The last week has seen a nice selection (for us) of waders and wildfowl passing through the reserve. On Tuesday 13th the reserve's first avocet was reported, and spent half a day feeding in the shallow margins of the mere. Unfortunately none of the observers realised the rarity of such a bird here, so only one of the regular observers got to see it. The next day a redshank and a dunlin were seen, and then on Friday 16th a pair of shelducks stopped over briefly on the mere. There have also been at least half a dozen snipe and a female wigeon hanging around. None of these birds would be considered remarkable at the better known coastal sites, but they are very seldom seen here. It is nice to know that our recent management to provide a larger area of shallow water and short vegetation is delivering results, and it's only mid March.
As well as the above, the two hen harriers are still roosting every afternoon, at least one of the merlins is still here, and the first marsh harrier of the year was seen yesterday (Saturday 17th). What next...?
Doug
Being in the right place at the right time is important for many things, but it is particularly applicable if you want to see some of the scarcer wildlife at Fowlmere Nature Reserve.
Highlight of the last two months has been a female hen harrier that has roosted in the reedbed every evening since 14th December. It has been spending much of the day hunting over the neighbouring fields, where there is a plentiful supply of small birds (various finches, larks and buntings), but it is most likely to be seen as it comes in to the reserve late in the afternoon. There are some very good photos on the Cambridgeshire Bird Club website http://www.cambridgebirdclub.org.uk/ , particularly those taken by our own Gary Thornton.
There have also been two merlins in the area at the same time, but they are much harder to see. The merlin is our smallest falcon, and flies very fast. Consequently views can be very brief as one hurtles past in pursuit of a small bird, so many people struggle to see it even when it is passing in front of them.
These two birds of prey are here near our village only because they can find enough food. Thankfully at least two local farmers have been planting small areas of crops specifically to provide food for birds in late winter, and these attract hundreds of finches, buntings and sparrows. This is the main reason why more than a thousand reed buntings have been roosting at Fowlmere in mid February. Unfortunately these small and inconspicuous birds don’t form tight swirling flocks like starlings do, but come to the reserve in twos and threes. If you want to see more than a few dozen, you have to stand in the right place for most of the afternoon (which is more or less what I stated at the beginning).
Doug Radford (Site Manager)
Fowlmere reserve attracts quite a few photographers, especially if we get a long-staying scarcity such as the hen harrier that is here at the moment, but one of the locals, Gary Thornton, comes here frequently to photograph whatever he can see through his lens. Gary has just won the 'Picture of the month' for December with his perfectly poised kestrel - link here http://www.cambridgebirdclub.org.uk/
Our website has been having technical problems with photos, so those I attached to the last blog post failed to appear. I have now uploaded them into the Fowlmere gallery. They are snapshots hastily taken by Geoff Harries, who also takes some first class photos - I'll try to post some of his later.
Despite the low quality, the photos are very instructive if you are interested in learning more about moult as an aid to identification and ageing.
'Watch and learn...'
Marsh harriers have always passed through Fowlmere on spring and autumn migration, but we have seen them more frequently as the national breeding population has increased. Assessing the age of juveniles (born this year) in autumn is relatively easy - they are very dark brown, usually with a golden crown, and a full set of wing feathers - but older birds can be more difficult.
Last week a marsh harrier arrived that most people thought was an adult female. The brown parts of the plumage were very faded and tatty, and the crown and nape were almost white. Marsh harriers start their moult in late summer, so an adult can be expected to have worn plumage at this time of year, and have gaps in the trailing edges of the wings where old feathers have been dropped and new ones are growing through. Our bird was showing such gaps, so it could have been an adult female. However, in flight the truth was revealed. As can be seen from the photos below (taken rather hastily by Geoff Harries, and far below his usual standard), the inner three (new) primaries are actually grey with dark spots near their tips. This bird is in fact a male, undergoing its first complete moult from its worn juvenile plumage to its second year plumage.
If this bird stays around, we can expect to see more of the grey feathers as they replace the next primaries, and then the outer primaries will be replaced by black new ones. In fact, the harrier is likely to migrate before the moult is complete, in which case it will probably suspend the moult and retain some of the old outer primaries until it reaches its winter quarters in Africa.