It wasn’t quite an unkindness, but a raven was seen over the reserve several times yesterday. This is a rare bird indeed in these parts. Unsurprisingly, this is only the second record of this species on the reserve. Our purple patch continues! Here is a photo of one to whet your appetite:
Photo credit: Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)
After all of this time, the situation with golden orioles on the reserve seems to be finally becoming clearer. There now seems to be two males and a female present in the poplar woods, which is an encouraging sign. As ever, early mornings offer the best opportunities to see these beautiful but elusive birds.
Also of interest yesterday, two jays spent most of the day around the visitor centre feeders and a kingfisher was seen on the visitor centre pond. A red kite also flew over further down the reserve.
In the evening, a barn owl was hunting over the washland and a male marsh harrier was nearby. Perhaps another barn owl was hunting near New Fen viewpoint and a bittern was seen from the viewpoint.
It was soon time for our wild camp out, and there were several pipistrelle bats feeding over Brandon Fen. A skylark was singing over the visitor centre at 3.20am and the first cuckoos started singing soon after it got light.
Highlights of our dawn walk this morning included several good views of cuckoos and a bittern flying in front of Joist Fen viewpoint. An unidentified wader flew over at 6.30am, which was thought to be a knot.
Several species of moths were caught over night. Here is the list of the night’s catch:
We hope to see you soon!