21 MAY 2024 – BIRDWATCHING IN CAMBRIDGESHIRE
It was originally intended that
we (John, Mike and me) would go to Minsmere, but the weather forecast together
with news of goodies at a spate of sites in Cambridgeshire, dictated our
direction of travel.
A reasonable start from my house
at 7.30 a.m. saw us arriving at the first site – Ouse Fen RSPB Reserve – and within another 20
minutes, at Crane Fen, we were listening to the (almost) deafening and
discordant ‘song’ of a Great Reed Warbler, without the said songster being in
view. About fifteen minutes or so later (as we – including another birdwatcher
who had seen just a glimpse of the bird at 7.00 a.m.) frantically searched the
reedbed in front of us) I sighted the warbler atop a reed stem, and we could
then begin to watch the bird properly, dismayed at the sheer size of it (well-nigh
twice the size of nearby Reed Warblers) as well as the amazing ‘musical’ noises
coming from its throat, that carried all over the fen.
John attempted to take pictures
through his telescope (using his Smart phone) and I did the same with my full
frame camera and a conventional 100-400 telephoto. I wasn’t expecting miracles
in terms of the resulting images, as the subject matter was probably at least 20
metres away. The only thing that was missing to ensure a reasonable exposure,
was good sunlight - and with rain forecast for around midday – we had to make
do with the conditions as they were. The bird continued to show very well but
moved around a bit.
Once sated with the Great Reed
Warbler we decided to do a circuit of Crane Fen, with sightings of several
Western Marsh Harriers, a Great Egret, several Little Egrets, and a couple of
Cuckoos, to tempt us round.
We must have seen at least three
different male Marsh Harriers (some views were excellent, even in the greyish
light) with just the one female; and a couple more views of the Great Egret. On
the way, we were suddenly aware of damselflies flying out of the grasses, and
Mike immediately picked up on several Variable Damselflies, with the odd Azure
and Blue-tailed Damselflies as support acts so to speak. Variable Damselflies are
notoriously difficult to identify, but Mike had the experience that John and I
lacked, and soon we were getting our eye in by ensuring that we saw the
identifying 2nd ‘wine-glass’ segment on the abdomen (similar species
like the Azure and Common Blue Damselflies have distinctly different 2nd segments)
although such detail is extremely hard to see in the field. But I was truly delighted
to see and photograph the Variable Damselfly in particular, as I’d only
observed the species twice previously without obtaining photographs; though
today, the breezy conditions weren’t very helpful.
As we progressed the sound of
‘booming’ Bitterns echoed over the fen – possibly, up to three males were
involved, though they remained stubbornly well hidden in the reed beds. John
and Mike also had glimpses of Bearded Tits, although I was unfortunate not to
see them, despite waiting patiently for them to reappear. On the way out, back
to the car, Mike spied a Hare leaping away along the trail behind me, although
it had disappeared as I looked round, hoping for an opportunity to take a
photograph, which was denied to me on this occasion.
Our next port of call was the
RSPB Reserve at Fen Drayton about 20 minutes away, where we were hoping to see
a Red Footed Falcon that had been observed there yesterday. The access road
was difficult to negotiate (even in
John’s four-wheel drive Landrover Discovery) due to extremely deep potholes,
but eventually we encountered several parked vehicles that indicated that the
Falcon was likely to be present; a birdwatcher soon confirmed that the bird was
visible over the lake at that moment. But the initial views were disappointingly
poor and distant, though after a while the bird ventured nearer and nearer, and
eventually circled over our heads, occasionally alighting at the very top of a
tall Poplar tree, then reappearing overhead to give us the kind of views we
were hoping for (except that the light was still extremely poor).
We were told that it might be
possible to see Turtle Doves, that had occasionally been observed in the
vicinity of the main car park, and although we walked around the site awhile,
no Doves were seen. I was pleased however, to see both Willow Warbler and
Lesser Whitethroat as I’d not seen these species locally. We also saw an early
Emperor Dragonfly here.
Earlier, news of a Black Winged
Stilt at Berry Fen - not too far away - tempted us to try our luck at that
site. There was no parking facility at the fen, so we parked the car at a
church in the nearest village, with quite a walk to get to the fen, only to be
disappointed, with no sighting of the Stilt. However, further news that the
Stilt (presumably the same individual) had been sighted at Ouse Fen, saw us
returning to the very fen we began the day at, and this time - as the forecast
rain began teeming down - a helpful RSPB warden picked the bird out a long
distance away through John’s telescope - although in the deteriorating
conditions, the views were really quite terrible.
It had been a very successful day,
obtaining our target species (except the Turtle Dove) with little difficulty,
although I cannot deny that seeing and photographing Variable Damselflies was
the highlight for me.
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