Spring has moved up a gear since last week, the fine weather this week with warm sunshine has caused many invertebrates to emerge. The same can be said for bird migration which has been helped by high pressure systems and some southerly winds.
At the fen we have had two bitterns booming with multiple sightings of birds flying around the reedbed, including a couple doing several laps of the fen before going down together, hopefully a good sign for later in the year.
Marsh harriers are still busy nest building and sky dancing over the fen, we have a large selection of colours and hues on each of the harriers, no two look the same when examined in detail. A red kite also drifted over the reserve on Saturday and then again on Thursday.
Bearded tits have been seen flying over the reeds with their distinctive pinging calls alerting us to their presence.
Migrants which are new in this week include grasshopper warbler on Wednesday as well as reed warbler, common tern, whitethroat and cuckoo today. This almost completes the migrant set now, we are still awaiting garden warbler and hobby.
This does mean that you can now see and hear reed and sedge warblers singing at the same time, this tricky pair are similar songsters.
Other birds that are now abundant throughout the reserve include blackcap, willow warbler and chiffchaff, these certainly add a very spring like feel to the day.
A small flock of cranes have been seen throughout the last week with a maximum of six seen on Saturday, their trumpeting call is always a joy to listen to and hopefully a sound that will become increasingly common across the broads.
Buckenham and Cantley have seen a further increase in its breeding species, with redshank, snipe and lapwing now displaying well. Avocets can be seen on the pools alongside a handful of ruff and various duck species including two drake and one female garganey.
This display of wet grassland species is an amazing experience early in the morning, especially if you catch the odd sounds of a drumming snipe.
Just this morning I saw a white stork enjoying the pool near the old mill, this bird is an escape but still fantastic to see such an interesting bird so close.
Insects have been increasingly abundant as the week has progressed and has culminated in the first large emergence of large red damselflies.
Butterflies are also increasing by the day, the first orange tips of the year now on the wing alongside brimstone, small tortoiseshell, peacock, holly blue, comma and green-veined white, the first speckled wood of the year was seen yesterday.
Grass snakes have been seen at various places around the reserve, the fingerpost and woodland trail are hotspots at present.
Otters have finally made a reappearance at the fen with singles seen on Sunday and Tuesday as well as two together on Wednesday.
Within the next week I would expect the migrants to continue going through, the reedbed warblers will increase dramatically, cuckoos will start to be heard more frequently as well as common terns arriving in numbers. Garden warbler should hopefully be added to the migrant tally by the next sightings update too. With the recent warm weather I would not be surprised to hear of sightings of the blue damselflies and an outside chance of an early hairy dragonfly. In the woodland, the bluebells will be out in force by the coming weekend, so take a look at their hazy purple glow.