Took a few hours out to mix a bit of fresh air with some quality wildlife watching at Fowlmere yesterday, nice brisk walk around the site, lots of the regulars about but it was the action around roosting time that I was interested to see. I'm a massive owl fan but no sign of them however the entertainment was provided by a pretty impressive cast.
From the reedbed hide all was quiet, we were watching 4 teal mill around the open water, until the long staying female hen harrier turned up, gave a few fly pasts then settled in the recently cut area of reed beds giving stunning views. She then drifted back and forth over the reedbeds for a while attracting the attentions of the local sparrowhawks, one of which made some valiant attempts to chase her off, realising this wasn't working the sprawk vanished for a time only to reappear at speed narrowly missing a woodpigeon watching from the trees over the path to the hide, awesome stuff.
The harrier then spooked a snipe, which I missed, as my attention was drawn by the spotting of an otter swimming powerfully across the open water to the nearside bank in front of the hide! We didn't see it emerge so i'm guessing it dived in pursuit of a fish but all this happened in the space of 10 minutes just after sunset.
Well worth a visit during the late afternoon!
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Sounds great Ian, thanks for sharing your experiences with us. If you want to see a barn owl, your best bet at the moment is to peer into the entrance of the triangular nest box where they have nested in recent years, ideally with a telescope. I have been seeing one, and occasionally two, there in recent weeks. Usually you just see the tops of their heads, but sometimes they show a bit more of themselves.
Doug (Site Manager)