Well, we all knew the cold weather would hit at some point, and sure enough, just as the birds had started warming up for spring, the snow fell. We had a good few inches at the reserve on Sunday, making everything look very pretty, but very cold. Still a great time to go out bird watching though. A short stroll around the East wood yesterday morning produced great-spotted woodpecker, woodcock (flushed by a roe deer), water rail, kestrel, snipe and a wee family of long-tailed tits. My intention was to find the lesser-spotted woodpeckers that have been reported a few times, but I had no luck with that. Just as I returned to the visitor centre, I had the lovely treat of a cracking male siskin singing away at the top of his voice very close to the path. Then a sudden splash nearby made me look at the ditch, just in time to see a small brown streak, presumably a stoat, making a dash across the ice and getting a slight dunking in the process – brrr! The barn owls were also performing beautifully near the visitor centre yesterday afternoon. It’s always a real treat to see these ghostly birds silently floating past the window.
The great-grey shrike was also seen again yesterday after a few days absence. It was spotted perched up on a willow in New Fen North by one of our volunteers. I had a quick look this morning but haven’t seen any sign of it so far. I did catch up with a pair of pintail on the washland though, tucked up in amongst the lapwings.
All six cranes are still around, making a lot of noise! We’ve put out some old potatoes for them in Humphreys paddock, which they seem to be enjoying (along with the roe deer, magpies and crows!).
Blog by Katherine Puttick, Warden