Some good birds and numbers recently

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 14^th 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)