and an otter was seen from Fen Hide on Wednesday morning. Kingfishers have been busy on the river once again this week, they appear to be pairing up and sorting out boundary disputes, it looks as though there are at least four birds present. While at the river also look out for the great crested grebes, these are now in fine plumage and can be seen displaying if you are very lucky. A hen harrier was seen on Monday evening at a similar time to a bittern tuning up for the booming season.
The woodland continues to thrive with birdsong, all the regular species can be seen and heard on a walk through including; treecreeper, nuthatch. Marsh, blue, great and long-tailed tits, goldcrest, great-spotted and green woodpeckers, song and mistle thrush as well as redwings singing in number.
The wet grassland at Buckenham and Cantley has been busy again this week. The lapwing have one job in their mind and can be heard displaying throughout the day, similarly skylarks are also singing seemingly non stop at present too. Two short-eared owls have been seen on the other side of the river from Buckenham at Claxton, these can be seen from the riverbank behind the hide along with at least two barn owls too.
On the wader front 78 ruff, 86 curlew, 43 dunlin and a small flock of golden plover were all seen this week. A water pipit was noted at Cantley on Tuesday and the pair of peregrines remains in residence. Wildfowl numbers have decreased although there are still 300+ wigeon present and a pair of pintail were a nice surprise on Tuesday.
Insects have been few and far between this week and there was not a single butterfly seen. March can be a funny month for insects, one minute you think its spring-like the next it plunges back into winter!
The long range forecast shows the wind swinging all over the compass so I would not expect too much in the way of migration over the coming days, although as was proven this morning with the swans, there are still a lot of birds to head back #North before we start seeing migrants in good numbers. The forecast looks as if it could be good for the moth trap tonight and Friday night so it may be time to dust off the trap and get back to grips with the quakers!