A fantastic few hours spent at Ouse Fen on the 8th. A Great-Reed Warbler that has been present for about 3 weeks was the main draw but from reports lots of other species could be seen as well.
Arrived at 07.00 and the weather wasn’t bad, some sun but mostly cloudy, a breezy westerly picked up through the day and the temperature took a while to rise, it seemed good enough to encourage the Great-Reed to show, well what I hoped anyway! A young Hare came running past me in the car park and a Whitethroat was singing nearby, it wasn’t long before a Bittern was seen flying reasonably high across the reserve. A few Reed Warbler and Reed Bunting were in song, 80 Swift seen distantly over Earith Village, Great-Crested Grebe and Coot with young and 2 Cuckoo were watched getting up to Cuckoo antics, 3 Marsh Harrier..it was really pleasant. A nice, relaxed walk around the long way to the viewing mound where the Great-Reed was but before that a Grasshopper Warbler could be heard reeling and quickly the bird was located perched on Hemlock right out in the open. This certainly couldn’t be ignored and even though the Great-Reed could be heard, I was well prepared to let that wait to give the Grasshopper Warbler some time. This was extremely good, the ‘Gropper’ in full song and showing superbly, unbelievably this was my first this year, since losing them at Fowlmere it’s a species I now rarely get to hear, let alone see! Moving on to the Great-Reed Warbler which was continually singing was just so good to hear. At first the bird couldn’t be seen but it wasn’t long before the bird moved near the reed tops and started to show very well. The song was impressive and made its nearby close relative sound a bit feeble. The size of the Great-Reed was equally impressive, a nice moment was the Great-Reed chasing a neighbouring male Eurasian Reed, there was only going to be one winner there! This is the 8th record for Cambridgeshire. Eventually moved on back to the car Park giving the Grasshopper Warbler one more glance. Near the car park there was a large pool that looked quite lively, a scan across it produced 14 Common Pochard, male Red-Crested Pochard and most surprising, a female Goldeneye, don’t see many of them in Cambs in June!
Also seen in the area was a Cattle Egret and a singing Turtle Dove. The Dove was not seen because it stuck to dense foliage but it was great to hear and listen to..very pleased to get it!
What a highly enjoyable session it had been with so many birds!
At Fowlmere early on the 9th and it wasn’t quite as lively as Ouse Fen! The big news of the weekend was that the first juvenile Marsh Harrier has fledged. The male was seen bringing food to the nest still so there are more youngsters to come yet. Juvenile Kingfisher has been putting in brief appearances and Spotted Flycatcher around the spring hide. Chilly westerly wind was keeping temperatures down and Butterfly numbers are very low at the moment, I’m hardly seeing any. Best of the day I didn’t see with the reserves first 2 Common Tern passing through and a family caravan of 11 Stoat..being quite ferocious predators I’m not sure how I feel about that!
Cooper and Scott 