Fowlmere, Sunday 26th July

A rainy day on the reserve; you would think a good one for ducks. Not however for one tufted duck chick. Unusually for Fowlmere a pair of tufted ducks bred on the reserve this year. A group of of 6 or 7 chicks were bobbing like corks, under and up to the surface, practicing to be good diving ducks. As they bobbed their way in front of the far bank, as viewed from Reedbed hide, one suddenly disappeared from the group - snapped up by a constantly vigilant-for-food grey heron. At the time I was on the look out for the Marsh Harriers (the juvs had been seen by several people during the day), when there was a cry from one of the other hide visitors "Oh, I just saw a tufted duck chick just taken by the heron". Sure enough, one fewer in that brood now. Mo Sibbons