Since the last update the temperatures have risen...and then sharply fallen again, but conditions this bank holiday weekend looks set to improve once again.
The highlight recent sightings have been an osprey, seen Friday to Sunday fishing at the fen and a spoonbill feeding at Cantley marshes. Ospreys often pass through at this time of the year, but rarely stay for long as they are keen to head north to breed, whilst spoonbills are increasing in frequency in Norfolk as a whole they are still a rare treat in the Strumpshaw area.
The migrants have arrived in full force over the past fortnight and I am sure that as soon as this cold spell is over we will see a large increase in species and numbers. We have had almost all expected migrants now, except spotted flycatcher, hobby and lesser whitethroat (as far as I am aware).
Up to five grasshopper warblers have been heard reeling from various points around the fen, numbers of sedge warbler and reed warblers have increased throughout the reedbed and can be heard singing well. Up to three cuckoos have been seen together from Tower Hide with the cuckoos song ringing out throughout the day when conditions are fine. The first returning common terns were seen on Thursday of this week, three weeks later than black tern, which is quite odd!
Our regular species are also faring well with two booming bitterns present this year, marsh harriers are busy nesting in good numbers, watch out for the food passes that will be increasing in frequency from now on. Bearded tits are very busy feeding their young with many birds being seen flying over the fen back and forth, I managed to see six nests from Tower Hide in an hour on Thursday so hopefully they will have a good breeding year. Staying with bearded tits, I noticed that one male in front of Fen Hide on Friday had a metal ring on its leg so the first person to get a good quality photo of the ring gets a small prize, we do not do any ringing here so it would be very interesting to read the numbers on the ring and find out where it has come from! Kingfishers appear to be nesting once again and by the looks of it, the young have now hatched as the birds can be seen heading back and forth across the fen with fish in their beaks.
The wet grassland at Buckenham is in full flow with good numbers of lapwing, redshank and snipe present while a flock of eight yellow wagtails brightened up the marshes last weekend. The skylarks are providing a very nice soundtrack to the mornings bolstered every now and then by drumming snipe. A small number of very attractive ruff can be seen from the hide, including a white bird, a black bird and a ginger bird showing their fantastic variability. As mentioned previously a spoonbill touched down on Sunday, this is a great time of the year for other rare herons, so a great white egret or glossy ibis is possible too.
On the non avian front otters have been seen throughout the week from Fen Hide and Reception Hide, but only brief sightings, while Chinese water deer are very obvious throughout the meadows, with 9 being counted at once. Large red damselfies have increased in number, but not been seen frequently in this cold weather, hopefully they will be more abundant in the warmth next week, the first hairy dragonflies should emerge too.
So in the next week (if predicted conditions occur) I would expect the first wave of swifts to reach us, with hobbys following closely, as well as an increase in all migrant warblers, common terns and the chance of more ospreys heading north. Early May can be a very good time of the year for rarities so the unexpected is possible, another savi’s warbler, night heron or little bittern could always be possible...we’ll see what happens.