Another week of fairly mixed weather, we have seen some bright and warm days such as Wednesday and some more grey and drizzly days like Friday. The forecast is set to turn cold with possible snow again this weekend, which is not such good news for the birds that have already started breeding.
This week has seen a steady movement of redwings and fieldfares passing over the fen, presumably they are migrating east, back to their breeding grounds, although they may stage at the coast when they are greeted by the easterly wind. There has been a chiffchaff singing in the reception/car park area on and off throughout the week, making it feel a bit more like spring. Also adding to the spring feel there were sightings of brimstone, small tortoiseshell and grass snake on Wednesday.
Kingfishers have been seen throughout the week from various places depending on the wind strength and direction. Marsh harriers have been displaying really well on the calmer days, with males ‘skydancing’ trying to impress the females. I have not seen or heard any bearded tits since the last cold snap, so I fear that we may have lost a few, time will tell. Bitterns have been seen on and off this week and we are hoping for the first booms to be heard any day now.
Buckenham and Cantley have started to see passage waders and wildfowl moving through. 175 black tailed godwits, 80 ruff, 40 curlew and 4 pintail were at Cantley on Wednesday. On Tuesday there were 9 pintail, 32 avocets, 46 dunlin and 27 ruff at Buckenham….so things are certainly picking up there!
Otters have continued to show intermittently from Reception and Fen Hide and even better than that, the stoat in ermine has been seen again along the pumphouse track.
The first of the spring migrants have now arrived in the UK, with the first garganey, sand martins and wheatears on their way north. The best chance of seeing the early sand martins is at dawn or dusk as they often use the safety of the reedbed to roost at night. Looking at last year’s spring migrant arrivals we had garganey and wheatear on 16 March, an arrival of chiffchaffs and willow warblers on 25 March and a relatively late first sand martin on 28 March…. So its all poised for migration to commence, although it sounds like we need to get through a brief cold snap this weekend first!
Paths are all open, but the riverbank to Tower Hide and the Lackford Run remain very muddy in places. Wellingtons are recommended for the fen trail circuit, the path through the woodland is largely ok with sensible footwear as is the path to Fen Hide.