After a few weeks without an update (apologies!) the weather has finally broken and we are currently basking in 35 degree heat.
Since the last update there have been a number of notable species seen; firstly on my way into work on 29 June I heard a Savi’s warbler reeling, this stayed until 3 July. Half an hour after finding the Savi’s warbler a bee-eater flew over me, unfortunately this beautiful bird did not linger though, I’ll have to leave my car at home more often! Other notable species included garganey; we were aware of two pairs in the spring at Buckenham, but to get news that there were two broods in the ditches along the track at Buckenham was very welcome news indeed, three were seen on Sunday from Fen Hide too. The spotted flycatcher family was seen on Sunday and again on Tuesday, they were seen near the manned railway crossing towards Buckenham and also at the rail crossing coming onto the reserve at Reception.
Insects have included some very late Swallowtails; it is possible that there are still one or two on the wing, with one being seen today. While the swallowtail butterflies should be very few in number at this time of the year, the caterpillars should start to be seen now. White admirals have been performing well in the woodland and along the pumphouse track, this super butterfly is the only member of the glider family in the UK and nectars mostly on bramble flowers.
The first few willow emeralds have started to emerge, they were found in multiple areas last year, but the first sighting of the year has come from the ‘usual’ area near to the fen boardwalk, they will increase in number over the next few weeks, peaking in early August.
Otters have been seen fairly regularly over the past two weeks from various locations around the fen as have Chinese water deer, water vole and grass snake.
Marsh harriers are still very obvious around the fen, the juvenile birds have now largely fledged but are still being fed by the adults so it is not unusual to see the very dark brown juveniles with their orange crowns on the tops of bushes with their other siblings bickering. There are at least 20 juvenile birds on view at the moment, including a couple who regularly sit on the Lackford Run path itself!
Kingfishers have fledged at least two young this year and they have been reported from Fen Hide and Reception on a number of occasions, although I’ve not seen the youngsters, the adults have certainly been showing well this week.
The songbirds around the fen have almost all stopped singing now, so it can seem like a fairly quiet place, particularly on the hot summer days, but the reedbed and trees still house plenty of family feeding parties, flocks of juvenile birds group together for safety and possibly company at this time of the year. Bearded tit feeding parties can be heard from Fen Hide at the moment but seeing them is quite a challenge as they are feeding on small insects at the base of the reed stems, it will be another month or so until the reed seed heads are ready for eating, which is the time when the flocks of bearded tits can be seen very well indeed.
The water levels will be decreasing over the next month which will allow muddy edges for wildfowl to loaf on and potentially for passage waders and water rails to feed on. The water levels dropping and the sun shining is likely to result in a large amount of visible blanket weed on some of the broads, this is due to high nutrient levels combine with the sunlight and there is unfortunately little we can do to combat it. Other habitat management news is that the hay meadows have had their cut; we cut half of the fields for hay each year, continuing the 400 year old management of these particular meadows. Cutting for hay takes nutrients off the site so that the rare assemblage of plants can continue without being out competed by more dominant nutrient loving plants. The meadow trail should remain open throughout the hay making operation but there will be some diversions while the cattle are in place.
The next few weeks will see an increase in dragonfly numbers, brown hawker, common darter, migrant hawker and willow emerald have now been seen, which are usually good indicators for mid summer!
All paths are currently open and are fairly dry, the Lackford Run is still susceptible to high tides, but is fine for all types of sensible footwear.