Marsh Harriers and Bitterns at Lakenheath Fen

21st June 2023

On our last visit to Lakenheath there were only a few Bittern flights suggesting that the season might be a little later than usual so this was a return visit hoping for a few more flights. I had only just stepped out of the visitor centre onto the veranda when I spotted a male Kingfisher sitting on a post at the back of the pool. This used to be a regular site but is the first sighting for me here for a few years, nevertheless a great start to the day.

Along the trail things were a lot quieter than our last visit with Whitethroats feeding young and trying to keep well hidden rather than singing from the bush tops, but was a lot more colourful with stands of Viper's Bugloss and Purple Loosestrife.

Quite a few dragonflies around. I didn't go in search of them but casually came across eight species.

Male Azure Damselfly

Male Red-eyed Damselfly

Pair Red-eyed Damselfly

Male Banded Demoiselle

Female Banded Demoiselle

Female Common Darter

Female Black-tailed Skimmer

Four-spotted Chaser

Emperor

Emperor

Male Scarce Chaser

Very litttle going on at Joist Fen with just a couple of very distant harriers being harassed by a couple of equally distant Hobbys. The only close observations were this Heron fishing in the pool right in front of the shelter and a flock of Lapwings which kept on getting spooked as Lapwings do and did a few laps of the reed bed before settling down once more.

In fact all the harrier action was at New Fen where two females and a male were putting on quite a display.

Also a lot of noisy interaction.

As far as the Bitterns were concerned there were still far fewer flights than last year, which were either distant or flying away. However, one bird did oblige and allowed me to take this sequence as it flew past.